Pearl sensitone elite review

john burdine

john burdine

Member
i was looking for an affordable metal/steel snare to add to my little collection. back in the day i allways had good luck getting a good sound out of my 14x6 1/2 export snare. i did a little online shopping and came up with a Pearl Sensitone Elite 14x6 1/2 steel snare on Amazon.com. to my door it was just under $130. the fit and finish and quality of the chrome are 1st rate. this drum shell is more true/round then my new black beauty. the throw SR-017 is what a p-85 should be, beefier and sturdy. the 2.3 super hoops II are quality, and the drum comes out of the box with real Remo Ambassadors. Pearls SN14201 snares work and sound good, no need to upgrade them. this drum tunes up easy and has a nice crack to it. i have it tuned i little above medium tensoin. i have since added a Remo Powerstroke single ply with dot and a die cast batter hoop. the rim-shot pop is incredible.
just thought i would post incase anyone is interested. to me, this was a tremendous bang for the buck.
John Burdine
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

Big fan of Pearl snares. There's something about their snares I like. I have a Bronze Sensitone that I like more than my Black Beauty. Had a brass Sensitone, too, that got lifted. I like the bronze better anyway. I have a birch shelled Pearl snare that I like a lot too. My main snare is a Pearl maple Eric Singer Signature. Yea, Pearl makes nice sounding snares. The Sensitone is a "go to" best buy drum.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

Agree about Pearl making great snares. My two main snares have been a Chad Smith sig model and now a 6.5" brass free floater. Although I don't like how they name some of their cheaper snares Sensitone (not Elite), confuses people on 2nd hand sites, thinking they're selling or buying a better snare than it really is. The Reference snares are wicked too.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

I have a sensitone steel, a sensitone aluminum, a piccolo steel and a masters maple. They all use the same solid hardware and all sound great. Right now I am loving the aluminum elite. 189 shipped to my door. Great snares. Great values.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

Kettles, I cannot agree more with you concerning the Sensitone naming, I fell victim to exactly this situation, and am now kicking myself.... a lot.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

+1

Totally agree on the amazing quality and value of Pearl snares, specially the Sensitone Elite line.

I own a SE Aluminum 14"x5".
Seamless aluminum shell, 2.3mm Superhoops, high quality strainer, top quality lugs. I love this drum, it's crisp and full, a lot of crack but still very warm and without the harshness and ring of other metals.

Cheers!
 

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Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

john burdine said:
back in the day i allways had good luck getting a good sound out of my 14x6 1/2 export snare.
Click to expand...

Hey John, you mean this one?

Not as nice as the sensitone but great for taking to rehearsals, crappy gigs or if you have to share it. You can leave it on a corner and not have a heart attack if it gets stolen or damaged. Poor snare, such a workhorse. Haha.

Cheers.
 

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Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

diegobxr said:
I own a SE Aluminum 14"x5"
Seamless aluminum shell,
Click to expand...

Pretty sure these drums aren't seamless. Not that it matters, I believe that to be a negligible factor anyway. I get a longer note from my seamed bronze Sensitone than my seamless Black Beauty. Pearl hides the seam under the lugs, it's hard to spot. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't sell a new seamless shell for that price.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

larryace said:
Pretty sure these drums aren't seamless. Not that it matters, I believe that to be a negligible factor anyway. I get a longer note from my seamed bronze Sensitone than my seamless Black Beauty. Pearl hides the seam under the lugs, it's hard to spot. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't sell a new seamless shell for that price.
Click to expand...

Well Larry you now made me wonder so I just went and spent 10 minutes looking under every single lug, outside and inside of the shell.. and trust me.. there's no seam.

Actually if I'm not mistaken, Aluminium is a very difficult material to weld. I believe it's more expensive to weld thousands of aluminium shells than make them spun.
Like you said, not that I give a damn if it has a seam or not if it sounds good.. but it doesn't have it.

Cheers.
 
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Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

I seem to remember that the Sensitone Aluminum is seamless, too. I used to have the Sensitone Brass but I sold it to finance my Black Beauty. Now I own the Legend that all the clones are trying to copy, but in all honesty, the Black Beauty is not exactly blowing the Sensitone outta the water. If anything, the Sensitone's thicker shell gave it more heft and a sweeter, fatter crack.

I still like my BB, but if I ever spot a good deal for a Sensitone Brass on the used market, I'll grab it in a heartbeat.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

diegobxr said:
Well Larry you now made me wonder so I just went and spent 10 minutes looking under every single lug, outside and inside of the shell.. and trust me.. there's no seam.

Actually if I'm not mistaken, Aluminium is a very difficult material to weld. I believe it's more expensive to weld thousands of aluminium shells than make them spun.
Like you said, not that I give a damn if it has a seam or not if it sounds good.. but it doesn't have it.

Cheers.
Click to expand...

As I was typing that, it did occur to me that aluminum is more difficult to seam. I know the seam on my bronze snare is hard to spot. Seems to me that a seamless shell is easier to make anyway, just spin and shape, where welding a seam seems to be more time consuming. I'm going to check Pearls site to see if it details this. Still a great drum though.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

A snippet of a Google search:

The Pearl Snare Drum from the SensiTone Elite Series features a 1.2mm seamless aluminum drum shell, SuperHoop II, vertical pull SR-017 snare strainer, ...

What a great deal for a seamless shell. Should be the same or better than a Ludwig Acro, 400 or 402.

Just get Ludwig snare strings lol, big thread on that.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

I own an older Pearl 14x6.5 Sensitone snare and it's a well made drum. Top quality in every respect and sounds great tuned high or low. Mine has Superhoops top and bottom however.
The other Pearl snares I own are a Chad Smith, a 14x6.5 brass FF..(my giging snare) and a 14x8 FF in Piano Black and has die cast hoops.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

larryace said:
A snippet of a Google search:

The Pearl Snare Drum from the SensiTone Elite Series features a 1.2mm seamless aluminum drum shell, SuperHoop II, vertical pull SR-017 snare strainer, ...

What a great deal for a seamless shell. Should be the same or better than a Ludwig Acro, 400 or 402.
Click to expand...

See, that's what's great about this site, we all learn new things everyday. :)

I can't say that this snare is better than an Acro or Supra 'cause I never played those snares. It'd be nice if someone would A-B them though.

Cheers.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

I also found out that all the other Sensitone Elites do indeed have seams, but not the aluminum.

Great drum.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

diegobxr said:
Hey John, you mean this one?

Not as nice as the sensitone but great for taking to rehearsals, crappy gigs or if you have to share it. You can leave it on a corner and not have a heart attack if it gets stolen or damaged. Poor snare, such a workhorse. Haha.

Cheers.
Click to expand...

pretty close, i think mine is a 1987 model beaded shell amd different lugs. that cheapy drum allways sounded pretty good. still have it.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

I have an older brass sensitone elite that came with cast hoops. Its my band practice snare and gets swapped ocassionally with my black beauty but for the money the sensitones sound sweet. Best bang for buck snares IMO.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

MikeM said:
I used to have the Sensitone Brass but I sold it to finance my Black Beauty. Now I own the Legend that all the clones are trying to copy, but in all honesty, the Black Beauty is not exactly blowing the Sensitone outta the water. If anything, the Sensitone's thicker shell gave it more heft and a sweeter, fatter crack.
Click to expand...

Hmm, sounds like you regret the swap, perhaps. I usually don't let go of something until I know I no longer need or want it. In my experience, every time you think you are "upgrading", you end up saying to yourself "why did I do this? I liked what I had". I own the same BB as you, and the drum definitely pounces, however, I've never owned or played the Pearl. I'm sure it's a great drum, I'll check one out if I ever see one.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

I have an older gold over brass Sensitone. Great drum. Its a little beat up but sounds great. Records really well too. The newer ones with the black shell are super sexy.
 
Re: Pearl sensitone elite reveiw

I put cast hoops on all my snares, and the Sensitones are no exceptions. Cast really brings out the entire tone IMO. More nads.
 
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