Aluminium snares

There are some great sounding aluminum snares not mentioned,the Pearl Tico Torres is one of the best sounding snares out there period.

Cast aluminum shell and can be had for under $300 used.

The Yamaha SD 3455 is an excellent all aluminum shell snare that can be had for under $200 bucks.

I own both and give them very high marks.
 
Wave Deckel said:
Of course it sounds better to me - as I stated - but also to several people who did a blind test with me, sporting five aluminium snares (same tuning, same heads, same drummer, same room). Almost all of them were conviced that "that cool sounding snare" was the Supra - which it wasn't. It was the SLP (one guy picked the Pearl Sensitone as the "Supra". Nobody liked the DW Aluminium). Go figure...

Bad thing is... Tama does not produce that amazing snare anymore.

Definitely. An amazing snaredrum.
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I am suspicious of a major inherent flaw, comparing DIFFERENT drums and tuning them all the same, with the same heads, wires and drummer, room etc. How you can be sure that each drum was prepared, shown heard and played in it's best light?
 
Wow, lots of great suggestions and lots more aluminum snares to listen to! :) One thing is for sure, it wasn't an automatic 'you must buy a Supraphonic!' response as I thought might be the case. I think my budget needs to stay around £250 which is about $330.

I've heard the Yamaha RC Aluminium 14 x 6.5. Sounded very good. But again, I fancy sticking to a slightly shallower shell. I think there's a 5.5 version that Ì need to hear but will be over my budget no doubt. I heard the Ludwig standard in a 3 way comparison with the Acro & Supra and wasn't that moved by it.

At the moment though, there are two playing on my mind. The Supra and the Tama SLP super. Acrolite as well, but third choice I think.

Wave Deckel, as the SLP classic dry aluminum is readily available and within my budget, would you be able to say if it sounds much the same as the super aluminium? I believe the super is a slightly thicker shell and is louder. Buit in terms of replicating the crack/pop, focus and tone of a Supra, do you think the classic dry SLP does it? I only found one super aluminium on reverb which is over $400 with shipping from Canada to UK and I wonder if there'd be import charges as well.
 
I've played and tried out MANY aluminum snares including all that have been mentioned in this thread. I have found that certain snares that sounded superb while testing alone in a room in a controlled setting actually fell short and I was disappointed in when played in the context of a live band. These are my personal recommendations regarding sonically, feel, hardware durability, build quality and playability in a live band setting.

If you are on a very tight budget then the Acro is the way to go. Cheap, nice sound and feel and works well playing live. It's a sleeper snare for sure and you can play it while saving up for one of the snares I'm about to mention ;-)

If you have more to spend but don't want to break the bank I have found that the Yamaha RC Aluminum or Tama SLP Super-Aluminium are absolutely the way to go. They're amazing sonically, have incredible feel but also have the hardware durability that you will never need to worry about or have to upgrade. More importantly though, they sound awesome in the mix and context of a live band.

If money isn't an issue, then my first choice would be the Dunnett 2n. Phenomenal sound, feel, build quality and hardware durability and it sounds superb live. The next choice is the Joyful Noise. IMO though, the Dunnett 2n ticks all the boxes of the Joyful Noise but at a lesser price.

The Ludwig LM400 is a great sounding snare no doubt. It's a legend for a reason. IMO though, there are just too many other snares that sonically sound just as good or better and work equally as well in a band setting but have superior build quality and durability over the LM 400.

As others have stated though, play and listen to as many as you can and pick the one that ticks all the boxes that are most important to you...and that fits in your budget. :)
 
Thanks R2112. As the Tama SLP Aluminium has 8 lugs and the SLP Super Aluminium has 10, I'm going to make an assumption that the regular SLP is probably going to be closer to an Acrolite and the Super closer to the Supra. I think it's definitely between the Super and Supra for me. I think in many ways I'd prefer a new or newish Super and it would be cheaper.
 
Brian said:
I am suspicious of a major inherent flaw, comparing DIFFERENT drums and tuning them all the same, with the same heads, wires and drummer, room etc. How you can be sure that each drum was prepared, shown heard and played in it's best light?
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All drums were either 14x5 or 14x5.5 and were played in low, medium and high tuning (tuned with a tune-bot). Every snare thus had the ability to show its potential at different tuning ranges and the Supra simply was not the winner for those drummers who participated in the "guess the snare"-game.
 
Merlin5 said:
...
Wave Deckel, as the SLP classic dry aluminum is readily available and within my budget, would you be able to say if it sounds much the same as the super aluminium? I believe the super is a slightly thicker shell and is louder. Buit in terms of replicating the crack/pop, focus and tone of a Supra, do you think the classic dry SLP does it? ...
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Hard to tell. I gave the SLP CLassic Dry Aluminium a shot and it is different to the Super -Aluminium. Not better, not worse, just different. It is a bit more open sounding, having only eight lugs vs. 10 lugs, but those overtones are nice and well controlled. It also has a tiny bit or more body imho. For the money, it is definitely a great snare, hands down. You really can't go wrong with that snare, I'd say. Versatile, huge tuning range, well built, great look. But still a tad different to the Super-Aluminium. A Super-Aluminium vs. Dry Aluminium-comparision is, as you mentioned, pretty much like a Supra vs. Acro-comparision. Both sound great, although both are a tad different.
 
Thanks Wave. I tend to buy snare drums based on hearing players who play in the style and tuning I like, and in a live gig situation rather than in a controlled studio environment. Seeing Adam Deitch play the Supra and the SLP Super on two live gigs has pretty much made my mind up. I've put a wanted advert at a UK drum forum for either drum. The Acrolite is still on the table though. Really not sure about the classic dry SLP, will probably skip it.
 
Josidiah said:
I recommend checking out the Yamaha RC Aluminum. I tried both the 5.5 and 6.5 version a few weeks ago, and walked out with the 6.5 (They had a special offer on that one, else I would still be trying to decide). For me, it really was a no-brainer.

I have no idea about their UK prices, but if it falls within your budget, you might be blown away like I was, so why not give it a try...
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I would second that suggestion. The Yamaha RC Aluminum is a fantastic drum. The die-cast hoops tame the drum just a little bit and it sounds phenomenal. I also like the 10-strand snare wires that come in the box for you to swap out. They dry out the drum a little and I prefer them to the 20-strand set.

The hardware is top notch, the throw-off is rock-solid, and the drum weighs like half of the wood snares that I've owned (1/3 of the Tama G-Bubinga!!).
 
alparrott said:
IMO, the Ludwig Standard aluminium snare is a complete sleeper. Even though it's less common than the Acrolite (and often priced accordingly), it's got a slightly different character due to no center bead - just a straight shell. I play mine at gigs where I need complete control over the sound, and also tracked an 80's homage tune in the studio (the songwriter was looking for a high-pitched "Stewart Copeland" sound).

So many good choices out there, both new and used. It's nearly impossible to get it wrong.
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+1 on the Ludwig Standard aluminum snare. Al is right - a complete sleeper. I got one in great shape off of eBay for less the $150. I love it.
 
I heard more of the Ludwig standard yesterday. This guy called bonzoleum was playing it on some videos of his. He calls it the 'Acrolite to the Acrolite' lol. I must admit, it certainly sounded good and has a mightier crack than I thought from another video. But it's the Supra for me! There's just something about the tone that floats my boat. :)
 
I went trough the "buying aluminium snare" exercise very recently. I tried a bunch at a local music store. The acrophonic which looked like hammered acrolite sounded very good and it was 5" deep. Maybe you should check it out? To my ears sounded better then the SLP 5" aluminium I compared it against. And in general I prefer Tama then Ludwig. The Pearl Senstitone sounded better then both of these, but it was 6.5" deep.
I ended up buying the Aero by GW though.
 
I looked and looked and drove myself crazy looking for an aluminum snare. I eventually decided on a vintage used Acrolite in absolute mint unused condition for $175. It took me several weeks to find one in that good of condition priced reasonably. There were many priced $300+ but at that price I could buy a new INDe or Oriollo or even a new Acrolite. So I scored a used Ludwig for about half the price of a quality new snare, and it looks brand new even though it's 40 or so years old. I'd recommend this as your choice and procurement.
 
Cool, good price. I got to get me one.

Along those lines, can anyone comment on the differences between the old Ludwig Standard snare and an old Acrolite? .....both being aluminum Ludwig's.
 
Out Of Warranty said:
Cool, good price. I got to get me one.

Along those lines, can anyone comment on the differences between the old Ludwig Standard snare and an old Acrolite? .....both being aluminum Ludwig's.
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The Acrolite is made from the same beaded shell as the Supraphonic, but is not chromed. It is drilled for eight lugs, not ten, and usually those lugs are bowties, not imperial lugs as on the Supra.

The Standard used a different, unbeaded shell, and cheaper lugs whose profile was later re-used for the first Rocker series of drums. The absence of a bead in the shell creates a slightly different tone for the drum. This shell, as far as I know, was not used for any other line.

Acrolite:
LM404C-large.jpg


Standard:
IMG_0858.JPG
 
I have a Standard (which I love) and always wanted an Acrolite. Just didn't know if it made sense to have both. If I can find one on eBay for a good price, I might go for it.

Thanks,
 
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