Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

On Wed, 25 Sep 2002 23:07:05 -0000, you wrote:

>Hey everyone.  I've been a drummer for 15 years and I have moved into 
>an apartment.  Obviously, I can't just sit down and play my accoustic 
>set anytime I want to without alarming my neighbors.  I've been 
>looking into the DTXpress and the Roland V- Club.  Can anyone here 
>offer a comparison between the two?  I've played both in the music 
>store, but I can't really tell much in a 10 or 15 minute session.  
>Any help would be greatly appreciated.

That was my conclusion too, (that I couldn't tell a difference).  That
made a decision based upon price a very easy decision to make :)

I got the DTXpress and couldn't be happier.

After playing mine a while, I find that it makes an excellent 4pc kit
as it comes out of the box.

The stereo cymbal pad can trigger two different cymbal sounds and
choke them both (edge and flat area), The ride cymbal I use as a
splash, Tom3 becomes a  ride cymbal.

So you have a 4pc kit with 2 crashes, 1 splash and a ride.  Not bad.
There is still one stereo input left on the brain which can control
one stereo pad or two mono pads.

With a little creativity and erector set experimentation, the rack and
triggers can be positioned many different ways.

As I said, mine is set up like a traditional 4pc kit would be.  I have
Tom1 mounted directly to the cross pipe, as opposed to on the short
riser pipe.  Tom2 is mounted in the same fashion off the right side
pipe.  Tom3 (Ride Cymbal) is mounted under the right hand cymbal pad
(Splash).  I swapped out the long pipe that the snare and high hat
pads were mounted to for the shorter pipe (the long pipe was hitting
my left knee).  The high hat is mounted directly to a short pipe and
the brain is mounted to another short pipe, under the pipe that the
high hat is mounted to. I should mention that I took a hack saw to the
remaining long pipe, as it wasn't necessary any more.  I got one of
the medium sized pipes and a shorty out of it.  One of my remaining
short pipes is mounted into a "T" fitting on the end of the right side
pipe and is the perfect stick holder.  It holds two pair nicely.  I
epoxied the plastic "stopper" into the bottom so it wouldn't pop out
if a pair of sticks were dropped into it too hard.

I know this may all sound a little confusing, but my point is that the
kit as it is, is highly usable and customizable.

There is room in the brain to store more user kits than you'll ever
need.  Sometimes I sit down to play and end up just creating a kit or
two.  That feature alone makes it worth my money.  I don't gig, I just
jam.  Making my kit sound like whatever I'm jamming with makes me
happier than a pig in doo-doo.

BTW, I live in a house, work nights, and it's just me and my girl
friend.  I come home from work at 5:00am and start playing.  She gets
up at 6:00 and brings me coffee.  Sometimes I play at 11:00pm.  It's
absolutely fantastic, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.



Jim Tonak
ratzo@...