Steel snares on the cheaper side.

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dreib

Active member
When I quit gigging on a regular basis I got stupid and got rid of my pearl free floater snare, I had a brass and steel shell, and started using all older wood ludwig snares. I cant ever seem to get a decent snare sound when recording with these things so im gonna start looking around for a steel shell snare on the cheaper side that I can hot rod.

What do you guys use/recommend to look out for?
 
Around $100.00. What I dont want is like a cheapo export snare. Ive seen acrolyte's for around 100 bucks but have never tried one, plus Im thinking Id want the shell to be 5.5-6" deep. Im probably just over anaylizing ,but I dont wanna pass up something because I dont know anything about it, if that makes any sense.
 
100 bucks is pretty cheap. If you see an Acrolite for 100, buy it. I'm not sure though, aren't they all 5 inches deep? I think the Acrolite is an unfinished 5" aluminum shell, and the Supraphonic is chromed and can be 5 or 6.5" deep. Older Supras are chrome over brass, and very sought after. I think for a really good metal snare, you're gonna be looking around 250-300 minimum. I paid 370 for a new Supra "Ludalloy" and it's easily my favorite snare out of the 4 I have.
 
Yeah how cheap are you talking? Edit, nevermind.

I have a tama metalworks that I dig the sound of quite a bit.
 
Im trying to sneak a snare in under the wifes radar so 300 bucks would be pushing it. I would love to try a suprphonic or black beauty but thats not gonna happen right now. Im gonna keep checking craigslist and hit some pawn shops and music-go-rounds next week and see if I can find a diamond in the rough, it just is hard when most of those will have shit heads and snares.
 
The metalworks I bought was $100, came with new heads and the snares were flawless (evans G1 and reverse coated dot or something like that).

Sounds really good for a cheap ass snare:

 
Hey man, get a black beauty knock off. I have tons of snare drums and have tried every snare under the sun (I used to run a drum department) and I would say the best for your money would be a PDP Ace. Its a brass snare, tube lugs, and a great all around snare. I got a 14x6.5 with a DW throwoff and Puresound snares for $79. Its a great sounding snare and they come in a few different sizes. Just in case you are wondering I am by no means partial to PDP, in fact I'm not a fan of most of there gear. Anything Black Panther is also great and if you look around for long enough you should be able to find a nice one for around $2-$250. Hope this helps. I'd be happy to help with any other drum gear questions.
 
Well I ended up finding a cheap no name aluminum shell for 30 bucks, I put some new heads on it and a fat cat and it doesnt sound half bad. At the very least I know now that I need to get another good steel snare to have in my arsenal. Im officially bored with wood snares!
 
I bought a brand new set of Sonors about 2 years ago for $300. Which means the snare was probably worth about $20. I once used it on a song, hoping for a cheap, trashy sound. I ended up getting more comments on how awesome the snare sounded than anything, so it didn't end up sounding cheap and trashy at all.

My point is that, if you put the right skins and tune your drum properly, then pretty much any snare (or kit) can sound good.
 
RAMI said:
I bought a brand new set of Sonors about 2 years ago for $300. Which means the snare was probably worth about $20. I once used it on a song, hoping for a cheap, trashy sound. I ended up getting more comments on how awesome the snare sounded than anything, so it didn't end up sounding cheap and trashy at all.

My point is that, if you put the right skins and tune your drum properly, then pretty much any snare (or kit) can sound good.
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Yup, I remember that!
 
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