Mediocrefunkybeat
Platinum Member
My thought on if it's worth it? Maybe. If you're into that sort of thing.
I think if you're going to sink money into one drum in particular, then it really ought to be the snare drum - followed by the bass drum. They're the only ones that matter the vast majority of the time. It comes down to playing context too. Will the drunk guy at the back of the pub notice? Probably not - but if it makes you feel better when you play them, sure.
One of the best snares I owned was a Yamaha Musashi that got dubbed the 'snare of death' by one of the local sound engineers. He went to mic it up at a local venue (small place - could probably fit about 200-250 full) asked me to give it a whack and walked away with the mic, shaking his head and covering his ears. I'd tuned it high and I'd rimshotted it with a 2B and I played it that way a lot - going for the 'skill-less Bruford' vibe. High end? No. Appropriate for what I was doing? Absolutely. Would I swap it for my Guru? Absolutely not - because my Guru can do that (to a lesser extent, being a 14" as opposed to a 13") but it can also do everything else that I want it to do.
A good snare is at the heart of a good kit and is a big part of a satisfactory feeling behind the kit. A bad snare can suck all the energy out of you and make you want to walk away. Personally, if I had the money to spend on one drum, I'd do it. It'd have to be the right drum, mind.
I think if you're going to sink money into one drum in particular, then it really ought to be the snare drum - followed by the bass drum. They're the only ones that matter the vast majority of the time. It comes down to playing context too. Will the drunk guy at the back of the pub notice? Probably not - but if it makes you feel better when you play them, sure.
One of the best snares I owned was a Yamaha Musashi that got dubbed the 'snare of death' by one of the local sound engineers. He went to mic it up at a local venue (small place - could probably fit about 200-250 full) asked me to give it a whack and walked away with the mic, shaking his head and covering his ears. I'd tuned it high and I'd rimshotted it with a 2B and I played it that way a lot - going for the 'skill-less Bruford' vibe. High end? No. Appropriate for what I was doing? Absolutely. Would I swap it for my Guru? Absolutely not - because my Guru can do that (to a lesser extent, being a 14" as opposed to a 13") but it can also do everything else that I want it to do.
A good snare is at the heart of a good kit and is a big part of a satisfactory feeling behind the kit. A bad snare can suck all the energy out of you and make you want to walk away. Personally, if I had the money to spend on one drum, I'd do it. It'd have to be the right drum, mind.