Yamaha SC snare vs Pearl VPX

M

Mustion

Senior Member
Sorry for another "help me choose between X and Y" thread... but, here it is anyway.

I'm looking for a standard-sized, wood snare. I don't need something fancy, just a good bang for your buck value. I've narrowed it down to the Yamaha Stage Custom and the Pearl VPX. Both are birch, both are comparably priced, the Yammy has 10 lugs while the Pearl has 8 (less of an issue as I regularly use an 8-lug Acro), the Yammy has a basic P85-style strainer while the Pearl's seems more robust and the lever direction can be re-positioned.

Anyway, if anybody has experience with these I'd like a little advice. I've played on one or two SC snares but they were not in great shape so that experience is a bit skewed as a result.

And please, no "forget X and Y, get Z"--I've already narrowed it down to these two for several reasons, including local availability.
 
Yamaha Stage Custom all the way. All other budget wood snares are ho-hum, but this one sounds like it should cost 2-3x the price IMO. Very clean and tight sound for such a cheap drum. Not to mention the excellent Yamaha hardware.
 
IBitePrettyHard said:
Yamaha Stage Custom all the way. All other budget wood snares are ho-hum, but this one sounds like it should cost 2-3x the price IMO. Very clean and tight sound for such a cheap drum. Not to mention the excellent Yamaha hardware.
Click to expand...

I'll second that. The Yamaha snare sounds great, even with stock heads.
 
Well I went with the Pearl.

I already have a Yamaha snare that came with my SCB kit, I was just in the market for a particular color. Figured I'd change things up.
 
Mustion said:
Well I went with the Pearl.

I already have a Yamaha snare that came with my SCB kit, I was just in the market for a particular color. Figured I'd change things up.
Click to expand...
Cool. You can never have too many snares... says the unmarried guy ?
 
yammyfan said:
Cool. You can never have too many snares... says the unmarried guy ?
Click to expand...

I probably do already. But you see, I have this thing about not matching a snare to kit; so when I got the SC kit, its snare just simply had to go but I can't bear to sell so it went to my bop kit. But I wanted a wood snare to go with said kit so there ya go.
 
For those interested, I tried it out this weekend after putting some better heads on it and a S-Hoop on the batter. And it's... all right. I remember reading a review somewhere about it having this annoying ring to it, and sure enough... it was there! And while I preferred the strainer on this to the simpler Yamaha one, it was factory drilled poorly and as a result, the strainer is at a slight angle. I guess I got what I paid for, but I could get more from the Yamaha for about the same price! So off to GC I go to buy that one instead. Luckily I tried it out with new heads so I can just put the stock ones back on and hopefully get a full refund if I return it...
 
Update again, ended up picking the Yamaha SC snare I originally bought then returned because I was infatuated with the Pearl (the GC staff must love me), and.... yeah, I should've just saved the time and hassle and gone with my first instinct/listened to the lot of you. Slapped some proper heads on it and an S-hoop and it's a great snare and clearly just made better than the Pearl. And, though used, cost a little bit less too.
 
Mustion said:
Update again, ended up picking the Yamaha SC snare I originally bought then returned because I was infatuated with the Pearl (the GC staff must love me), and.... yeah, I should've just saved the time and hassle and gone with my first instinct/listened to the lot of you. Slapped some proper heads on it and an S-hoop and it's a great snare and clearly just made better than the Pearl. And, though used, cost a little bit less too.
Click to expand...
Cool!

I assume you replaced only the batter side hoop with an S-Hoop?
 
Yeah, no point in replacing the snare side hoop really. But batter side is a must! I chew up far fewer sticks now...
 
I've always wanted to try S-Hoops. Not to save my sticks, but to see how rimshots feel. Maybe I should get a Yamaha Stage Custom birch snare and upgrade the batter hoop like you've done.

Would you say the S-Hoop plays any differently than the stock hoop?
 
IBitePrettyHard said:
Would you say the S-Hoop plays any differently than the stock hoop?
Click to expand...

It has a much lower profile relative to the surface of the head, so that's the main thing. Might take getting used to especially when side sticking but I got used to it quickly. I find that rim shots are less physically jarring to play, though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top