THE GOOD SNARE THREAD

I'm currently using a Tama Swingstar from the late 70s (black badge). I'm given the understanding that these drums are not the most expensive, but I do have a thing for vintage drums, and that isn't "vintage" I don't know what is. I spotted them at a Goodwill actually with the heavy Tama snare stand. They were marked at $30, and I figured the snare stand itself would about be worth that alone.

I took them home and and cleaned them up, and still use them constantly. The snare drum only had a batter head, witch someone has glued to the drum (figure that one out), and the snares were held on by shoe strings. But after fixing the sickness that plagued the poor drum, I tuned it up, cleaned it up, and loved it

I'm sure it's far from being a Black Beauty, I love the sound of a metal snare drum, and it's far better than the cheapo' snares that come from the factory with beginner kits these days.

Mrcoffee said:

Very nice! Congrats! Now just imagine it with a Coated Amb!!!! ;o) Enjoy!

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Ambassadors are single ply, right? (I'm more of an Evans guy). It came with a Remo coated Powerstroke 3 which seems to be a thick head. Don't get me wrong, the drum sounds fantastic but I do think a lighter head could open up the sound a bit more.

I like these metal shell snares,especially the engraved Black Beauty

Unfortunately I have no photos (which is a surprise to me), but my two favourite snares which are really the only ones I use (not including my auxiliary) are:

14"x6.5" Sleishman Jarrah stave snare (free floating)
13"x7" Ludwig Black Magic brass snare.

The Sleishman is beautiful, loud, and has that awesome bite that you get with Jarrah drums. It's also incredibly sensitive, to the point where you can have your hand planted flat on the batter head and it still retains a lot of its tone and sensitivity.

The Black Magic is great, I spent years trying to find a reasonably priced brass shell snare in that size, and then all of a sudden it turned out that Ludwig made it. I've literally owned it for less than two years because I spent that long looking! Anyway, due to its greater versatility (ie. less volume) compared to the Sleishman, it's my main snare now for everything I play at the moment. I'm sure I had a photo somewhere.

Oh, and I paid a bit extra and ordered die-cast hoops and this awesome new strainer system they had released (made by Trick) for the Sleishman not long before I got the Ludwig snare. The difference it made to the drum was fantastic, and the strainer is a brilliant design.

Ok here are my keepers of the beat. These are good snares for gigging and recording, none stay at home in cases all are taken out and played. I tend to use twin snares, I see them as couples. So my goto loud gig couple is Brady stave with Ayotte Kep. My goto pub gig is Noonan with Pearl Hakim and my goto loner snare is the ultracast.

Pearl Omar Hakim, Mahogony 13 x 4
Ayotte Keplinger solid stainless steel 13 x 6
Gary Noonan, carbon fiber outer with maple inner plus 14 x 6
Brady Jarrah Stave 14 x 6.5 ish
Brady Jarrah ply 14 x 5.5
Pearl ultracast 14 x 5 ish (this drum looks awful but sounds good in pubs !)

Cherry Bomb Snare . Handmade in Burlington, Ontario, Canada by Paul Dickenson of UDrum. Amazing sound. Hope to get one of these bad boys. 6.75" x 14" Aluminum shell . The drum comes standard with, Diecast hoops, Trick throw off, 42 strand Brass snare wires.

Power, Weight and Volume meets Sensitivity and Focus! This 8" deep snare is killer. They call it the "Powder Keg" and it's built by Castle Drum Company. Solid quarter sawn White Oak wood staves. The great thing about their snares, is that they use two different size heads. The batter head is 14" and the snare side is 13", giving it the Low End and Girth of a Deeper shelled Snare without the loss of Definition. I Love This Thing!

PorkPie 13 x 7 brass patina.

GC recently had 15% off sale and my American Express gave $50.00 cash for a GC purchase over 150.00 by the end of year so, time to go snare shopping.

Played everything from 2-500 buck snares and this won my ears. I like the dynamic range and its power. You feel it in your respiratory system when it pops. The acid washed brass looks cool as well.

My submissions for the great snare thread. First up is my Benny Greb snare. This was actually played by him at the Sonor factory.



Next up is my Sonor SQ2 snare. Same configuration as the artist Cottonwood snare.



Gretsch 4160. This is a vintage mid 60's Round Badge chrome over brass snare.



Ludwig acrolite 1967.



Mapex black panther Thomann edition.

This is one of my favorites. Its 6X14 Wittman stave snare featuring Purple Heart and Quilted Maple. This is currently the best sounding snare drum on the planet. Its very.very, loud and clean sounding with a rim shot that will scare the dog and piss off the neighbors.

Joyful Noise "Standard" model. Bright nickel over heavy brass shell. The parts and build quality are top flight.
Bright & warm sound with exceptional dynamic range. Like a COB on steroids. This drum can be used for any style- from symphonic to big band to rock.

Just found out tonight that the snare I've been calling a 6.5x13 is actually a 7x13. Awesome! That's my favorite snare size anyway (and I don't have to type that stupid 1/2 inch anymore). I only thought it was 6.5 in. deep because I took Drumcity Guitarland's word for it. I should have known why that thing had such magic in it when I played it!

This is the only decent pic of the little darling, along with a few of its brethren.

Pearl Sensitone Elite Beaded Snare Drum. New toy, found this on eBay. New Demo model. Best offer was excepted $162.50 Can't afford the Ludwig BB so this will have to do. 5x14 Any of you play this snare?

Hammered bronze 13x3 1/2

The SunDog said:

Hammered bronze 13x3

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That's a great looking drum.

2bsticks said:

Pearl Sensitone Elite Beaded Snare Drum. New toy, found this on eBay. New Demo model. Best offer was excepted $162.50 Can't afford the Ludwig BB so this will have to do. 5x14 Any of you play this snare?

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I play this exact drum quite a bit, great snare for a great price.

Just picked up this new C & C snare. 4 x 14 maple/poplar/maple shell with rings and single flange hoops. This drum is amazing. Played first jazz trio gig with it last night and was getting comments from the other guys about how good it sounds. The drum is beautifully made and sounds wonderful. The perfect jazz snare for trio work.

taiko said:

Just picked up this new C & C snare. 4 x 14 maple/poplar/maple shell with rings and single flange hoops. This drum is amazing. Played first jazz trio gig with it last night and was getting comments from the other guys about how good it sounds. The drum is beautifully made and sounds wonderful. The perfect jazz snare for trio work.

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Gorgeous snare................how much did that run you?

longgun said:

Gorgeous snare................how much did that run you?

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It was just under $900. Worth every penny.

DAC1214 said:

Power, Weight and Volume meets Sensitivity and Focus! This 8" deep snare is killer. They call it the "Powder Keg" and it's built by Castle Drum Company. Solid quarter sawn White Oak wood staves. The great thing about their snares, is that they use two different size heads. The batter head is 14" and the snare side is 13", giving it the Low End and Girth of a Deeper shelled Snare without the loss of Definition. I Love This Thing!

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Please explain to me how exactly that works, cause i r confused...