Pearl Free Floater (advice)

Defender

Silver Member
All, I'm checking out this Pearl, Free Floating Snare (the ad says it's 7 1/2 deep, but doesn't say (12,13,14..) The badge says "Steel Shell" and "Made in Japan". I've already looked online a bit and can't find anything at all about a steel shell 7 1/2 inch shell.

Some help would be appreciated. I'd love to know roughly what year this is, how it sounds (from anyone with experience), perhaps what size it "might be" if it's not 7 1/2 inches deep, and roughly what this type of drum might go for.

Thanks in advance for any assistance,
Defender
 

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First generation Free Floater (as noted by the hex lugs and the extended snare wires). If they're claiming the shell to be 7.5" deep, then it's most likely a 14x8. If they've got their measurments wrong then it'll be a 14x6.5.
 
I have a second gen 6.5" brass free floater and the actual shell is 5" deep. The aluminum ring/cradle that the shell sits on is 1 1/2" deep, so it effectively is a 6 1/2" deep drum. This one probably has a 6" deep shell, so its 7 1/2" deep, but the guy could have his measurements wrong and the shell is actually 6 1/2" deep making it an 8" drum.

Overall, i wouldnt pay more than$150-200 for it.
 
This one probably has a 6" deep shell, so its 7 1/2" deep,

No such size. They came in 3.5, 5, 6.5 and 8" depths.

but the guy could have his measurements wrong and the shell is actually 6 1/2" deep making it an 8" drum.


Agreed. The more I think about it, it's definitely more likely his measurements aren't exact. It'll either be a 6.5 (assuming he's measured from hoop to hoop) or 8" (if he's just (mis)measured the shell alone).
 
Well, thanks for all the replies guys.. I just looked at the ad again and it's gone.. I guess I'll stick with my Tama Starclassic Birch for the time being... I was actually looking to pick this up because the free floating design has always interested me and also because I was looking to pick up a decent metal drum.. Maybe one day soon I'll see something brass for $150..lol A guy can dream, cant he?
 
Aargh, better luck next time OP. I have been looking to score a FF also although I really don't think it would get much use. From what I have heard and seen they're a great rock snare, really delivering on that powerful rock snare sound. Andy (Keep it Simple) has dubbed this type as the "Crack Monster". I saw a pretty good rock cover band in New Orleans that was playing what looked like a 6.5" Brass FF. Really worked for what he was playing.

If your heart isn't set on a FF and you're interested in a brass snare then check out Drum Factory Direct's offerings. Looks like they had some merchandise get water damaged and they're blowing out a few Worldmax brass snares on the cheap. A little surface rust on the inside but a quick dusting with some 0000 steel wool will fix that up.
 
Off topic question, but in terms of the free floating shell - does that even work? Throughout my career, I've had the chance to play many a Free Floater and although they "free float" the shell, they've always sounded like snare drums to me. I would think I'd hear so much resonance it'd be too much, right? And I never have. The drums sound great, don't get me wrong, but I'm not sure if they sound great because they're 'free floating', though.

Am I wrong?
 
Off topic question, but in terms of the free floating shell - does that even work? Throughout my career, I've had the chance to play many a Free Floater and although they "free float" the shell, they've always sounded like snare drums to me. I would think I'd hear so much resonance it'd be too much, right? And I never have. The drums sound great, don't get me wrong, but I'm not sure if they sound great because they're 'free floating', though.

Am I wrong?

I am not sure if It's all Marketing Hype or not, but just the fact that I can swap out shells and have a Totally different drum is way cool. Shells go for About $110 from Pearl, and you can also router your own keller shell and use that too.
I recently got a 6.5x14 Maple, because I heard A Guy down there in Arcadia using one, and it sounded great. You may have heard of him...Jimmy Volpe?
 
I am not sure if It's all Marketing Hype or not, but just the fact that I can swap out shells and have a Totally different drum is way cool. Shells go for About $110 from Pearl, and you can also router your own keller shell and use that too.
I recently got a 6.5x14 Maple, because I heard A Guy down there in Arcadia using one, and it sounded great. You may have heard of him...Jimmy Volpe?

I can understand the swappable shell idea. I thought about that too back in the day, but then I realized it wasn't something you could do instantly on the fly - so it became easier to carry a wooden snare and a Supra, just so I could cover the basics of two different materials, and also have a spare on hand should one fail.

But I've never heard of Jimmy Volpe - but I haven't heard of alot of really good players in my own backyard. It would be cool to meet more drummers, though.
 
I can understand the swappable shell idea. I thought about that too back in the day, but then I realized it wasn't something you could do instantly on the fly - so it became easier to carry a wooden snare and a Supra, just so I could cover the basics of two different materials, and also have a spare on hand should one fail.

But I've never heard of Jimmy Volpe - but I haven't heard of alot of really good players in my own backyard. It would be cool to meet more drummers, though.

He plays with Pat O'Brien and the Priests of Love. They are a blues band, and play at First Cabin Bar.
I found out about him through my friend, also an L.A. drummer, Chris Moore.
Anyways, Jimmy is one of those great single Bass drum players, And Used to share a the stage with AVH in the 70's and 80's...One of those from The Strip that should be a Rock Star, but never made it for some reason.
 
The ability to swap shells is kind of cool. An aluminum shell, a brass shell and a maple shell would cover lots of different sounds. I only have a brass shell, but I occasionally look for shells on eBay. There are some Pearl ones, but as stated earlier, you can get a Keller shell, a Voughncraft shell, a stave shell, etc and as long as it is the right size and has at least one bearing edge it will drop right in.
 
I bought a copper shell version of this back in the late 80's. It served me well but I eventually got rid of it. It was a 14" FF although I never measured the depth. My feeling was that it was a 7" but - not sure it makes a difference.

I'm with Bo in that I never felt it was special because of the Free Floating technology. It sounded good but not because of the tech.

AFAIK, you have to change the tension rod solutions if you go to a shell of a lower depth. No problem switching out a same size shell. You can do that the same way you change a drum head.

To me the tension rod swap limits the 'FF' technology's value to me. You may have composition flexibility but not depth.

I agree that for the price of the extra shell, you are close enough to the price for a good used snare that it doesn't give enough motivation to switch out shells.

I sold it after I wasn't playing as many rock gigs. It was a good one to hard though. :)

Jim
 
That's a 6.5" FF BTW, I can tell just by looking at it. And yes FF's sound the way they do b/c of their construction.

Anytime a shell is not being stressed from direct to shell contact lugs, its going to have a different sound character than a shell receiving tension from just the top and bottom. Direct to shell mounted lugs present a jack-fest to a drum shell. PEARL takes advantage of this by using thin metal shells, the brass FF shell is still only 1mm. I'd love to hear the effects of aluminum lugs on a PEARL FF snare.

I believe PEARL isn't making a steel FF shell anymore, they do now have phosphor bronze (1.2mm), stainless steel (1.2mm) and seamless aluminum, along w/6 ply birch, 6 ply maple and 6 ply maple with an inner ply of mahogany, pretty cool stuff. The steel FF was the only model that came without die cast hoops.
 
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It could be my imagination, but I think the aluminum base plays a large role in the sound of these drums, probably even more than getting the lugs off the shell. I say that because in theory the shell should resonate more than normal, but I haven't noticed that in my experience. I feel like the maple versions have a little extra bite to them because of the the metal base it sits on, which is probably why many people refer to them as great rock drums. The brass ones are powerful, too; I think they sound thicker than the 1mm shell would indicate. And as for swapping shells, I know it's as easy as a head change, but I'd rather just have both a metal and a wood snare ready to go.
 
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... so the guy that was selling this floater was selling it with a Pearl M80 and a snare stand for $150. It was gone the same evening I posted this thread.. Now the same drum is up on the same site but the guy swapped out the nice Evans head with some no-name PoS and swapped out the steel shell that was on it for an aluminum one and now wants $160 for it...

Oh, the crap people try to pull... Hilarious! I offered him $100 until I realized he had swapped the steel shell. With the aluminum one maybe I'd go to $80. But he wont sell it for that...some sucker will buy it for $160.
 
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... so the guy that was selling this floater was selling it with a Pearl M80 and a snare stand for $150. It was gone the same evening I posted this thread.. Now the same drum is up on the same site but the guy swapped out the nice Evans head with some no-name PoS and swapped out the steel shell that was on it for an aluminum one and now wants $160 for it...

Oh, the crap people try to pull... Hilarious! I offered him $100 until I realized he had swapped the steel shell. With the aluminum one maybe I'd go to $80. But he wont sell it for that...some sucker will buy it for $160.



Aluminum PEARL FF shell?

PEARL FF don't come up used that often, $160 is still a deal IMO... the sale for $150 with the other drum was a steal.

Altho 5.5" is the most versatile size basket IMO, 6.5 not bad. If dude swapped the steel for a PEARL aluminum FF shell, $160 is a score.
 
yeah, a Pearl aluminum free floater shell might go for 150 on it's own. Aluminum, and I think there was a copper one too once upon a time are really hard to find. There was a Tico Torres signature model that had an aluminum shell, and they aren't cheap if you can find one. It's a bit of a holy grail for free floater fans.
 
People associate aluminum with quality, and steel with sh!t. I like a steel shelled snare because of the bright poppy sound it has. However, steel snares come with just about every low end kit on the market, hense the sh!t stigma. Aluminum reminds people of acrolites and thoughts of seamless vs seamed, or 1mm vs 1.5mm vs, etc. They get all dreamy eyed about owning an aluminum snare and it just drives up the price.
 
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