Opinions on Pearl Maple Free Floating Snare.

BabyBob

Silver Member
Hi people of DW Forum,

I'd like some thoughts on the Pearl Maple Free Floating Snare, which I think I may be buying in the future form a friend of mine though not anytime soon, as I currently not enough funds Do you think it's worth it? He's selling for RM600(roughly 180USD?) The seems condition is good enough.(according to the pics)

I have yet to hear the real sound but according to my friend he describes the sound as bright,cutting, and resonant. I'd like some pros & cons of this snare for you pro people...(to me at least :p) Anyways here's a taken from my friend's phone.

6519848789_56e48f90fb.jpg


I prefer feedback from those who owns this Snare. Those who don't own it are also welcomed to give some opinion on it.

Reply Soon.
BB
 
I have the 14 x 6.5 version. It has been my main snare for 15 years. The drum is as he describes. The die cast hoops allow this drum to cut tremendously with that maple shell. I've gotten compliments on it many times. I know another drummer that has been gigging for about the same 15 years and has only ever owned that snare. And the reason is, it works. He's told me many stories of people complimenting his snare sound.

I play aggressive music. He plays rock.

You can also get Pearl to make you a brass shell. It takes 3-6 months as they aren't a stock item anymore, but you can replace the maple shell with the brass one. I just got mine for $120. Looks sick. So for a little more, you can also have two drums in one.

I haven't had a chance to hook up the new brass shell, but I'm confident that shell is going to add just the right amount of ring to that already cutting sound.

I expect you'll love the drum.

ps. I've often used an Evans Genera HD dry head on it. That head is 2 plys for heavy duty hitting and dries the drum out some. So if you want to take more advantage of the resonance of that maple shell, you probably don't want to use that head. But if you do, that head on that drum (with those die cast hoops) will make it a focused snare drum sound that cuts through anything.
 
Great snare for money.As allready some says before, cut throu great.

I would call it for Perals answer on Supraphonic.( Not in tem of sound, I mean what you get for money). Standard multipurpose snare that no one can say its not great.
 
The advantage, of course, is that you can swap out shells and get several different personalities (and depths, too) out of a single drum. So you can have a wood shell and a metal shell, for example.

The disadvantage is that the aluminum frame dries out whatever the shell is, which is why many people refer to the Free Floater sound as boxy. Sometimes it's a good thing -- these days I keep a brass shell on mine and the aluminum dries out the brass a little, which is nice for my purposes. You should realize that, whatever insert you use, the total shell is going to be around 25% - 30% aluminum.

I think people equate the dryness with volume. With the brass shell it's pretty loud, but no louder than an equivalent dry-brass drum would be. With the wood shell, I haven't noticed it to have an appreciable difference in volume, aside from the possible boost the metal frame gives it.

But it can be a wood drum on night and a metal drum the next night, which is kind of cool.
 
^-------Jeff (carolina), knows what he is talking about. So take a little bit from my post and add his perspective.
 
I had one with my last pearl kit and loved it. It basically has a radial bridge on one side which takes all the mounting stress from the tension rods instead of mounting everything to the shell. That snare was one of the reasons why I ended up trying then buying a set of radial drums.
 
A set of used die cast hoops are worth $100-120. So the price he is asking is very fair. I am not a fan of the bulky looking free floating set up. The concept is great, but I find the end result is visually very un attractive. But they still are pro level snares, and shouldn't dissappoint you.

I see, is it that bulky? What do you mean by end result visually very un attractive? Hmmm

I have the 14 x 6.5 version. It has been my main snare for 15 years. The drum is as he describes. The die cast hoops allow this drum to cut tremendously with that maple shell. I've gotten compliments on it many times. I know another drummer that has been gigging for about the same 15 years and has only ever owned that snare. And the reason is, it works. He's told me many stories of people complimenting his snare sound.

I play aggressive music. He plays rock.

You can also get Pearl to make you a brass shell. It takes 3-6 months as they aren't a stock item anymore, but you can replace the maple shell with the brass one. I just got mine for $120. Looks sick. So for a little more, you can also have two drums in one.

I haven't had a chance to hook up the new brass shell, but I'm confident that shell is going to add just the right amount of ring to that already cutting sound.

I expect you'll love the drum.

ps. I've often used an Evans Genera HD dry head on it. That head is 2 plys for heavy duty hitting and dries the drum out some. So if you want to take more advantage of the resonance of that maple shell, you probably don't want to use that head. But if you do, that head on that drum (with those die cast hoops) will make it a focused snare drum sound that cuts through anything.

I see so the shell on this snare drum can be swapped out? How can one do that? What reso head are you using?
 
I've got a 14x6.5 maple FF. Good drums. Certainly cutting enough. If you like it and the price is right, why not.

Good to know that. What heads do you use?

Great snare for money.As allready some says before, cut throu great.

I would call it for Perals answer on Supraphonic.( Not in tem of sound, I mean what you get for money). Standard multipurpose snare that no one can say its not great.

Alright sir will take note.

The advantage, of course, is that you can swap out shells and get several different personalities (and depths, too) out of a single drum. So you can have a wood shell and a metal shell, for example.

The disadvantage is that the aluminum frame dries out whatever the shell is, which is why many people refer to the Free Floater sound as boxy. Sometimes it's a good thing -- these days I keep a brass shell on mine and the aluminum dries out the brass a little, which is nice for my purposes. You should realize that, whatever insert you use, the total shell is going to be around 25% - 30% aluminum.

I think people equate the dryness with volume. With the brass shell it's pretty loud, but no louder than an equivalent dry-brass drum would be. With the wood shell, I haven't noticed it to have an appreciable difference in volume, aside from the possible boost the metal frame gives it.

But it can be a wood drum on night and a metal drum the next night, which is kind of cool.

Noted, but where & how can I get another shell to swap it out?
 
^-------Jeff (carolina), knows what he is talking about. So take a little bit from my post and add his perspective.

Excuse my stupidity but may I know who's Jeff?

???

I had one with my last pearl kit and loved it. It basically has a radial bridge on one side which takes all the mounting stress from the tension rods instead of mounting everything to the shell. That snare was one of the reasons why I ended up trying then buying a set of radial drums.

Alright will definitely go for it then.
 
The poster who makes drums...Carolina Drumworks...his poster name is MotleyH...his real name is Jeff. Didn't mean to confuse you. But he makes sick snare drums and obviously knows his stuff. So, I'd listen to what he says :)

Ok, so this drum is called a Free Floating Snare Drum. Free floating because there is nothing attached the the shell. That aluminum base you see in the picture in your thread allows the drum to tension the resonant (snare side) head independent of having the shell in the drum. Man I am no good at describing this.

There are no lugs or anything attached to the shell. You take the batter head off and you can then just lift out the shell leaving behind the bottom hardware (snare side head, snare side hoop and all of the lugs that are attached to the base). So since you can remove the shell, you can put other shells in it.

Pearl will still make brass shells (maybe others too...I only know about brass). So, I went to my local guitar center and had them order me one for my drum. That shell cost 120 dollars...which seems very inexpensive to me because it allows me to have a maple drum (which is how it came) and now a brass drum if I change out the shell.

I'm sorry if my description is no good, I'm sure someone else can come in and do a better job. Or google the free floating snare drum and see what Pearl says.

Know, as already said in this thread, that the die cast hoops on that snare drum go for $60 a piece. So you have a decent amount of money in just hoops on that drum.
 
I just use the Evans Hazy 300 head...same head I use on all of the snare side (resonant sides) of my snare drums.
 
I've been considering this as my next snare as well. I used to have a Pearl free floating with a steel shell and it sounded fantastic. Another thing I regret selling.

I'm sure you'd love this snare but if you get a chance, try one first.
 
The poster who makes drums...Carolina Drumworks...his poster name is MotleyH...his real name is Jeff. Didn't mean to confuse you. But he makes sick snare drums and obviously knows his stuff. So, I'd listen to what he says :)

I see, nah you didn't confuse me.

Ok, so this drum is called a Free Floating Snare Drum. Free floating because there is nothing attached the the shell. That aluminum base you see in the picture in your thread allows the drum to tension the resonant (snare side) head independent of having the shell in the drum. Man I am no good at describing this.

There are no lugs or anything attached to the shell. You take the batter head off and you can then just lift out the shell leaving behind the bottom hardware (snare side head, snare side hoop and all of the lugs that are attached to the base). So since you can remove the shell, you can put other shells in it.

Pearl will still make brass shells (maybe others too...I only know about brass). So, I went to my local guitar center and had them order me one for my drum. That shell cost 120 dollars...which seems very inexpensive to me because it allows me to have a maple drum (which is how it came) and now a brass drum if I change out the shell.

I'm sorry if my description is no good, I'm sure someone else can come in and do a better job. Or google the free floating snare drum and see what Pearl says.

Know, as already said in this thread, that the die cast hoops on that snare drum go for $60 a piece. So you have a decent amount of money in just hoops on that drum.

I see so its quite versatile in a way. Interesting indeed. Thanks for your time explaining it to me.

I just use the Evans Hazy 300 head...same head I use on all of the snare side (resonant sides) of my snare drums.

Alright.

I've been considering this as my next snare as well. I used to have a Pearl free floating with a steel shell and it sounded fantastic. Another thing I regret selling.

I'm sure you'd love this snare but if you get a chance, try one first.

So Steel Shell, Brass shell....mmmppphh what about other shells beside metal ones? Can they fit?
 
I know I see steel shells for sale on Ebay all of the time. I know that Pearl will still make brass ones as I just got one last month, and clearly the drum you are looking at has a maple shell.

I think, but could be wrong, at one point Pearl had bronze shells for these also...or was it copper? I don't know. I don't know if they are still available.

But yes, it is a very cool drum. The aluminum frame never bothered me cosmetically. As MotleyH points out, a good bit of the drum sound is the aluminum frame. But regardless, I think the drum sounds great and have always liked it (obviously, since I've used it as my main snare for 15 years).

It is always a good suggestion to play the drum yourself before you buy when possible.
 
...or was it copper?

Yep it was. The shells I've seen over the years are maple, brass, copper and steel. Don't ever recall a bronze shell, but that's not to say it never existed either.

These days Pearl just offer maple and steel, but I know I've seen the others around on ebay from time to time.......probably a good chance of finding any of them used if you're patient enough.
 
Yep it was. The shells I've seen over the years are maple, brass, copper and steel. Don't ever recall a bronze shell, but that's not to say it never existed either.

These days Pearl just offer maple and steel, but I know I've seen the others around on ebay from time to time.......probably a good chance of finding any of them used if you're patient enough.

I ordered a brass shell a few months ago and got it last month. They are supposedly still making them from scratch per order. So they don't have any lying around, but will make them if you order them. $120 is the price for the brass shell that fits the 6.5 depth drum.

So maybe you mean they don't offer the brass drum anymore, but I know you can get the shell if you want.
 
Yep it was. The shells I've seen over the years are maple, brass, copper and steel. Don't ever recall a bronze shell, but that's not to say it never existed either.

These days Pearl just offer maple and steel, but I know I've seen the others around on ebay from time to time.......probably a good chance of finding any of them used if you're patient enough.

Okay, I've reserve that snare already but won't be getting it anytime soon. (Funding Issues) Maybe around June? Not sure though.

Anyway what's the difference between brass, copper and steel on a snare drum? The only thing I know is metal snares are louder...no? .__.
 
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