One beautiful brass snare...

[crazyhorse]

Ok Ok... I admit I just have to brag a little on this one and toot my own horn. =) Just finished this up as the first drum completed in my new (and first) house. Despite being exhausted from moving and unpacking countless boxes (how the heck did I fit all that crap into an apartment?!?!) I made time the other night to complete the finish and put the hardware on this one.

I present the first brass shelled snare that I've built:

http://www.mckenziedrums.com/MetalShells/BrassSnareComplete1.jpg

She's 14 x 6... 1/16" thick rolled brass with diecast hoops and a luddy p86 strainer. Going to a fellow drummer here in NC this week. Haven't found the zoom recorder yet in the mess of boxes so no recording just yet. Working on that!

[Bish]

That is absolutley beautiful, im lost for words! great work.

[GRUNTERSDAD]

Very nice Tim. Absolutely beautiful.

[mikei]

Don't tell me I am going to have to eventually buy a snare from you too???

That is amazing.

I want to hear it also.

Can you shoot me a PM about what the approximate costs for something like this is???

Mike

[Ironcobra]

Always impressed...still waiting on a crappy looking snare from you...

Although I think it would have looked better hammered, it has some serious bling factor.

[stasz]

Da dang what a snare! I've seen brass snares with gold plated hardware and throws before but this one takes the cake. Really, just beautiful work, and it has to sound fantastic, too.

[crazyhorse]

Thanks guys =) I know some of you saw it posted elsewhere but I'm like a proud father with this one. It's the first metal shelled drum I've turned out that I can honestly say is perfect.

[Nick S.]

Nice job crazyhorse! The snare is beautiful. I've been thinking about building my own snare. Would you mind telling me where you purchased your components?

Thanks,
Nick

[Drumsword]

I agree, That is one beautiful drum.............. I'll take 1 :)

[mikei]

How heavy is that beauty!!!

[crazyhorse]

Weight... I'll have to check.. I'll grab the scale out of the drum building area in a sec.

As for the components, I have my own metal shells built to my specs. The hardware you can get from www.drumfoundry.com (that's my preferred retail supplier anyways) I buy my stuff wholesale since I build more than just a couple drums. It's not really a business yet, more of a hobby I guess... but I do have wholesale accounts with a few places.

[junglelord]

Me likey the bling bling.
NICE STUFF>

[Sirwill]

This is the first time I have been blessed by your works of labor. Do you have a site/link of more examples of your craft? Stunningly pure!

[crazyhorse]

sirwill: Thanks! You can just search for other posts by me.. I post them here.. I've got some listed on my website: www.mckenziedrums.com but I have to admit I'm a bit behind on updating it with new stuff. Guess I should do that this week.

[crazyhorse]

Ok fine.. uploaded a few photos. There's more that I didn't add but that'll give you an idea. lol

[driver]

Woooh that's a nice one Crazyhorse! The throw off makes it. I have been lusting over a picture of a similar looking drum made by a UK company called FVF for some time accept that drum has black hoops with brass lugs....your's is nicer!

Future sound files and more pics would make me very happy!

[crazyhorse]

FVF does very cool stuff. Actually Noonan there in the UK is my hero with his very cool concepts and new shell designs. On the wood side the Highwood guys are friggen awesome. Lots of good choices on that side of the pond!

http://www.mckenziedrums.com/SoundFiles/BrassSnare1.mp3 (right click, save as.. 1.7 megs)

That's an UGLY recording I grabbed with my Zoom H2 really quick. Tried to point out the dynamic range on the roll (got sloppy at the loud point, sorry!) and just goofing around with some stupid beats. You can hear the difference between the center and the edge pretty easily. In a normal sized room the ring would be just perfect.

[driver]

Yeah Noonan Isn't far from where I live and really close to MFB. Great stuff. Could never afford it sadly!

That snare sounds great. Got that kind of sound that just would make you groove for hours! How is it tuned in the recording? Sort of medium high?

[crazyhorse]

Yea pretty much... not really cranked by any means. I've a habit of playing my snares in the medium tension range though I will crank down the bottom head.

[junglelord]

Always wanted a Carbon Fiber Snare...nice price's dear sir, and nice shells.

[Philippe]

this one looks absolutely fantastic...! curious to hear some audio clips!

[aruration]

Oh god that is absolutely breathtaking !!!!!

Very nice job, well done man.

By the way nice chair too ;p

[Bob Smith]

Always wanted a Carbon Fiber Snare...nice price's dear sir, and nice shells.

Funny thing is he has made a corbon fiber snare too.

[ZildjianMan1023]

looks great tim



2020202020202020

[crazyhorse]

Yea I'm a fan of the carbon fiber snares... sadly the only one of MY snares that I've kept for myself is my first magnesium one. Wouldn't mind having a few others in the arsenal.

Oh and the chair came from the Tiffany's jewelry store when they did a remodel... yay free furniture! =)

[KarlCrafton]

Wow, great job!

That's a cool looking snare....and one of my favorite strainers too.

Is it slightly sanded, or brushed?

Your finish looks nicer (and classier) than the usual mirror polished Brass.

Your prices are fair too (listed on your site) and the other snares look just a nice (the Mag "RK" is very cool).

What kind of edges do your metal snares have?
Cut or rolled over?

Nice job again!

[crazyhorse]

The edges on the metal snares are typically hand rounded over just a touch. At 1/16" thick you don't really need to put an edge on it and I don't see any reason to fold it over at all. I've done some 1/8" thick aluminum shells that I actually use a router to put a true edge on.

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Yeah Noonan Isn't far from where I live and really close to MFB. Great stuff. Could never afford it sadly!

That snare sounds great. Got that kind of sound that just would make you groove for hours! How is it tuned in the recording? Sort of medium high?

Yeah, I used to know Gary Noonan. He ran a shop fifteen minutes walk from my house and a very good shop it was too. Helpful guy who knew his onions - I bought various bits and bobs from him over the years. I was walking down the street once and he recognised me and came over for a chat. I haven't seen him around recently, but he closed his shop down due to the overhead costs; it was down by the Fort and the Promenade in Gravesend.

He actually had a great set in his shop once, where the customer had asked for XLR outputs to be put into the shells of the drums, presumably for a May Internal system and it was a good job, beautiful red stave shells. He actually got some really nice Keller 3-ply reinforcement prototypes in at one point I recall, but he mainly made his own stave drums. His workshop was nice - I went in there once or twice and he fabricated all of his own lugs using a lathe. Lovely brass lugs. So all in all, a high-quality manufacturer - very expensive, but you may for his kind of quality.

Crazyhorse, keep on producing these lovely snares. It really helps that your photography is excellent as well - I'm very impressed by your work.

[Derek]

Crazyhorse, that is a beautiful snare drum! Would you please also p.m. me on the price of one of those?

If it sounds as good as it looks...

Beautiful work man. You're a skilled craftsman.