NSSSD

octatonic

New Super Solid Snare day.

I'm done for a while in terms of buying snares- I have all that I need especially now I have this one.
DW 14"x5.5" Super Solid maple snare in satin natural finish.

What is especially awesome about it is it is a one piece shell and I mean one piece- the reinforcement rings are CNC'd as part of the single ply shell.
It sounds incredible- this is definitely a 'holy grail' snare.

guitarfishbay

I'm picturing a drumkit with no toms, just differently tuned snares.

Sporky

You're picturing it, Octy's playing it.

octatonic

LOL.

Snares are basically drummer's overdrive pedals when it comes to gear acquisition.
Really all drummers only need 2 snares- a nice wood one and a nice metal one.
Anything outside that is a want, not a need.

The Ludwig LM400 I bought as my first snare is perfectly great in all situations but..... I want different flavours.

TimmyO

octatonic said:

The Ludwig LM400 I bought as my first snare is perfectly great in all situations but..... I want different flavours.

THAT is a holy grail snare. Everything else is GAS. 

(Although I know a guy who owns in excess of 100 snares) 

octatonic

TimmyO said:

octatonic said:

The Ludwig LM400 I bought as my first snare is perfectly great in all situations but..... I want different flavours.

THAT is a holy grail snare. Everything else is GAS. 

(Although I know a guy who owns in excess of 100 snares) 

The LM400 is too ubiquitous to be a Holy Grail snare, I think.
You can get a vintage example for £350 and a used current version for £200.
The Super Solid is much rarer- I've only ever seen one other one in the UK for sale and that was £1500.

100 snares is quite a lot.

TimmyO

I had a '76
It was amazing.

Friend of mine has just opened a new studio (700sqft live room - sounds amazing) and I was in there the other day when he was testing some snares out in the room - a piccolo snare with a damper ring thing on it sounded HUGE - like a perfect rock drum - bizarre - the damper thing dropped the tone and took *some* of the ring out. Amazing. 

octatonic

TimmyO said:

I had a '76
It was amazing.

Friend of mine has just opened a new studio (700sqft live room - sounds amazing) and I was in there the other day when he was testing some snares out in the room - a piccolo snare with a damper ring thing on it sounded HUGE - like a perfect rock drum - bizarre - the damper thing dropped the tone and took *some* of the ring out. Amazing. 

This is why I like having a few different options- the big snares aren't always the best sounding in a particular room.

I'm pretty well sorted now- I have a couple of Ludwigs (LM400 and a 402), a Van Kleef Titanium, 3 x ply DW Collectors in various sizes (4", 5."5 and 6" depth), the DW Edge, DW Black Nickel over Brass and the new DW Super Solid.
The only obvious gaps are a Bell Brass and maybe something like a Copper or Bronze snare but I am not looking for anything else right now.

I've tried dampener rings- I mostly prefer the drums without them.
I use a couple of small pieces of moon gel if I need anything but I use quite heavy batter skins- usually Remo CS coated.

TimmyO

yeah this wasn't because the drum needed damping - and it was a whole-drum size rather than just a ring - I'll see if I can find out exactly what it was.

It helped that the whole live room was designed to sound awesome with drums - no verb at the desk, all done with mic positioning

octatonic

TimmyO said:

yeah this wasn't because the drum needed damping - and it was a whole-drum size rather than just a ring - I'll see if I can find out exactly what it was.

It helped that the whole live room was designed to sound awesome with drums - no verb at the desk, all done with mic positioning

It would be this then, or something constructed in the same way: https://bigfatsnaredrum.com
They give a very big 70's style snare.

Mic positioning- it is the best way to do it imho- but you need the right acoustic environment.

TimmyO

yep that was the thing - put one on a piccolo!

octatonic

TimmyO said:

yep that was the thing - put one on a piccolo!

Yup, I have one.