Skwerly
Senior Member
Some of you veterans may appreciate this thread. It’s no big deal, just a fun discussion maybe.
When I was a kid (started drumming around 19 yrs old) I wanted the loudest, gnarliest snare I could possibly find. I mean, offensively loud. I saved up some dough and hit the music shop. Came back with a Remo MasterTouch Piccolo – the gunshot like CRACK that it dealt pleased me very much. After a few years, I was good enough at the drums to record a CD with a band and the Piccolo wasn’t going to cut it in the studio, so I went on the hunt for something a tad more mellow.
I ended up picking up a used chrome Tama Swing Star snare (year unknown, probably run of the mill) and hated it immediately. It was warm, it had tone it was much deeper, and the, "Oh, my God what just happened?" *crack* was gone. Not my speed. I wanted a .45 to go off every time I brought the stick down, hard.
The “today” drummer in me is quite a bit different. I still have both snares, but just played that Tama for quite a while because the Remo was in storage. Recently, I dusted the Remo Piccolo off, replaced the heads and brought it into practice expecting everyone to ooh and aaah at the high-pitched, ringy CRACK that I would bestow upon them. I hated it. I tried and tried and couldn’t get a *tone* out of the thing to save my life. Played two shows on it, and now the Swing Star sits back on the snare stand. I love it.
Weird how things do that in life, eh?
When I was a kid (started drumming around 19 yrs old) I wanted the loudest, gnarliest snare I could possibly find. I mean, offensively loud. I saved up some dough and hit the music shop. Came back with a Remo MasterTouch Piccolo – the gunshot like CRACK that it dealt pleased me very much. After a few years, I was good enough at the drums to record a CD with a band and the Piccolo wasn’t going to cut it in the studio, so I went on the hunt for something a tad more mellow.
I ended up picking up a used chrome Tama Swing Star snare (year unknown, probably run of the mill) and hated it immediately. It was warm, it had tone it was much deeper, and the, "Oh, my God what just happened?" *crack* was gone. Not my speed. I wanted a .45 to go off every time I brought the stick down, hard.
The “today” drummer in me is quite a bit different. I still have both snares, but just played that Tama for quite a while because the Remo was in storage. Recently, I dusted the Remo Piccolo off, replaced the heads and brought it into practice expecting everyone to ooh and aaah at the high-pitched, ringy CRACK that I would bestow upon them. I hated it. I tried and tried and couldn’t get a *tone* out of the thing to save my life. Played two shows on it, and now the Swing Star sits back on the snare stand. I love it.
Weird how things do that in life, eh?