Metal or Wood?

Superman

Gold Member
I probably own 20 snare drums and only use 1 or 2...lol. Today I took off a maple Premier Elite snare and put on an old Pearl Jupiter COB I haven't hit in at least 10 years. I always thought I preferred wood but I have to say, I felt this had better response.

Just wondering what most of you use?

Thanks
 
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At this point, I play nothing but wood. I like a dryer, rounder tone from my snare, and, though exceptions do exist, wood exhibits those qualities more readily than metal. I have no plans to return to metal snares, but if I do, aluminum is the most probable species, owing to its relatively controlled sound. I avoid metals that ping and honk.
 
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I've had several wood snares over the years but I'm only interested in metal snares now. It wasn't a conscious decision but more of a
realization that I would always return to playing metal snares. It's not that I dislike wood snares, it's just that my favorite snares are all metal.
 
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I only own 2 metal snare drums:

1959 Ludwig Supraphonic and a 1963 of the same drum. Both 5x14" The 59 is my dads, and the 63 was a gift...

so metal...

I have nothing against wood snares, but have never needed one. These 2 have got me through everything I have ever needed for a snare
 
I have 3 snares. One stainless steel, one aluminum and one maple piccolo. I generally prefer metal, but I’ve had some great wood ones. For wood snares, I tend to like em dry but with a lot of body. I’ve had some that sound crisp, but lack body...some to where I might as well have been playing a box of crackers.
 
It’s a never ending decision making process for me as well. One day I prefer metal snares, the next day I take it off the stand, and go for a wood snare. And like many, I’ve owned numerous snare drums; both wood and metal. Lately, I have a few that are heavily rotated with my kit. A Canopus 6.5x14 mahogany snare; a pre serial Ludwig COB; a pre serial Ludwig LM400; and a 90’s era Ludwig hammered bronze 6.5x14. Although I like them all, the Canopus snare is really becoming my favorite. So, I guess this week it’s the wood drum.
 
7x13 brass, 6x14 cocobolo, 5x13 bubinga as of currently
 
If I could only pick one snare for the rest of my life, it would be metal. Either an LM402 or a 6.5" Black Beauty. I have no problem getting as much fatness out of a metal drum as a wood drum, but metal shells have more top end. I've got a dozen snares, though, and they all get used for various things.

You people talking about rosewood, though... I'd love to get my hands on an 80s Tama Rosewood.
 
If I could only pick one snare for the rest of my life, it would be metal. Either an LM402 or a 6.5" Black Beauty. I have no problem getting as much fatness out of a metal drum as a wood drum, but metal shells have more top end. I've got a dozen snares, though, and they all get used for various things.

You people talking about rosewood, though... I'd love to get my hands on an 80s Tama Rosewood.

I had one of the 40th Reissues for a couple of years. I sold it to fund a limited Pearl Masterworks Santos Rosewood. I also ended up getting a Pork Pie Santos Rosewood in that sale. Both absolutely destroyed the reissue Tama.

I bet the 80 Tamas are something special!
 
Wood. My first kit was a Pearl Export and came with a steel snare drum, but as the years progressed i was more drawn towards the sound of a wooden snare drum on recordings. Eventually i bought my first wood snare (Osan 14x4" Maple) in 2002ish and used that as an aux snare before using it as my main snare for a while. Got another maple 14x5" snare around 2004 or 2005 (can't remember) from Osan too and that was my main snare for the next decade or so. There is just something about the sound of a wood snare, that "pop" you can't get from a metal snare without added "ring".
Did play a Ludwig Supralite 14x5" 3 years back or so and i was really tempted to get one, but i think i would reverted back to my current main snare eventually because (up untill now) that's just the snare drum for me.
My current snare is the Pearl Ltd Edition Kapur 14x6.5" and is my main snare since i got it in 2013. Also have Vision 14x5.5" which is 'meh', but that is/was the snare i took to gigs on bars etc. where i wasn't sure my gear would be handled nicely or could get stolen etc.
 
Metal for me. My go to snare is a Spaun bell brass (3mm thick shell), and my second snare of choice is a Tama hand hammered copper (3mm thick shell). I also have a pearl free floater with a brass shell and maple shell, as well as the DW snare that matches my kit, but those two snares don't get a lot of use.
I'm thinking of having a thick metal shell made for the free floater, but haven't decided on bell bronze or stainless.
 
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