THE GOOD SNARE THREAD

Re: New snare

Hi

Try all the big brands.

Certainly try Gretsch. I also heard Noble and Cooley snares sound crazy!
 
Re: New snare

Go vintage! Try a Ludwig Supraphonic. you can get em on Ebay in new condition for about 250, or in ok condition for around 175. Or if you're rich, go for a black beauty. Those are very expensive but I've heard that they are expensive for a reason. Or you could get a pearl reference series 20 ply snare. Just my thoughts. good luck!

Rob
 
Re: New snare

The reference series snares are very good, as are many signature snares, the best of which are the Virgil Donati snare and Joey Jordison snare
 
Re: New snare

I hate to be a wet blanket, but just asking others which is a good snare might not get you much useful information. More than any other single piece of your kit, the snare is the most complicated. First, decide what sound you want, and then learn what contributes to that sound, and finally which snares meet your criteria. Here is some basic info that might help you decide.



Sound in a snare is affected by many things, including shell material; diameter (distance from edge to edge); depth (distance from top or beater head to bottom or resonant head); porting (holes) in the shell or heads; type, material, construction, and quality of the lugs and hoops; the number of lugs; head material; surface coating of the heads; number and tension of the snare wires; the tightness of the heads; the relative tuning between the heads; whether or not the heads are free-floating; and whether or not there are internal reinforcing hoops. See what I mean?



Let's take just one aspect of the snare's composition, the material, and see how complicated this can get. As far as the actual material that the snare is made from, this is a short list starting from the top with darker tones, to the bottom with brighter tones:



Mahogany

Maple

Beech

Birch

Oak

Aluminum

Copper

Steel

Bronze

Brass



As you can see, wood snares have a mellower tone that is suited well for jazz (which is why I'm going to steal Bernhard's . . . I mean, buy one like Bernhard's as soon as I can afford it), and metal has a more powerful tone that projects well through a rock ensemble. By the way, acrylic shells have a sharp crack and would be near the bottom of that list.



To further complicate just this one aspect of a snare's sound, metal and wood are sometimes used together, and even full wood snares can be made from combinations of different woods, or multiple layers of wood, or solid slats or "staves" that are fused together.



Then there are the details, which also affect the sound. The edge of the drum that the head rests on is called the bearing edge, and a sharp bearing edge lends brightness and sustain, whereas a rounder bearing edge makes the tone mellower. If the interior of the snare is smooth, there will be less resonance. If the shell is thinner, there will be more resonance.



And that is just the material and construction of the shell. As you can tell, many questions will have to be answered before you can decide which snare is best for you, included one very practical one: will the drum you choose sound good with the rest of your set?
 
Re: New snare

Thank you very much dog breath for that. Im going to London in a couple weeks so i will get a chance to try out lots of snares there.
 
What is your favorite type of snare drum?

What is your favorite type of snare drum?
 
Re: What is your favorite type of snare drum?

pearl maple free floating sanre with 42 strand snare wire.
snare.jpg
 
Re: What is your favorite type of snare drum?

I like those Tama Bell Brass snare drums. They really cut. I don't know if they are worth $1200 though.
 
Re: What is your favorite type of snare drum?

black panther premium birdseye maple 5.5x14...im probably gunna buy one in january or something...

products_premium_birdseye.jpg
 
Re: What is your favorite type of snare drum?

6"x12" 24ply maple Treehouse snare drum with diecast hardware and Nickelworks throwoff.
mapleblk_snr_lg.jpg
 
Re: What is your favorite type of snare drum?

If it's in matter of sound, I'd say may favourite sound is Abe Cunningham's (Deftones) snare sound. It's so clear and powerful. Just listen the first second of the song "My Own Summer" or "Digital Bath". Abe is also such a great drummer. Guess he's using a Starclassic Bell Brass snare drum............................if only one day Tama would like to endorse me, these are so expensive.
One other dream snare would maybe be the Sonor Artist serie Bronze snare, but it's also a jet-set snare.
I think i'm focusing to buy soon the Jimmy Chamberlin Yamaha signature snare. Actually I'm using my best friend's Chad Smith Pearl snare which is pretty cool, and is available for low budget.........
 
Re: What is your favorite type of snare drum?

Ludwig Supraphonic Snare
" Black Beauty Snare
 
Re: What is your favorite type of snare drum?

Speedy, Nice Choices.

Here's what mine looks like approximately.
 

Attachments

  • LB416BT_Brass_Snare.jpg
    LB416BT_Brass_Snare.jpg
    4.7 KB · Views: 28,545
Re: What is your favorite type of snare drum?

6.5 x 14 Ludwig Supraphonic Snare Drum

or a Orange County Drum and Percussion Snare like the one seen here.
 
Re: What is your favorite type of snare drum?

I think I would be afraid to play that ocdp drum for obvious reasons. Also you would defintely need a road case to move that to a gig. Hey but if sounds great it sounds great.
 
Re: What is your favorite type of snare drum?

slingerland radioking. Its the one Buddy used.
 
Re: What is your favorite type of snare drum?

I generally go to Guitar Center and salivate over their 6 x 14 Tama Starclassic G Maple. It just sounds so great. But for now I have a 3 x 13 Pearl Maple pic which is suprisingly warm and fat. I like it a lot.
 
Re: What is your favorite type of snare drum?

carterrrrrrrr.jpg


carter used it with dave matthews band on the central park album, i think he uses ocheltree snare drums otherwise. but anyway, this snare has the best crack ive ever heard. it exploads, and then you dont expect it to have such incredible sensativity at low volumes. no ring, overtones get a listen for yourself
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top