snare drum - recommendations ?

I?m looking for a new snare drum and would appreciate your recommendations, since I wouldn?t consider myself as a gear head.
I use different 14x6,5" maple snares and a 13x3" steel piccolo. That?s why I?m searching for a good all round drum that musically fits in between the above. I thought of a 14x5" brass snare ? Any recommendations ?

tia

I find my Black Brass Pearl sensItone 14" x 5.5" to be quite dandy.

Bronze or Brass are very good choices in a 61/2x14 size.

I have a 6 1/2 Pearl Mahogany Classic which I love. It's really warm sounding. It kind of comes down to personal preference. Me and Steve were talking about this last night. A lot of snare drums hurt my ears, so I like the lower register ones.

By the way, isn't the Noble and Cooley Alloy Classic the same as the Pearl Ultracast?

Believe me man, the best buy that I ever make was the Noble & Cooley Alloy Classic 6 x 14, is the best snare drum ever, so versatyle, so warm, dry, fat sound, and the best you can tune in what ever tuning you want, and will ALWAYS sound great great great great.... A couple of months ago I have it in the 5 x 14 but change it for the 6 x 14, and I don't regret it....

Believe me....!!!!

The Pearl Ultra Cast is a knock off of the NandC drum. I have the Pearl and to me it's very 1 dimensional in sound. Very high pitched, good for live thru the PA type of thing, but for studio i don't think so.

Where are you from In the Pocket? Your typing and speech are very familiar.

I think i know what you might be getting at, there, Rand-man... [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]eek.gif[/img]

Same here. It does bring back some memories! LOL!

Thanks for your replies !

I think, I?ll follow randy?s advice and look for a 6,5" brass or bronze snare (what about copper - anyone using one ?)
For this purpose I?ve written down a short listing of snares that look interesting to me: (I hope that the drum stores have some of them in stock, so that I?ll be able to try them)

- Pearl Sensitone Custom Alloy, Brass or Bronze (14x6,5)
- Pearl Sensitone Classic II Black, Brass (14x5,5)
- Pearl Steve Ferrone Signature
- Pearl Free Floating, Brass or Copper (14x6,5)
- Sonor S Class Pro Brass (14x5)
- Yamaha Steve Gadd Signature, Brass (14x5,5)
- Yamaha Brass Standard (14x6,5)
- Yamaha Roy Haynes Signature, Copper (14x5,5)

Does anyone have experiences with one of these ? (pros, cons, warnings; other interesting snares, that I?ve forgotten to mention, ...)

I know that it is a matter of taste and that I have to find one on my own. I just would like to get some kind of guideline. The market has so much to offer these days, that it?s quite difficult to find a way through this product-jungle.

Thanks [img]smile.gif[/img]

@ in_the_pocket: I?ve heard a lot about this N&C snare. Some say, that it probably is one of the best metal snares ever built. The problem is, that N&C is quite exotic here and I would have to order it, so there would be no chance to test it before buying.