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**lovetheblues** · 05-18-2014, 10:40 PM

Snare # 1: Sonor Phonic Ferro Manganese 14x6 Millenium

OK, so first up is my Sonor Phonic Ferro Manganese 14x6. It has the "millennium" badge so manufactured in 1975 or shortly after. What this snare is known for is for that "even drummers who hate steel snares love this steel snare". Two aspects of its manufacture make it a bit different to most steel snares:

It is made from Ferro Manganese, which is a bit different from the normal steel alloys used.
It is seamless (i.e. spun). This is the normal way that aluminium snares such as the supraphonic or acrolyte are manufactured, but almost all other steel snares are welded & rolled, and only high-end brass snares (such as the Black Beauty) are seamless/spun; most other brass snares are welded & rolled. Rumour has it that this drum went out of production when Sonor's spinning machine broke and it was too expensive to repair.

Quality of manufacture is very high. It is a heavy drum and the strainer & butt are solid and smooth.

Sound wise: you can hear the characteristic ring of steel, but much more controlled than most steel snares. To my ears this is one of the best metal snares made, and I have often wondered why it did not displace the supraphonic in popularity. OK, I have my flame retardant suite on, so hear me out before you judge:

I have 2 Supra's, one 1965 and one with the crimped snare beds from around 1963. You'll see those in another post soon. And I love them
I know, steel is not aluminium. Compare apples with apples....
However... Ludwig's quality is poor, always has been; it is not a recent thing. They have sometimes gone through periods of high quality more by accident than design. They just stumbled onto aluminium being a fantastic material to make snares with because it was cheaper and they were trying to save costs (or offer more affordable drums to drummers). I mean, for example there is no comparison between this snare's strainer and a Luddie.
Because the sound of the supraphonic snare is so ubiquitous ("...the most recorded snare..."), we grew up with hearing that and associating that with how a snare should sound. It is kind of like growing up in a certain country and being used to how that country's chocolate tastes. Then when you are older, no chocolate tastes as good as that brand of chocolate from your birth country. My view is that the Sonor's sound is just as high quality as a supraphonic, and if we were more used to it we would associate it with "the way a metal snare should sound", and it would then have become "...the most recorded snare...".

Anyway, enjoy the pictures:

**lovetheblues** · 05-18-2014, 11:33 PM

Snare # 2: Good Old Ludwig Acrolyte

Well, there is not too much that needs to be said about an Acrolyte. Fantastic snare for the money. Absolutely love the sound: a bit more lively (less dry) than its big brother the Supraphonic. But on the other hand, in my view some have over-stated its qualities a bit and over-hyped it to the point where its legendary status is not so justified. I.e. It is good, yes. It should be the standard answer included in the list of "What snare should I buy for under $300?". But it should not be the knee-jerk reaction to the question "What snare should should I buy?" e.g. for $700 there are plenty of snares much better.

For those who do not know, this is an aluminium snare, seamless & spun. My one is from the 70's.

**lovetheblues** · 05-19-2014, 01:19 AM

Snare # 3: Pearl 50th Anniversary Birch MBX

This is the snare that came with my Pearl 50th Anniversary kit. It is not the "50th Anniversary snare", which was a single-ply steam bent snare. That one was for the US market, whereas the rest of the world got the 50th Anniversary kit. The snare is a 4-ply birch with re-rings. I have seen Pearl marketing information that 30 of these kits were made worldwide (10 in each of 3 different colours), and then again I am not sure if that is accurate, perhaps more were made. But either way it is a phenomenal snare and a phenomenal kit (I think the MBX is one of the best kits that Pearl ever made, but I am biased). A very "bossy" birch snare.

**lovetheblues** · 05-19-2014, 01:27 AM

Snare # 4: Le Sporano (Ben Gillies limited Ed signature snare)

This is a 14x5 maple snare made by Le Soprano, a smallish boutique Italian company. They have a "Free Floating" system, where the lugs are attached to a ring of Beech, with the Maple shell resting above that beech ring, and another very shallow maple shell below the beech ring. Very nice, sensitive snare. One of my favourites.

**gyorpb** · 05-19-2014, 03:54 AM

Originally posted by lovetheblues View Post

This is the snare that came with my Pearl 50th Anniversary kit. It is not the "50th Anniversary snare", which was a single-ply steam bent snare. That one was for the US market, whereas the rest of the world got the 50th Anniversary kit.

Not quite; the M-1946 "50th Anniversary Limited Production Snare Drum" was available worldwide, 1946 of them.

I have seen Pearl marketing information that 30 of these kits were made worldwide (10 in each of 3 different colours), and then again I am not sure it that is accurate, perhaps more were made.

Maybe 30 kits were available to the US, as they seem rather abundant here (Netherlands and Germany, at least). They were also available in a fourth colour, here: #173 Teal Mist (a colour previously only available on the ELX Export select series). The three colours you speak of, the most often encountered ones, are#170 Burgundy Mist, #171 Ebony Mist, and #172 Green Mist.

**lovetheblues** · 05-19-2014, 04:22 AM

Originally posted by gyorpb View Post

Not quite; the M-1946 "50th Anniversary Limited Production Snare Drum" was available worldwide, 1946 of them.Maybe 30 kits were available to the US, as they seem rather abundant here (Netherlands and Germany, at least). They were also available in a fourth colour, here: #173 Teal Mist (a colour previously only available on the ELX Export select series). The three colours you speak of, the most often encountered ones, are#170 Burgundy Mist, #171 Ebony Mist, and #172 Green Mist.

Thanks. You are right that the M-1946 "50th Anniversary Limited Production Snare Drum" was available worldwide.

The "50th Anniversary Limited Production" kit was not sold in the US. I had a Pearl catalogue that said that only 30 were made worldwide (but unfortunately I cannot find right now). That catalogue was from Pearl Canada, not Pearl US, and specifically said that only 30 worldwide and it is not for sale in the US. And in this thread Gene Okamoto said that they did not sell any in the US. And in this thread (post 21 & 23), BadAstronaut says he also has the catalogue I had.

So perhaps someone changed their mind after the kit was launched and decided to make more for some European countries, but definitely not sold in the US.

The three colours (according to that catalogue) were: 10 in Wine Red, 10 in Black Mist, and 10 in Emerald Mist. Mine is a wine red one. I guess Black and Ebony are pretty close and Wine Red is pretty close to Burgundy.

**gyorpb** · 05-19-2014, 04:46 AM

Originally posted by lovetheblues View Post

The "50th Anniversary Limited Production" kit was not sold in the US. I had a Pearl catalogue that said that only 30 were made worldwide (but unfortunately I cannot find right now). That catalogue was from Pearl Canada, not Pearl US, and specifically said that only 30 worldwide and it is not for sale in the US. And in this thread Gene Okamoto said that they did not sell any in the US.

You are entirely correct. I misremembered the bit about that kit not being available to the US.[quote]So perhaps someone changed their mind after the kit was launched and decided to make more for some European countries, but definitely not sold in the US.[quote]

The three colours (according to that catalogue) were: 10 in Wine Red, 10 in Black Mist, and 10 in Emerald Mist. Mine is a wine red one. I guess Black and Ebony are pretty close and Wine Red is pretty close to Burgundy.

They are. The ones I mentioned are the corresponding ELX Export Select colour names and numbers. The correct colour numbers are then: #100 Wine Red, #122 Black Mist, and #126 Emerald Mist. Might well be that the Teal colour has a different name and number on the MBX, too.

**lovetheblues** · 05-19-2014, 05:24 AM

Originally posted by gyorpb View Post

You are entirely correct. I misremembered the bit about that kit not being available to the US.

So perhaps someone changed their mind after the kit was launched and decided to make more for some European countries, but definitely not sold in the US.

They are. The ones I mentioned are the corresponding ELX Export Select colour names and numbers. The correct colour numbers are then: #100 Wine Red, #122 Black Mist, and #126 Emerald Mist. Might well be that the Teal colour has a different name and number on the MBX, too.

Thanks. Do you know if there is a colour chart showing the colours and their corresponding numbers?

**lovetheblues** · 05-19-2014, 05:42 AM

Snare # 5: Black Panther 13x6 Cherry/Maple snare

Back to the snares: This one is a great little snare, and very good value for money. Good pop. I don't play it enough. Doing this thread makes me think that I should bring it back into circulation. Either that or I should sell it and let someone else get some enjoyment out of it.

**lovetheblues** · 05-19-2014, 05:51 AM

Snare # 6: My home-made Jarrah stave snare

Very hard to say what is my favourite snare. It is like asking someone to choose which is their favourite child. But I think this is definitely one of my favourites. Probably my go-to snare for most things. It is made with Jarrah staves, with slivers of maple between each Jarrah stave. It can be very guttural and roar, and it can also be very sensitive. Rim shots can be killer; can sound like a metal snare's rim shots. but normal hits are fairly short. or at least not very long. Photos don't do it justice.

Anyway, enough from me for one day. I'll try to get some time tomorrow for the next instalment.

**lovetheblues** · 05-19-2014, 06:03 AM

Snare #7: Sonor Designer Maple Light

OK, one more for tonight: Sonor Designer Maple Light. A 14" fairly deep snare. Very thin-walled and sharp bearing edges make it a very resonant and responsive snare. This is the one I used in the last 2 gigs over the past weekend. I love it, and apart from the sound, it looks fantastic as well. Generally I love Sonor's Drums, but this one is a great drum. The only thing I am not ecstatic about is the "tune-safe" features on the lugs, because they prevent you from "feeling" the tension on the tension rods when tuning.

**fasthands97** · 05-19-2014, 07:21 AM

beautiful snares!!!

**gyorpb** · 05-19-2014, 07:22 AM

Originally posted by lovetheblues View Post

Do you know if there is a colour chart showing the colours and their corresponding numbers?

There's one in almost every catalogue, but only for the colours available in that time period. Sometimes, it takes a bit of digging. (And I still don't know what finish my Pete York Signature Snare officially is.)

The aforementioned colours differ between drum series, because the outer ply of the drums are different kinds of wood, resulting in a (slightly) different finish. For instance, Pearl finish #102 is Natural Maple, which is of course not available on Birch drums which come in #112 Natural Birch, instead. Both are just clear lacquered drums, just like #100 Wine Red and #170 Burgundy Mist are likely the same lacquer, but on different woods (MBX vs. ELX).

Pearl finish codes don't change through the years: #38 Stainless Steel has been a staple from the seventies well into the nineties (until it was supplanted by #50 Mirror Chrome, which is a plastic wrap rather than the actual stainless steel #38), as have classics like #103 Piano Black (lacquer) and #33 Pure White (wrap). There's also an unwritten rule that two-digit codes are covered finishes, while #100 and up are lacquered, but I don't know how that has held up over the years.

Sometimes, especially with wraps, a colour is no longer offered by a supplier, and the replacement is pretty much the same colour but not quite, and a new code and name is issued. Exports are a prime example of this: #71 Ferrari Red, #88 Cardinal Red and #94 Candy Apple are all pretty much "bright red", but not quite the same.

**trickg** · 05-19-2014, 08:29 AM

Interesting set of snares - you've got a really nice selection and a really nice sound palate to choose from.

Did you pick up that Mapex Cherry/Maple on a MF stupid deal of the day? I picked up one that was stained a darker color, but ended up actually giving it to a friend of mine, simply because he loved it, even though I didn't particularly care for it, and I didn't want to mess with trying to sell it. I figure that if I ever felt I wanted to play it again, I could simply borrow it for a while.

I'm intrigued by your jarrah snare. I recently had a padauk stave shell made and I'm in the process of finishing it - currently waiting for the lacquer to cure so that I can rub it out to a mirror finish, drill it, and finally get it put together. I wanted jarrah, because that's the wood Brady snares are known for, but the guy didn't offer jarrah, and I figured that the padauk would have similar sound characteristics. One day I do hope to have a jarrah stave snare.

I also agree with your comments on the Acrolite. In the 11 years I've been an active drummer (started at the tender young age of 33!) and having been a member here on the forum since almost the beginning, it has been interesting to see what happened regarding the Acrolite because they didn't always have the status they currently do - they were regarded as garage sale gems by a few, and the trend caught on. It used to be you could get them for a song (I bought mine for $30) but they've turned into vintage drum gold these days, and I find it curious that people like to claim that Acrolites from the 60s sound better than the Acrolites from the 70s or early 80s because as far as I know, they were all made the same, and the aluminum would be fairly inert - it isn't like wood where the sound properties change with age. I did a complete refinish job on mine and from what I can tell, it sounds pretty much the same as it always did even though I painted it with black hammered metallic effects paint and added tube lugs.

Thanks for sharing photos of the collection!

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LTB's snare collection

LTB's snare collection

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