Beaded shell snare drums…

There are many ‘beaded’ rather than straight shell metal snare drums on the market, mostly chrome over aluminium or steel, occasionally brass. The earlier, Pre WW II drums tend to be Nickel over brass. We’ve got a good selection in at the moment, both English & American at prices to suit every budget.

The most common and popluar beaded shell snare drum is the Ludwig Supraphonic 400; the most recorded snare drum of all time, a real classic. Most shells are ‘Ludalloy’ with some earlier models chrome over brass.

The English copied these snares when Beverley introduced the ‘Cosmic 21’ in the late 60’s. Ask anyone who’s played one and they’ll tell you it looks and sounds exactly the same as a Ludwig 400 at half the price.

Premier soon followed with their own version of this popular snare drum the ’35’.

Premier introduced an 8 lug version of this drum, the 1026 which was 6.5 x 14″ chrome over steel.

Many more to discuss, and lots more on my website, but hopefully this gives you some idea on the range we have in stock.

COB Snare drums

When it comes to a metal shell snare drum, most people opt for either a chrome over aluminium or a chrome over brass shell. We’ve both in stock, but I thought i’d share a few tasty chrome over brass snares we have in stock.

This 1960’s Premier Royal Ace is in the standard 14×5.5″ size and comes complete with original die cast hoops, slot tension rods and ‘double ten’ snare wires. A nice weight to this snare, the brass giving it a deep warm sound with plenty of bite and volume and the die cast hoops drying it out nicely.

We also have a slightly earlier model in stock, with the 4″ shell and offset lugs. Similarly, the brass gives a warmth to this drum, but the shallower shell gives it more attack and volume. Again the die cast hoops dry it out a little, so theres not as much ring as with triple flange hoops. Again, all original parts complete with snare wires.

If you’d prefer something with a little more depth, we have this lovely Slingerland Sound King  in stock. Anyone who knows me well, knows this is one of my favourite metal shell snares. 70’s Niles badge, 10 lugs, 6.5×14″ chrome over brass shell. This drum gives out some serious decibels, but with a lovely sound. We had one of these in our studio hire stock, and it was out most hired drum – I sold the last one we had to Monnow Valley Studio, who confirm its been on just about every record recorded there since. A real classic in my eyes (and ears).

That’s all for now, we have plenty of other snares in stock and more coming into the shop next month.