show off your snare

[ianjphil]

While my collection is nowhere near the size of many of the other users (which are all amazing by the way!), here's my humble little set. I feel like I can cover most, if not all, the sounds I need with these just from different tuning, heads and snare-wire combos.

Ludwig:

14 x 5 Supraphonic
14 x 5 Black Beauty

Shells that I made:

14 x 5.5 Stave Canadian Maple
14 x 6 Stave African Bubinga

[longgun]

Originally Posted by ianjphil

While my collection is nowhere near the size of many of the other users (which are all amazing by the way!), here's my humble little set. I feel like I can cover most, if not all, the sounds I need with these just from different tuning, heads and snare-wire combos.

Ludwig:

14 x 5 Supraphonic
14 x 5 Black Beauty

Shells that I made:

14 x 5.5 Stave Canadian Maple
14 x 6 Stave African Bubinga

Do you notice much of a sound difference between the supra and the BB?

[ianjphil]

Originally Posted by longgun

Do you notice much of a sound difference between the supra and the BB?

They both share the characteristics of the Supraphonic formula, i.e. articulate snare response, wide tuning range, projection, record-ability, etc.

The big difference between the two is the tone of the shell. The Black Beauty has much more low-mid warmth, and a more rounded tone. I find the Supraphonic has more of a mid-range focused tone, with a slight edge on top-end crispness.

Even though I primarily use the Black Beauty, as that is what my ear is drawn to, they are both equals in my mind. Just different shell characteristics to drawn upon depending on the gig.

[oldrockdrummer]

My humble collection

[zarrdoss]

14 x 6.5 ludwig Supralite, 14 x 6.5 Tama Metalworks, 14 x 8 Ludwig BM, 14 x 5 Ludwig Acrolite (sold). 13 x 7 OCDP black brass, 14 x 6.5 Natal old world bronze, 14 x 10 custom Pearl maple Die cast hoops and Trick throw, 13 x 9 Pearl Limited Birch with die cast hoops and Dunnett throw, PDP 14 x 6.5 Ace snare with 2.3 mm hoops and DW mag throw. 10 x 6 PDP 805 maple, 14 x 5,5 Crush ash, 13 x 7 OCDP ash with die cast hoops, 13 x 6.5 Tama Metalworks, 14 x 3.5 steel Pulse piccolo (sold), 14 x 7 Crush acrylic, 14 x 6.5 Crush aluminum. Mapex MPX 14 x 8 maple with die cast hoops and DW mag throw, 14 x 6.5 Ludwig Acrolite limited.

[scooter540]

My modest collection. I've owned countless snares in the past but I tend to sell what I don't use. These three have me covered no matter what the gig is.

Saw a Morgan Rose snare a few posts down. Used to own one of those a couple years ago. Nice snare but pretty one dimensional. And the glow in the dark alien things didn't actually glow all that well. Safe to say you don't have us all beat ;)

[uniongoon]

Whose lugs are those on that last segment shell, Allstars? Is it Canarywood? Nice snares, all 3.

[alparrott]

Only 3 so far, but trust me, I have quite a wish list. This also doesn't include several I have owned, but for whatever reason no longer have.

(1) This 5x12" 10-ply maple with re-rings started life as a DW Collectors' Series and was modified by its previous owner, who replaced the lugs and refinished it... none of which appears to have affected its sonic properties. Currently with a Genera Dry batter and Hazy 300 snareside.

(2) I got this steel 5.5x14" snare secondhand. I can't figure it out. It has 8 lugs. The original lugs are cheap, pot-metal copies of Ludwig's imperial lugs. Five of them have snapped in half, and so I replaced them with generic Taiwanese lugs. The original strainer and throwoff were made of cheap stamped metal, so I replaced them with Pearl parts. Removed the interior muffler. The bead on the shell is concave like a Yamaha, not convex like a Ludwig shell. Doubtless an imitation of an LM400 by some Japanese or Taiwanese company back in the day. Came in a hard case very similar to what Ludwig used to put their snares in. Currently running a coated G-Plus over a Hazy 300.

(3) A Peace 3.5x14" steel piccolo with 12 lugs. Quick, snappy, poppy. The only snare I own that I bought new. Frosted G-Plus over Hazy 300.

Best yet: the total cost (to me) for all three of these snares was $250 (the 5x12 cost me $100 used, the other two cost $75). I have made back the money I spent on these snares several dozen times over!

EDIT 14 April: Well, I took the plunge. I plunked down some serious money for a serious snare. I've never been a big Pearl fan, but for the value and quality of this snare, I decided to go ahead and get it -- a Sensitone ELite 5 x 14" nickel over brass. And I am absolutely loving it. The funny part is, I had been looking for a used Acrolite and had given up. The store had a Sensitone Aluminum, but the brass seemed more all-purpose. Then, at the counter as I'm paying for the snare, a kid and I start talking and he says he's got an Acrolite, and when he gets home, he'll snap some pictures. Turns out it's not an Acrolite -- in fact, it's a Ludwig Standard Aluminium, same quality, no bead, harder to find. I'm swapping the piccolo out to get this puppy, since I have the high, poppy sound covered with the modified DW.

[Joseph "Stix" Davis]

I recently picked up this Mapex Saturn Series maple walnut snare. I love it!