Thinking New Snare - Thinking Birch. Thoughts?

Mikey Dangerous

Senior Member
Hello all,
Ever since I started recording a new album with my band, I've been contemplating getting a new snare. These are the two snares I currently have:
1) Yamaha 14" X 4" Brass w/ PureSound Equalizer 16's, Coated Emp on batter and clear Amb. snare-side on reso
2) Tama 14" X 6.5" Birdseye Maple (basically an Artstar II snare) w/ PureSound Custom 20's, Coated Emp.X on batter and clear Amb. snare-side on reso

I love them both, especially the Yammie cuz it's tight, punchy, and has a ton of CRACK. Only problem is that it's shallow at only 4" deep and I found it lacked body on the recordings. We play heavy alternative style by the way. The Tama maple has lots of body but it's a bit fatter/wetter than I like and doesn't have the dryness and crack I like in a snare (especially compared to my brass). I tightened the batter head and snares on the Tama maple which did make it a bit drier and tighter and I think that a different batter head (Genera Dry or Powerstroke 3 or something like that) would also help to tighten it's sound because the Emp. X is super thick and has the reverse dot to boot. If so, this will achieve my goals in a snare sound with both body and crack.

I'm debating getting a 14" X 5.5" Birch snare though because I know that birch is naturally tighter sounding than maple. Also, I'm a huge fan of Yamaha Drums and the proud owner of a BCA in Vintage Natural finish. If I did get a snare, my first choice would be the BCA snare so as to get the matching snare for my kit. I was quoted $485 (Canadian $) for this snare and a 3-6 month wait. That was the best price - the next best quote was $599 and the same wait time.

My question is, do you think it's worth it to get the new snare? Even though I may not "need" it, part of me would love to have the matching snare to my kit. Also, I've noticed that most drummers prefer maple over birch in the snare department. While I know its a sound preference, what is it about the sound that drives most drummers to choose maple snares over birch snares? Are there other wood or metal options I should consider? Any snares in particular that stand out to any of you that you'd recommend given my preferences?

I should also mention that trying out the BCA snare prior to making my decision is not an option as I can't find one store that has one in stock.

Thanks in advance friends!!
 
If you have the means, and it's what you want get it. If we made our buys based purely on need we'd all be playing 4 pce kits. with 3 cymbals.

It adds another voice to your arsenal, and more colors for your pallette. You may not need it, but if it's something that will be useful. get it.

I own 4 full kits, 1 for every occasion lol and 12 snare drums that I've collected over the years. and Just piurchased a 4X10 pearl. lol
 
i play a 14"x5.5" Yamaha birch snare, it does the tight 'marching' sound nicely and when tuned up and laid into does the ringing, cracking 'metal' sound fairly well...

the snare just has a nice tuning range, that said, for the sound your looking for, something narrower and deeper may do the trick - 13"x6.5" maybe? or even a 12", i have seen some guys use monster 14"x7"'s to get that big ringing metal sound, but i'm not sure myself how well that would record...

good luck!
 
It sounds like you might like the sound of metal more than wood. Maple is always gonna be on the warm and fat side, especially with that head. What's your budget? If you like the sound of brass, check out one of those Gretsch hammered brass 6.5 snares with die-cast hoops and put the emperor x on that. I have this drum, and it's killer! It has great body, crack, and is suprisingly dry, which further enhances the crack. I just recorded with this drum, and it has a crack like no other snare I've ever heard. This is the only metal snare that I've really liked the emperor x on. The crack is fat, but extremely sharp and defined, yet if you want a tighter, thinner crack, just throw a thinner head on there. I've yet to make this drum sound bad, and interestingly enough, I got this drum to sound similar to my 7X14 maple snare tuned in the lower/mid range, although not as warm.
 
For what it's worth, I have a thin shelled 14x6.5 birch snare, a Pearl Masters drum, got it for 300.00 USD and every time I play it, it impresses me. It's probably my 2nd fav snare, even over my 14x5 Black Beauty and my "hollowed out from a tree" 14x6.5 Canopus Zelkova.
In case you're wondering what my fav snare is, it's a Pearl Eric Singer Signature drum, 14x6.5, 10 ply maple, close to an inch thick.

I'll never get rid of that Birch snare, it could easily become my #1 snare.
 
For what it's worth, I have a thin shelled 14x6.5 birch snare, a Pearl Masters drum, got it for 300.00 USD and every time I play it, it impresses me. It's probably my 2nd fav snare, even over my 14x5 Black Beauty and my "hollowed out from a tree" 14x6.5 Canopus Zelkova.
In case you're wondering what my fav snare is, it's a Pearl Eric Singer Signature drum, 14x6.5, 10 ply maple, close to an inch thick.

I'll never get rid of that Birch snare, it could easily become my #1 snare.

How is the birch crack compared to maple? I've never played a birch snare. How thick is the shell on those pearl masters? A seller on Ebay was selling some birch masters snares for cheap awhile ago, and now I wish I would have gotten one.

Those Eric Singer snares are sweet looking! What are the differences you've noticed with this snare compared to a thinner maple shell? Is the crack and volume alot better?
 
My question is, do you think it's worth it to get the new snare?

Yes of course. One can never have enough snares. I usually have at any one time about 30 or so high end snare drums. My storage space has over $30.000 worth of snares alone. So I say, go for it.

Here are my answers to related questions.

Should I buy a new cymbal? Yes!

Should I get a new stand? Yes!

Should I buy various brands of drums/cymbals etc? Yes!

I normally use Zildjians, but want thoughts on Paistes, are they good? Yes!

Are 18" kicks good? Yes!

Should I invest in a good throne? Yes!

Should I own multiple kits? Yes!

Should I learn a hand drum such as conga or djembe? Yes!

You get the idea. ;-)
 
Thanks for all the responses guys.

I did end up ordering the snare drum!!! It's the BSD-0145 (14" x 5.5" in Vintage Natural finish) which is a slightly older model of Yamaha's BCA snare so that the lugs and badge will match my kit perfectly (tear-drop style lug) as it's from the same "era". I'm pretty pumped about it but unfortunately it will be about 5 months before I get it since that's how long Yamaha takes to make it.
I worked out a deal to get new batter and resonant heads included (I'm thinking Emperor batter and Ambassador snare-side) along with some extra Yamaha zero-rings for the $485 price of the snare - Canadian dollars. They also agreed to give me some discounted prices on Yamaha's SS-950 snare stand ($140), PureSound Equalizer 16-strand snares ($25.99), and a Protechtor hard-case ($80). All in all, not too shabby.

I can't wait to hear it all tuned up with the PureSounds on it, and I can't wait to see how it looks with the rest of my kit!!!!!

BTW - Wy Yung, I'd love to have a go in your drum room with all those toys!! Nice!
 
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