What's your favorite snare?

HBCast

Junior Member
Put budget aside , what's your favorite snare of those you have played? (not seen in a video but actually played)
 
my Brady Jarrah ply 14 x 5.5, a close second would be my Sonor Designer Ferro

F
 
Snare(s) I own:
Tie between the 6.5 Ludwig Brass and Bronze Black Beauties. The Brass is amazing in all areas, but I prefer the Bronze BB I have for recording more. The Bronze has a slightly fatter sound, and it has a tone that sits great in the mix. It cuts through very well, but it doesn't overly stand out where it can be annoying.

Snare I'd love to own:
5.5 Craviotto Diamond ( AK Brass shell) snare. Fell in love with the sound, but, couldn't justify the $2,300 price....
 
I've spent ridiculously on high end snares and still nothing beats my LM402. A very close second would be my 6.5x14 BB.
 
My Mapex Saturn 14x5.5 is the best snare I have ever played. Peace and goodwill.
 
I tried a maple Black Swamp Multisonic with calfskin heads once (my dad works in a military band up here in cold Norway, who happened to own that particular drum). I almost started a new religion.
 
My JR Robinson 14" Yamaha nail snare. Its the birch one with the copper pins driven into the bearing edge on the bottom. Amazingly sensitive but with a really nice crack to it and since it is wood its not too bright. I have recorded a ton myself with this thing and just about every drummer I record usually settles on this snare.

I would love to own a 6.5 deep black beauty but I haven't had the chance to spend any time with one yet.
 
My fave is a 6.5" Ludwig brass Supra, and there are 2 snares that fit in that category: a recent Black Beauty (people forget that it's actually one of the Supraphonics) that I use on the road, and a COB Supra c1963 which is my #1 snare in town and in the studio.

Bermuda
 
My 14 x 6.5, inch thick maple snare. It's a Pearl Eric Singer Signature, that I got free(!) with a set of Pearl drums, the same set in my new avi. (not a fanboy of Erics, but I love the snare)

That drum goes for between 4 and 5 hundred bucks by itself, it's discontinued now. I paid 1200 for the drums.

I like maple snares. Or more generally, wood snares. Bronze would probably be my favorite metal drum. Not a big fan of the brass, call me silly.
 
I have two favs - a standard 14x5 Ludwig classic maple, and a 14x6.5 pearl session series. The sessions series was a big surprise. It is the original sessions series (not the new SSC) with a blended birch/mahogany shell. It has the same hardware available that came on the masters series at that time and man does it ever produce a fat meaty sound. Best of all, it cost barely $100.00.
 
Tama SLP Classic Maple 14x5.5
Fantastic quality snare drum and sounds superb no matter what I throw at it
 
I have a couple of favorites for different situations.

For live my favorite is a 6.5X14 Craviotto Unlimited. The drum is fat and very warm sounding, it just sits perfectly in the mix. This one goes everywhere with me!

For recording, I really like my 6.5X14 Ludwig Black Beauty. I don't know what it is about that drum, but NOTHING beats it in the studio. I have brought many snares into studios to record, but the Black Beauty is on EVERY album/cd I have recorded.

It's not my favorite, but my Ludwig Classic Maple snare is really a gem, especially for the price. If I only had a couple hundred bucks with which to buy a snare, I would definitely get a newish Ludwig Classic Maple. They sound good in just about any environment, they are sensitive, and they are fairly cheap.
 
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i bought a DW performance series 13x7 last year in the Holiday White and i love this snare so much... before that i was playing a OCDP american made custom 13x7 that a keep as a gig\backup snare.
 
Well lets see.I was thinking about just saying all of them,but I can't say I love one above the rest.They all have their own distinctive character,sound and feel.

So the Ludwig 78' LM 402, 65 LM 400 supraphonics and 85 LB 417 black beauty,65 LM 404 acrolite,65 Jazzfestival,79 Slingerland spitfire in lacquered brass and Slingerland 47 Super Gene Krupa Radio King 14x7.
Honorable mention to the Tama 14x6.5 Kingbeat.

There's more but I'll just leave it at those few till I change my mind next week.:)

Steve B
 
I have a Ludwig Epic 7 x 14 that I like a lot. I understand now Ludwig is promoting it as the Brick. With the exception of Ludwig Supra's it is probably the finest snare I have owned.
 
I have other snares, different materials, wood, hoops... Doesn't matter. As silly as it sounds, my favorite snare by a long shot is an "old" early 90's (I think) Tama Rockstar steel snare. I know. It's cheap, it's not supposed to be my fav. Can't help it. Whenever I swap out for one of the others, within a day or two, I'm always putting that old pitted steel back in the basket.

Go figure.
 
I also possess an old Tama Rockstar steel snare. It's 14"x6,5 and I use it a lot. I have used it for everything from light jazz to heavy hitting progressive metal ala Meshuggah and such. It's a real workhorse of a snare drum! Although my all time favorite snare sound I can remember playing is that Black Swamp Multisonic I mentioned.. I'm almost drooling just trying to picture that sound in my head.
 
It depends on what day of the week because I love the ones I own but my favorites are my Noble &Cooley classic SS maple from 1987 and my newly built Joyful Noise 5x14 nickel over heavy brass "Standard" model.
I played a couple of wood snares last summer that blew me away...a Canopus Zelkova wood snare and a 6x14 cherry snare made by Longo. Longo makes some amazing snares esp. the walnut and the cherry.
 
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