Overview
Exclusive to the Drum Center of Portsmouth in New Hampshire in the USA, and limited to approx 60 units.
In mid-2020, Shane Kinney the owner of the DCP was offered these ash burl maple veneered maple shells, that (for some reason) Mapex hadn't made available to the general market. He grabbed the lot - can you blame him?!
Like the Thomann exclusives, there a few minor differences to the main line Black Panthers, but nothing that affects the overall quality of the drum - they came fitted with Mapex branded Remo UT series rather than Ambassadors or similar, and according to Tommy Aldridge, who owns two(!), that's about the only downside to them. Also, Tommy points out that they have a really shallow snare bed, so the bottom hoop is cut to accomodate it (like the mid-2000s BPs).
Unlike other the snares in the 2020 range, they were fitted as standard with die-cast hoops rather than Sonic Saver hoops, and the throw-off is a Saturn Standard one, rather than the Cylinder Drive.
The snare bed is really shallow on this model, as shown by the caliper measurements in two of the photos from Bob Holmes.
Gorgeous drum, originally sold at a silly low price of $269.
See the video below for an overview of this snare.
Photos courtesy of Dom at Zedem in Canada, Tommy Aldridge (no - not that one!), Bob Holmes and Andre Herndon. Thanks a million/Merci Bien guys - really much appreciated.
