Best all around snare drum

I thinking that I want a Tama Bell Brass lately. I hope the feeling passes.

It probably won't...

For an "all around" great snare you can't go wrong with a:
400, 402, or Acrolite (5 or 6.5). For a little more money a 5 or 6.5 Brass, or Bronze (my fave) are great.

For playing mostly Blues, I'd personally go for a Bronze shell.
A little warmer tone that will sit really well "in" the music, but it still can crak and drive the band when you need it to.
Ludwig's Bronze shells have a great tuning range and are really sensitive. They sound great with a million different heads too.
You can find them for reasonable prices on eBay. Might be a little more expensive than some snares, but the saying "buy once, cry once" was used recently, and it fits the situation.

Throw in the Pearl Chad Smith in the mix too. Real nice snare for the money.
 
Even though I don't own it, I hope to get a Pearl Free-Floating Brass 14 x 5 snare. My most favorite drummer uses one, too but they have a 14 x 8.....
 
Just look at the facts rubboardman.

1) The Supraphonic LM402 is the most recorded snare drum ever!

2) Guys like George Massenburg (Recorded/produced/and or mixed for Toto, Earth Wind and Fire, Amanda Marshall, Chantal Kreviazuk, Herbie Hancock, Journey, Neil Diamond...well to name a few) says that anyone who goes into studio without one needs to put their head on straight.

3) 2 of the greatest drummers of all time (bonzo and ringo) who could've played anything they wanted picked the Supra .

Its just the best, most versatile drum. But theres always opinions. And thats mine.

Oh and i have mine. Its a 1971 and its freaking beautiful and always sounds amazing no matter where i am playing or recording.

God Bless,

dxtr
 
Well I am really excited about all the feedback, after reading everyones post it is obvious the Ludwig is the winner, I am really glad the Ludwig snare got 90% of the positive feeds it makes my choice that much easier. As I tell people that are thinking about buying one of my handmade percussion intruments, a good instument is never cheap, and a cheap instrument is never good. Thanks to everyone Ludwig 5x 6.5 is the one for me. Please check out my website, some of you drummers might want to give the Zydeco Rubboard a try some day. www.rubboards.com
 
What do you guys make of this test? Ludwig Supraphonic LM402 vs Pearl Sensitone Steel Snare.

It will be more interesting if you don't read the comments until after listening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2uZ9E3Nvvk

I'm no expert so it would be interesting to know what you serious snare-heads think.
I honestly didn't think much of either drum in the video. 3 minutes of drone waffle from the tester didn't help. My son has the Pearl sensitone, it's OK I suppose. I had the Ludwig some years ago. Kept it for about a week & went back to my maple Slingerland.

As an earlier poster said, Pearl free floaters are just superb, especially for the money. You can change shell material too if you really want true flexibility. From a component quality POV, blows the Ludwig away. From a sound POV, well, that's the endless subjective exchange of views.
 
I honestly didn't think much of either drum in the video. 3 minutes of drone waffle from the tester didn't help. My son has the Pearl sensitone, it's OK I suppose. I had the Ludwig some years ago. Kept it for about a week & went back to my maple Slingerland.

As an earlier poster said, Pearl free floaters are just superb, especially for the money. You can change shell material too if you really want true flexibility. From a component quality POV, blows the Ludwig away. From a sound POV, well, that's the endless subjective exchange of views.

Gotta go with the Supra here. I have the 400 right now. It can do anything...except sound like it's big brother. I hope to get the 402 in year or so.
 
What do you guys make of this test? Ludwig Supraphonic LM402 vs Pearl Sensitone Steel Snare.



Both snares are capable of a hell of a lot (alot??) more than was displayed here Poll. Both are great drums when actually struck with a stick (as opposed to rolling marbles across the head....which is what I thought I was hearing in that demo). Would you save money and buy the Sensitone instead of the Supra........sure logically, why not? But it'd be a cold day in hell before I actually did it. The Supra is a love affair, the first drum I ever heard, the first drum I ever owned.......the heart rules the head on this one.
 
Guys, I agree that the guy doing the demonstration seemed unlikely to extract a whole lot out of anything. It would be interesting to see a similar test by a drummer with great touch and feel.
 
A 6.5 Supra is hard to beat.

Bermuda
 
I once bought a used 5x14 COB Supra thinking it would replace my 5.5x14 Legend maple snare. After a few hours of tuning and side-by-side comparison, I determined I liked the sound of my old snare better. I re-sold the Supra soon afterward.
 
The bottom line is the snare is YOUR personal choice and is kind of your signature when it comes to your drumming. I probably played on 50 or so different snares before I bought my DW 10 and 6 maple snare. Years later, I find it quite loud, but it does sound awesome. It's really tough to find one that does it all for you for a long time if you play on others. I really don't think basing your purchase off of what has been "most recorded" or played by x,y, or z famous drummers is necessarily the way to satisfy your taste. Recording techniques, music types, and your taste all change through the years. JMHO.
 
The bottom line is the snare is YOUR personal choice and is kind of your signature when it comes to your drumming.

A signature sound may be great in some situations, but can easily pigeonhole the drummer at times as well. I know more than a few musicians who won't hire a drummer simply because they don't like the way their drums sound.

It's really difficult to say that one snare (or cymbal, or kick or tom) will be supremely versatile. I find myself using one of a few 6.5" Supras on about half of my gigs and sessions, but I also have 58 other snares on hand to make sure I can get whatever sound I need for a particular purpose.

If I absolutely had to live with one snare, it would be my 6.5" COB pre-serial Supra. :)

Bermuda
 
Well, after testing the waters to find a great snare for the type of music I play, which varies from rock to country to whatever I may get in the studio, I always come back to the Ludwigs. I've tried the craviotto maple solid shell, the DW edge (what a disappointment), the Pearl brass sensitone, tama maple...to name a few and I end up using a supra 402 (6.5x14) or the hammered bronze 6.5x14. That bronze snare really is a special drum. Woody tones with the bite of metal...always sounds great recorded. Just my 2 cents.....
 
Of course there is no one drum capable of everything. This is why I own 33 snares. But I am confident the 400 and 402's can cover many bases. This is why Pearl copied them with the Sensitone models.

One cannot compare this:
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With this:
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Or this:
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Or this:
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They all have their own identity. But the Luddies cover a lot of ground.
 
They all have their own identity. But the Luddies cover a lot of ground.

I couldn't agree more. I have a 1960 Supraphonic and a Birch Absolute Custom also, and they are both great drums. I am looking to add a Pork Pie maple in the near future!
 
As you can see, there are myriads of great sounding snare drums available today, but in my humble opinion, you cannot go wrong with either one of these great Ludwigs...
LM400---5X14, LM402--6.5x14. Again, if the 402 was good enough for John Bonham, it should work for you.
 

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It really depends on the application as many have said. If you have several styles of music you plan to play, then of course, you need more than one snare, not to mention cymbals and shellpack configurations. It never ends when it comes to that. Good sound engineers can make garbage drums sound quite decent too.
 
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