5 x 14 Maple (10 ply) Snare - Turquoise Satin Flame

This is the "big sister" to the 5x13 in my other post. 10 ply Keller shell, generic version of the Pearl s-017 strainer, and some really nice, very lightly used Gretsch style lugs I lucked into on eBay. (Update -  sold Feb 2012)

PS the bearing edges on both the 5x13 and 5x14 are 45 degree with roundover.

5 x 13 Maple (10 ply Keller) Snare - Turquoise Satin Flame

I like this snare so much I'm likely to keep it for myself. I had purchased from Precision Drum, for a great price, enough turquoise satin flame wrap for a couple of snares, and decided to build a 5x13 and a 5x14 with 10 ply Keller shells. The lugs on this one are from Drum Factory Direct, and have solid brass inserts. Decided to use a Pearl S-017 strainer on this one, and its generic equivalent on the 5x14. I found the satin flame wrap really easy to work with, and it looks superb. This is another one I finished in late July but haven't gotten around to posting until now.

UPDATE: sold October 8, 2011, gone to a good home (and I got a followup e-mail from the new owner that he loves the snare, always happy to get feedback like that).

8 x 14 Fiberglass - Snow in Summer

I finished building this more than a week ago but am just getting to posting it now. I picked up this big (somewhat over 8" deep, 14 " diameter) fiberglass shell, pristine, in a trade (unfortunately I don't know the original source of the shell, but it is quite well made). The shell is thin, like my carbon fibre snare, maybe 1/16" thick or just slightly more. Decided that to really give it justice I'd have to go with all black hardware, so went to what is becoming one of my favourite suppliers, Drum Factory Direct (my other favourites are Precision Drum and Champagne Drum) for some Yamaha taillight style lugs,  and Pearl type strainer / butt plate combo; black chrome rims from Drum Foundry. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Fiberglass proved pretty straightforward to work with. I haven't had much chance to "test drive" it, but from the little playing I've done on it it's quite resonant and responsive. I spent a little time trying to come up with a suitable name for it (Arctic Thunder?) but it's hard not to come up with something that isn't cheesy ... ($350.00)

UPDATE - too bad, so sad. No one was interested in this baby, so the hardware has been stripped off for other projects (see the mahogany-spalted ash hybrid). Will likely flog the strainer and buttplate on e-Bay as I wasn't that fond of them.