Free Floating Snares

[nhuff0204]

What do you guys think of the pearl free floating snares? I'm debating between a piccolo and a free floating piccolo.

I should mention that the sound I'm looking for is a chad sexton from 311 kinda sound. If you've heard them you know what i'm talkin about.

[Gaurgle]

I have a maple 14"x5" free floater, it's great, lots of volume and pretty and she sure likes it high! I'm gona change to emperors from ambassador now.

[TempesT68]

i think they are the best snares on pearl's line up. I've owned two and both are great. a cranked FF brass piccolo will give you the exact sound you are looking for.

[drumminbum101]

the 14x5 maple free floater is one of the best drums on the market. Coated ambassadors work best for the batter head. crank it up tight for a high pitched crack with resonance and sensitivity. once the batter head is broken in and has been played for a while the drum really opens up and has resonance beyond belief. Im not talking about a high pitched ring (although there is some), im talking about massive amounts of body and crack. If youve seen the 311 day dvd, chad sextons snare sound is what im trying to describe. If you havent seen the dvd, you absolutely have to.

[susswald]

14x3.5 brass is what ya want, i love mine, its the balls

[nhuff0204]

That reminds me, i've been meaning to go buy that for awhile now.

[Puritania]

i think they are the best snares on pearl's line up. I've owned two and both are great. a cranked FF brass piccolo will give you the exact sound you are looking for.

I gots me the same thing only it's a 14"x5" but if I crank it up she works wonders for a beginner kit I tell you! Of course, it's no real great thing when you get the drum and the shell is out of round... But it still sits on the chassis good enough and the sound is superb... I can't wait to try it when my replacement shell comes in!!!

However, if you want the best of both worlds, go with a 14"x3.5" brass free floater... it'll give you the perfect sound that you crave. I'm thinking of possibly getting myself a 3.5" in the new year to go with the 5". But yeah, 3.5" is your best bet.

[ddrumman2004]

I use my 8" maple free floater at almost every gig. I love it.

[jcwdrum]

the 3.5 in. maple free floater is pretty cool. it has a wide volume range and has nice tone.

[blue_mist_ELX_rocker]

i am considering getting a brass piccolo ff.

I heard one at a gig a while ago and it was stunning.. i don't see many really great sounding snares in small band circles here in australia (expensive shipping).. but this snare cut through everything and had an amazing cracky, ringy sound to it.. my only complaint was that it was a tiny bit too high pitched at times and maybe didn't have enough body.

I play punk/rock and want a snare with tons of crack, which this had, and i reckon if i didn't tune it quite as high it would sound great.

So then i went and looked on ebay and found that the deeper brass freefloaters are more rare and generally more expensive (plus i gotta find one that ships to australia).

My main question is will a 3.5 deep snare be loud enough (when i heard this one it was miked up and was loud enough then) for loudish gigs where there is no drum mics (compared to say a 5" or 6.5" deep one) or gigs where the sound guy sucks? How much volume difference would a couple of inches add? Also will it be much higher pitched than a deeper snare?

Is a 3.5" deep snare going to be good as my only snare or will i find that it is great for punk and terrible for everything else (i will also use it for jazz and lighter stuff from time to time).

The reason i ask this is that i kind of thought i would prefer the deeper drum but now i am wondering whether i am better off to get the piccolo ff.. which would mean i would get it sooner (easier to find one that would ship to aus), it should cost me $50-$100 less plus i won't have to buy a new case like i would with the 6.5" one because i could use my existing case.


Thanks!!

If someone who owns this drum could answer the above detail in some depth i would be very grateful.

[TempesT68]

i think a 14x5 sounds like just what you are looking for, don't sell yourself short, especially on a snare. 14x5 brass free floaters are the most common and fairly inexpensive, you should have no problems finding one.