How did we go from 5x14 to 5.5 ?

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Bonnies1

Well-known Member
Aren’t most vintage snare that are 5” deep 5 and not 5.5 ? Radio Kings, definitely Ludwig metal drums. Gretsch, almost everybody. Right ?

The first I knew of a 5.5 was Craviotto on 2007/2008. I can’t really remember any company doing that before then. Now it’s everywhere. Personally I prefer the 5, tho I like shallower snares. I’d imagine if you like a deeper drum you like the 5.5.

But this is less about what you like than how we got here.

Who’s got some knowledge bout dis here, or dat dere ?
 
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jaymandude said:
Aren’t most vintage snare that are 5” deep 5 and not 5.5 ? Radio Kings, definitely Ludwig metal drums. Gretsch, almost everybody. Right ?

The first I knew of a 5.5 was Craviotto on 2007/2008. I can’t really remember any company doing that before then. Now it’s everywhere. Personally I prefer the 5, tho I like shallower snares. I’d imagine if you like a deeper drum you like the 5.5.

But this is less about what you like than how we got here.
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IDK, there are a lot of vintage Slingerland snares that are 5.5. IDK when it originated, but 60s at the latest.

www.notsomoderndrummer.com

1960s Slingerland Artist model snare drum — Not So Modern Drummer

In 1963 the Slingerland Drum Company introduced a new snare drum to their drum line. This snare was cataloged and advertised as the new Modern Artist model. Previously, Slingerland used the Artist model name on their earlier snare drum line from 1928 to approximately 1935. Some of these fi
www.notsomoderndrummer.com www.notsomoderndrummer.com

And I know you said to focus on how we got here, but I prefer the 5.5 depth. :)
 
Stroman said:
IDK, there are a lot of vintage Slingerland snares that are 5.5. IDK when it originated, but 60s at the latest.

www.notsomoderndrummer.com

1960s Slingerland Artist model snare drum — Not So Modern Drummer

In 1963 the Slingerland Drum Company introduced a new snare drum to their drum line. This snare was cataloged and advertised as the new Modern Artist model. Previously, Slingerland used the Artist model name on their earlier snare drum line from 1928 to approximately 1935. Some of these fi
www.notsomoderndrummer.com www.notsomoderndrummer.com

And I know you said to focus on how we got here, but I prefer the 5.5 depth. :)
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Thanks. I don’t know my history that well, just bits and pieces. I think there’s maybe 2 versions of the Ludwig wood drum, and a real Ringo drum is 5.5.

And of course, by the second page it will devolve into what people play without any regard to the question. I’m trying to keep that at bay for as long as possible. It’s so blasé
 
I just measured my '59 Radio King. It's 5.5" deep. My Yamaha Manu Katche is also 5.5" deep, and those came out in the 90s, though mine is a 2nd-generation 2000s model. Tama have made tons of 5.5x14 Starclassic snares, starting in the 90s.

So maybe it became widespread in the 1990s.

Personally, a half an inch makes pretty much no difference to me. I've got tons of 5" deep snares, and tons of 6.5" deep snares, and those are pretty different, but compare a 5x14 BB to my Manu and that half inch will be one of the least critical factors in why those two drums sound different.

I will say, from an aesthetic point of view there's something about the 5.5" depth that seems to look a little nicer...
 
I've been playing for 40 years, and during that time I've owned a LOT of snares. The vast majority of them were 5.5" deep. It's a standard depth that's been around for as long as I've been playing, probably much longer.

Out of my four current snares, two of them are 5.5” deep (one is a 14” and the other is a 13”). My other two snares are 5x14 and 6x14.
 
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One could easily ask how did we get to 5" when in the 1920's most snares were 4".

But looking through vintage Ludwig catalogs online

Vintage Snare Drums online Ludwig Drum Sets - Vintage Ludwig Drum Sets - Vintage Ludwig Drums - Ludwig Drum Company

Vintage Drum History is all about history for Ludwig Drum HIstory, Slingerland Drum History, Rogers Drum History and the History of Vintage Drums, Vintage Snare Drums amd Vintage Drum Sets.
www.vintagedrumguide.com

In the 1920s most snares were 4" but by the mid-1930s 6.5" and 7" were stock sizes, along with the 5".

It seems snare sizes have, in general, been all over the place over the years.
 
DrumEatDrum said:
One could easily ask how did we get to 5" when in the 1920's most snares were 4".

But looking through vintage Ludwig catalogs online

Vintage Snare Drums online Ludwig Drum Sets - Vintage Ludwig Drum Sets - Vintage Ludwig Drums - Ludwig Drum Company

Vintage Drum History is all about history for Ludwig Drum HIstory, Slingerland Drum History, Rogers Drum History and the History of Vintage Drums, Vintage Snare Drums amd Vintage Drum Sets.
www.vintagedrumguide.com

In the 1920s most snares were 4" but by the mid-1930s 6.5" and 7" were stock sizes, along with the 5".

It seems snare sizes have, in general, been all over the place over the years.
Click to expand...

It goes in waves. Remember the 90s, when everyone was using a piccolo snare? Nobody wanted anything deeper than 4”, and some people were using 3.5”.
 
Maybe the 5.5 was a better middle ground to the popular 6.5. I've owned many 6.5's and for me they are nice but the shallower drum has more crack which I like. Younger I was always torn between the two but now it's the 5.5 I prefer. If I'm hooked on shallow I'm a 4 guy. Out front over the years impressed with a snare sound the shallower 5.5 or 5 was the one that turned my head.
 
Bozozoid said:
Maybe the 5.5 was a better middle ground to the popular 6.5. I've owned many 6.5's and for me they are nice but the shallower drum has more crack which I like. Younger I was always torn between the two but now it's the 5.5 I prefer. If I'm hooked on shallow I'm a 4 guy. Out front over the years impressed with a snare sound the shallower 5.5 or 5 was the one that turned my head.
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I gotta say, I prefer a 5 in a thin shell, or a 6 or 6.5 in a thicker shell
 
We could ask how we got from 16+ inches deep, for that matter. I suspect the answer has to do with portability and playing a "contraption."
 
New (2018) Pearl Session Studio Select wood snare is a 5.5
 
Sonor ferromanganese 5.75" 🙄
 
Ludwig has been doing 4, and 5 and 5.5 since 1920. 100 years
Slingerland too, and both companies evolve to deeper snares in 30's and 40s, to 6, 6.5 and 7
 
it looks better in the ad type "5.5 X 14"
than "5X14".

Maybe if they could use "5.0 X 14"
 
I think it was Bill Detamore of Pork Pie that mentioned one time that the length of the tube/cylinder that shells are cut from was a factor in the depths he chooses. He said something to the effect of each one having 3" left over (when cutting at popular depths like 6.5") but nobody is buying piccolo snares anymore, so he adjusted to not waste that wood.
So I assume there were similar factors historically to arrive at what became popular sizes.
 
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