What is your “old relable” snare drum ?

RickP

Gold Member
Like the title asks - what is the snare drum that is your old reliable snare drum ? A drum that you just know works for pretty much everything you do . One that just sounds fantastic .

For me it is a 5 x 14 Ludwig Engraved Black Beauty . This drum was purchased unused from Todd Trent ( former Ludwig A&R Rep and Cheap Trick Drum Tech). It originally had chrome hardware ( Imperial lugs , P85 strainer and triple flange hoops ). I met John Aldridge at the Chicago Vintage Drum Show and struck up a friendship . My Girlfriend commissioned John to engrave my snare drum for my 50th Bday . John also provided Ludwig brass tube lugs , hoops and P86 Millenium strainer as well . The drum was also recently upgraded with Canopus Vintage snare wires ( what an improvement !!).
This particular drum has a huge tuning range , wonderful articulation and can do crisp or fat .
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After using four different snares (hammered brass, engraved brass, aluminum, maple) on a friend's recent folk/rock album, I've come back to this wooden beauty for the funk band I'm now hitched to. Customized with a brass reso hoop and a Fat Cat snappy, this SLP G-Maple really sounds great. It was kinda like coming home after a long trip.

Tama SLP G-Maple Mocha Tamo Ash 02 WM.jpg
 
what is the snare drum that is your old reliable snare drum ? A drum that you just know works for pretty much everything you do . One that just sounds fantastic
I’ve gone through my snare selection over the last year and trimmed the fat of snares that “don’t work the best for such and such situations.” The snares in rotation now are drums that sound fantastic and work for everything. It’s just a matter of which “flavor” I am in the mood for, as they each have their own character:

Ludwig Supraphonic 14x5
Ludwig Supraphonic 14x6.5
Ludwig Black Beauty 14x6.5
Allegra Maple 14x7
Ludwig Maple 14x6.5
Pork Pie Maple 14x6
Slingerland 3-ply 14x5.5
DW Maple 14x4
 
mine has always been my dad's 14x5 1963 Ludwig Supraphonic. It is all stock/original parts minus the heads...and I still have the original plastic Ludwig heads that came with it at home

hinging with it's Pearl freinds
LSP1.jpg

needs a little .0000 steel wool to clean up, but it gets used a lot!!
LSP2.jpg

original snare mechanism, strainer strings, and snares
LSP3.jpg

has the crank on muffler
LSP4.jpg

almost always tuned a-la Stewart Copland or Omar Hakim....there was a time in the ealry 90's where many bands in C-bus were borrowing this snare to record with. It was cool to hear it being used in all those different settings. It was nicknamed "The Cannon" back then...

the only other snare I own is another 63 Supraphonic that is on my jazz kit. It was given to me by a friend, and is also all stock minus the heads. Looks the same as this one, but a bit cleaner
 
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