What size is your main snare? Why?

I usually take two snares with me, a 14"x6.5" Bubinga Stave Shell which is great for that meaty metal and rock stuff. But I use a 13"x5" as my secondary which I crank up for added dynamics in verses. If I can't use both due to limited microphones I use my 6.5" for rock/metal stuff and my 13"x5" for jazz, funk and pop gigs.
 
My main snare right now is a 5-1/2x14 Pearl Tommy DeGrasso hammered brass snare. Sweet!

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Currently, a 13 x 7 Black Magic for rock - I enjoy having a little more room between the legs especially with an active left foot, plus the pop of the slightly smaller diameter combined with the power and depth of the, well, depth is just a ridiculously wicked combination. Plus it can go real high or low.

For everything else, there's a good old 14 x 5 '67 Acrolite. It just works.
 
I use whatever snare sounds best. My first was a Mapex Black Panther maple piccolo 13x3, and then I used an Omar Hakim 13x5 for 8-9 years, and now I'm using another Black Panther, this time a 14x5.5.

I would argue that any snare can be versatile if you know how to tune it in different ways and if the kit is properly micd for live shows etc. I've never owned more than one snare at a time, and I've never felt that I needed to. :)
 
I don't have a main snare, but I do have a main size: 6.5x14"

Althouigh I have various snare sizes in my arsenal, I find that the 6.5x14 covers more musical territory than a 5x14" (for example.) On the rare occasion where I need a higher 'pop', I'll bring out a smaller drum. If I need a deeper, more rattly sound, I have 8x14s and a lovely 7x15". But 95% of the time, I need a more average range of sounds, and the 6.5x14 snare gets more of them than the 5".

Bermuda
 
My main snare is a 13"x6.5" Tama Artwood maple. I love this drum, and got a KILLER deal on it.

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I could play anything I need to on my 14 x 6.5" maple drum for the rest of my life and be completely happy, wanting for nothing. I've been playing it for almost 6 years now it does super high, high, medium, low, everything...like a champ. One great drum...multiple tunings, is all I need. Anything less deep sounds too thin to me. Piccolos especially irratate me. Sorry.

I feel the same way about piccolo snare drums. They don't sound right and the playing response is horrible. I frequently teach percussion at a local middle school. Apparently, the music store that the school uses favors piccolo snare drums for the students. I don't want to give my true opinion to the kids about these drums, but the truth is, the drums suck. Try teaching a dozen 6th grade students, all with piccolo snare drums. First-time students have a hard enough time learning to control the sticks without the poor response of a shallow snare.
 
My main snare is a 10-ply maple 6.5 x 14. It is the best sounding snare in my humble inventory at the moment.
 
There's also another issue at play here. I don't play a great variety of music, blues, rock, country, pop, maybe a little jazz...so I have this thing where I want to be identifiable by my snare sound. The snare sound I like, IMO, works well for all the genres described above, so there's a big part of me that wants to use just one snare drum, that is identifiable to ME only.
I want, and feel I already have, a signature snare sound, that I use for nearly everything. A few songs need different tunings, but basically speaking, all the music I play has the same snare tone. I am 1000% satisfied with my snare tone. I don't even bother trying to top it anymore, because to my ear nothing can top it. So I'm done. I'm done searching for snare tone, ride tone, hi hat tone, bass drum tone. I'm completely ecstatic about all of them. The toms, still have room for improvement. As does my playing lol.
 
My main snare is a 1.5 inch thick maple 14x6 and my side snare is a 1.5 inch thick maple12x6. I use fairly wet sounding heads on both and use control rings to dry them out. With the 12 being quite a bit higher pitch than the 14 it allows me to switch quickly between 4 different snare sounds by adding or removing the control rings. Playing 40+ different cover tunes a night this allows me to pick a sound close to that originally used in each particular song.
 
I have two - my 14x6.5 Mapex Saturn snare which is full bodied, sensitive, and very rich. I love it. When I want to get a bit more wild/loud I use my 14x6.5 Pearl Brass Free Floater which is louder and more aggressive, but still deliciously sweet. I have never used anything smaller than 14" as my main snare, although I would like to pick one up.


My main snare is a 13"x6.5" Tama Artwood maple. I love this drum, and got a KILLER deal on it.

What does that thing sound like? I have a mate wanting to get rid of his 13x5.5 Artwood Maple. But he lives in another town so I won't be able to actually hear it in the flesh.
 
My current main snare is a 14x5.5" Ayotte Maple. It pretty nice and versitile. Plus, the wood hoops are pretty. I also have a custom 14x6" maple stave, but it sounds almost identical to me.

I used to have a 12x 5" as my main snare. I used it for years, and I still really like the sound. It has tons of pop and cuts through any loud music. You just have to be okay with a higher pitched snare sound. It will probably move to my side snare for the occasions that need it.

My 10 x 6.5" almost never gets played and probably won't be anytime soon.
 
DW 14x5.5 nickel over brass or DW 14x5 10&6 maple or Yamaha oak 14x5.5. Depends on the gig
 
I don't have a main snare, but I do have a main size: 6.5x14"

Althouigh I have various snare sizes in my arsenal, I find that the 6.5x14 covers more musical territory than a 5x14" (for example.) On the rare occasion where I need a higher 'pop', I'll bring out a smaller drum. If I need a deeper, more rattly sound, I have 8x14s and a lovely 7x15". But 95% of the time, I need a more average range of sounds, and the 6.5x14 snare gets more of them than the 5".

Bermuda

Same here, 6.5x14 works for me in just about any situation.
 
I can't decide which one I love more!!! It's between my 14x6.5 black beauty and my 13x7 black magic. I have remo powerstroke 3's on both and puresound 20 strand snares on both.

These two sound amazing to me!!!!!
 
What does that thing sound like? I have a mate wanting to get rid of his 13x5.5 Artwood Maple. But he lives in another town so I won't be able to actually hear it in the flesh.

I tune mine very high but I like the sound of it. I like 13" snares so it works for me. Has a nice pop and a nice ring to it too.

I used it to record my band's EP. This is pretty dang close to how it sounds in person.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T30aQ_47sQY
 
I really like the sounds I can get from deep snares. Even when I crank it I still get a nice, deep hollow sound to go along with that crack and I love that combination. My main snare is currently a 14x7 Yamaha LOUD Oak, where I mostly play rock gigs but I've been using it at church as well.

I'm looking to purchase a 13x6.5 Yamaha Sensitive snare to take over the LOUD snare's church responsibilities as soon as my bank account will allow it. Looking forward to that day!
 
My main axe is a Mapex Saturn 14x5.5. I REALLY like it, more than any other I have ever owned (and there have been many). Peace, goodwill, and blues.
 
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