Zickos
Gold Member
...Snare Drum
Years ago I had one snare drum. I thought that was enough. Now I have six. I know a lot of you have many more than that, but I never thought I would have that many.
This is my collection and history in order of acquisition (l to r):
I originally had a set of Lyra drums (in the 60's) that had a snare and I gave that set away. More on that later.
My next (first) snare was acquired in the late 60's. It is an old (20's - 30's) Ludwig six lug snare which had single flange hoops with clips. It was being thrown out from my college and I rescued it. All it had was hoops, shell, tension rods and clips. It was very tarnished and I cleaned it up and put heads on it. I liked the sound a lot but got very tired of replacing the clips every time I accidentally hit them, so I traded the hoops and clips for triple flanged hoops and have never looked back. I absolutely loved this drum and it was my main drum for a long time.
My next drum was a Zickos eight lug which I acquired when I bought my first Zickos set in 1973. I was never too happy about the snare and I didn't use it much opting to go with the Ludwig. In 1978 I gave my pristine Lyras to my old high school (who needed more than one drum set, anyway) where it didn't last long till it was little more than match sticks.
In the early 90's I acquired a beater set which was a shell pack sans snare which I could leave in an orchestra pit without worrying much about it. They sounded OK and if they were stolen I wouldn't be out too much.
In the late 90's I bought a Pearl Forum kit from a guy who was moving and couldn't take it with him. I think I have about $300 in the kit with an 8 lug snare and a whole lot of cymbals albeit not the best quality. The Forum snare sounded OK but was nothing great. I still opted for the Ludwig.
In the late 2000's I saw a picture of a Pearl Tony DeGrasso hammered brass ten lug snare on this site that I fell in love with and had to have. I think I paid around $200 for it and it replaced all my other drums. It had a great sound. Also, about that time, I was beginning to like the Zickos drum more and I went back and forth between the brass Pearl and the Zickos drum.
Last year I bought something on another site and the seller took a very long time to get it to me. He apologized and said he would make it up to me by sending me a free gift. The gift turned out to be a 13x6-1/2 Tuxedo drum bag. Since I didn't own a 13" drum,I didn't know what to do with it. I was in a nice drum store later and mentioned my dilemma to the owner and mentioned that he probably didn't have a 13" drum I could afford. He said that, by the way, he did. It is a Pearl birch 13x6-1/2 eight lug with die cast hoops and nickle hardware. It was less than $200 so I bought it and it is a really great drum. I have gigged it a couple of times and it has more punch than any drum I own.
Last week on another drum site there was a guy who was selling snare drums for $30 shipped. I don't know how he could afford to do that but I bought one anyway. It is a 13x5-1/2 Pearl chrome steel shell six lug drum. All I have done with it is properly adjust the snares and it really sounds great. It has the original heads and I haven't even touched them. I can't wait to gig with it but it will be a while as I am having some health problems and am temporarily not doing any gigging.
One drum is not necessarily enough, two is plenty, three is more than enough (after all, how many can you play at a time), four is too many, five is way too many and six is gluttony. Please don't let me buy another one.
Years ago I had one snare drum. I thought that was enough. Now I have six. I know a lot of you have many more than that, but I never thought I would have that many.
This is my collection and history in order of acquisition (l to r):
I originally had a set of Lyra drums (in the 60's) that had a snare and I gave that set away. More on that later.
My next (first) snare was acquired in the late 60's. It is an old (20's - 30's) Ludwig six lug snare which had single flange hoops with clips. It was being thrown out from my college and I rescued it. All it had was hoops, shell, tension rods and clips. It was very tarnished and I cleaned it up and put heads on it. I liked the sound a lot but got very tired of replacing the clips every time I accidentally hit them, so I traded the hoops and clips for triple flanged hoops and have never looked back. I absolutely loved this drum and it was my main drum for a long time.
My next drum was a Zickos eight lug which I acquired when I bought my first Zickos set in 1973. I was never too happy about the snare and I didn't use it much opting to go with the Ludwig. In 1978 I gave my pristine Lyras to my old high school (who needed more than one drum set, anyway) where it didn't last long till it was little more than match sticks.
In the early 90's I acquired a beater set which was a shell pack sans snare which I could leave in an orchestra pit without worrying much about it. They sounded OK and if they were stolen I wouldn't be out too much.
In the late 90's I bought a Pearl Forum kit from a guy who was moving and couldn't take it with him. I think I have about $300 in the kit with an 8 lug snare and a whole lot of cymbals albeit not the best quality. The Forum snare sounded OK but was nothing great. I still opted for the Ludwig.
In the late 2000's I saw a picture of a Pearl Tony DeGrasso hammered brass ten lug snare on this site that I fell in love with and had to have. I think I paid around $200 for it and it replaced all my other drums. It had a great sound. Also, about that time, I was beginning to like the Zickos drum more and I went back and forth between the brass Pearl and the Zickos drum.
Last year I bought something on another site and the seller took a very long time to get it to me. He apologized and said he would make it up to me by sending me a free gift. The gift turned out to be a 13x6-1/2 Tuxedo drum bag. Since I didn't own a 13" drum,I didn't know what to do with it. I was in a nice drum store later and mentioned my dilemma to the owner and mentioned that he probably didn't have a 13" drum I could afford. He said that, by the way, he did. It is a Pearl birch 13x6-1/2 eight lug with die cast hoops and nickle hardware. It was less than $200 so I bought it and it is a really great drum. I have gigged it a couple of times and it has more punch than any drum I own.
Last week on another drum site there was a guy who was selling snare drums for $30 shipped. I don't know how he could afford to do that but I bought one anyway. It is a 13x5-1/2 Pearl chrome steel shell six lug drum. All I have done with it is properly adjust the snares and it really sounds great. It has the original heads and I haven't even touched them. I can't wait to gig with it but it will be a while as I am having some health problems and am temporarily not doing any gigging.
One drum is not necessarily enough, two is plenty, three is more than enough (after all, how many can you play at a time), four is too many, five is way too many and six is gluttony. Please don't let me buy another one.