Got a new snare!

Bo Eder

Bo Eder

Platinum Member
To contrast my 6.5x14 nickel over brass, I got a new DW Performance 8x14 snare in tobacco satin finish. Apparently nobody had any of these in stock so I went on a leap of faith about what it would look like. Happily, it looks great. So I'm posting a couple of pictures here so you know what it really will look like.

But I'm looking forward to using this as a main snare if I'm just playing phat back beats and Eagles songs. I've given it a re-tuning and installed my own aircraft cable to hold the snares (I don't dig the plastic strips they use to mount snares), and replaced the batter head (a coated black dot underside) with a coated Evans G2. It's gonna sit over night at finger-tight tension and in the morning I'll give it a good thunder tuning.

For a mini-review of these Performance drums - this isn't bad. It's a DW HVX shell with no reinforcement ring, and it uses the smaller turret lugs found on Performance series drums. The hoops are not the DW True Hoops, but they seem just as rigid and heavy, and you do get a Mag strainer with the usual DW non-adjustable butt (the DW Collector's snares get the three-position butt). Otherwise, alot of it is the same. They even use the same wire snares as on the Collector's. Just by looking it feels like a solid instrument, and at a little over $400 I didn't feel too guilty about buying it since a Collector's snare in 8x14 wood would push me into the $800+ range. I'm looking forward to putting it through it's paces when the sun comes up!

Performacne-snare-web.jpgsnare-vertical-web.jpg
 
According to Dw’s site, performance snares have 3.0mm hoops. I don’t know how heavy the true hoops are, but 3.0 seems like it’d be pretty sturdy.

I tried a 6.5” Performance maple snare and was pleasantly surprised. It had more body than I was expecting given the price point. I don’t think it had any super mojo kinda vibe you’d get from something more specialized, but I do think it’d make a great all around player.
Btw, I’m more than happy with the performance shell pack I picked up this summer. In videos I’ve seen on YouTube, they sound tepid, but I think it’s the stock heads. After switching them out for evans batter and reso, they came to life. Warm, tonal, responsive...all that good stuff.

Let us know how this one works out.
 
I just bought the 6.5" deep ebony stained version of this and I love it. Mine was also on backorder for about a week. Between COVID and most of Cali being ablaze, I think their (DW's) production is down.
 
It may just be me, but I much prefer the performance series. They are just more open sounding to me. Same goes for their snares. That’s a nice looker Bo.(y)
 
I like the Ludwig Standard snare drums in this same size too. Classic maple shell with downplayed appointments to keep the cost low.

Speaking of DW though, I about went home with a 14 x 8 DW Design steel shell. It was the first steel-shelled drum I've ever heard that didn't hurt when I played it. Nice and deep and much warmer than expected.
 
PorkPieGuy said:
I like the Ludwig Standard snare drums in this same size too. Classic maple shell with downplayed appointments to keep the cost low.

Speaking of DW though, I about went home with a 14 x 8 DW Design steel shell. It was the first steel-shelled drum I've ever heard that didn't hurt when I played it. Nice and deep and much warmer than expected.
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I picked up a 6.5x14 collectors stainless steel snare this summer and it hasn’t left my stand since. It’s the best rock n roll snare I’ve heard in years
 
I never disliked DW stuff but shied away from it until this year. Mostly due to their reputation for boxy sounding snares and tubby sounding toms. I took the DW plunge this year and couldn’t be happier with the Performance set and collectors snare I bought.
 
I think DW’s stock heads are the culprit for weird sound. I think they’re too thin. As soon as I swap heads the drums sound great. Pearl may be the only ones who get it right when they install emperors over ambassadors on their Reference drums at the factory.
 
Bo Eder said:
I think DW’s stock heads are the culprit for weird sound. I think they’re too thin. As soon as I swap heads the drums sound great. Pearl may be the only ones who get it right when they install emperors over ambassadors on their Reference drums at the factory.
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No clue why DWs ship with the heads they do. They do very little to showcase their drums properly and if anything kill them. You'd think they could at least ship with some standard Ambassadors!
 
arpic75 said:
I must have gotten lucky, mine sounds awesome as it was right out of the box.
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I think they sound pretty good on smaller drums, but from 12" up they sounded thin for me. Almost like they weren't exciting the shell enough to get them to sing. I heard more head than drum. I'm loving the sound and feel with UV1s on my 8'" and 10" and UV2 on the bigger drums.
 
The performance series snares and even design series are where the value lies.

i had a collectors series snare that sounded very similar to the design series snare. Honestly would be tough to tell them apart minus the collectors being heavier
 
Bo Eder said:
To contrast my 6.5x14 nickel over brass, I got a new DW Performance 8x14 snare in tobacco satin finish. Apparently nobody had any of these in stock so I went on a leap of faith about what it would look like. Happily, it looks great. So I'm posting a couple of pictures here so you know what it really will look like.

But I'm looking forward to using this as a main snare if I'm just playing phat back beats and Eagles songs. I've given it a re-tuning and installed my own aircraft cable to hold the snares (I don't dig the plastic strips they use to mount snares), and replaced the batter head (a coated black dot underside) with a coated Evans G2. It's gonna sit over night at finger-tight tension and in the morning I'll give it a good thunder tuning.

For a mini-review of these Performance drums - this isn't bad. It's a DW HVX shell with no reinforcement ring, and it uses the smaller turret lugs found on Performance series drums. The hoops are not the DW True Hoops, but they seem just as rigid and heavy, and you do get a Mag strainer with the usual DW non-adjustable butt (the DW Collector's snares get the three-position butt). Otherwise, alot of it is the same. They even use the same wire snares as on the Collector's. Just by looking it feels like a solid instrument, and at a little over $400 I didn't feel too guilty about buying it since a Collector's snare in 8x14 wood would push me into the $800+ range. I'm looking forward to putting it through it's paces when the sun comes up!

View attachment 96313View attachment 96314
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What snare stand do you use? I have a Tama (Roadshow I think) and it barely goes low enough to fit an 8" deep snare. I had an 8" and it sat a little too high for me, even with the stand at it's lowest.
 
incrementalg said:
What snare stand do you use? I have a Tama (Roadshow I think) and it barely goes low enough to fit an 8" deep snare. I had an 8" and it sat a little too high for me, even with the stand at it's lowest.
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Well, I can’t use my Crosstown with this snare as it doesn’t go low enough for me. But I do have a Yamaha 7 series that does go low enough that I’ve had for years now. The basket just has to go to 15” above the ground which I know it does.
 
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