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Thread: Expensive snare drums

  1. #1

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    Default Expensive snare drums

    What's the most you would pay for a snare drum? I guess this goes for more of the experienced players in here. I've had friends pay upwards of $1500. Personally I think they need to be slapped silly.

  2. #2

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    What, I can't answer?

  3. #3

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    i cant really see spending more than 500 bucks on a snare. there are a few i would love to have that are in the 1k -1.5k range. i will someday find the sweet 500 buck deal on a tama bell brass and ocheltree spirit of 2002

  4. #4

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    2 grand is my limit........now accepting donations lol. I still love my cheap $250 Omar Hakim model. It can hang. Blessings..........

  5. #5

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    I can't imagine any snare drum in execess of $1000 sounding any better than say a snare drum of around $500. Maybe I am crazy but there basic fundimentals here that just don't warrent the cost. I have played a bell brass snare by pieste in a drum shop. Did it sound good absolutly. Did it sound significantly better than by Supra 402 no! Not enough to pay more than three times what my supra is worth to own it.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by backtodrum View Post
    I can't imagine any snare drum in execess of $1000 sounding any better than say a snare drum of around $500. Maybe I am crazy but there basic fundimentals here that just don't warrent the cost. I have played a bell brass snare by pieste in a drum shop. Did it sound good absolutly. Did it sound significantly better than by Supra 402 no! Not enough to pay more than three times what my supra is worth to own it.
    paiste does not make a bell brass drum. i think you are thinking of the spirit of 2002 bronze snare.

  7. #7

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    Perhaps I miss spoke and it wasn't bell brass (bronze) ?? but it was made by Pieste and must of been brass cymbal material, It was heavy as all get out, and it sounded great, but not great enough to spend $1,500 on. I hit it a couple of times and played a roll or two and then didn't pay anymore attention to it. So I really don't know what I am talking about where it is concerned, other than to say it was way to expensive for a snare drum!!!!

  8. #8

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    I have a Tama Artwood which is relatively cheap, i payed about £180 for it, and with proper tuning and some good heads it sounds just as good as any other "pro" level snare i have heard. I would never spend £800 (equivalent to $1500 on a snare though, I would much rather buy a few cymbals or some pedals.
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  9. #9

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    The Orange County snares they sell in Guitar Center are around $500. They're are pretty awesome and I would like to buy one for my son in the future.

  10. #10

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    the paiste spirit of 2002 snares designed by drum guru jeff ocheltree are made from recycled paiste 2002 bronze cymbals. hence the name. they are awesome but yeah i cant see myself shelling out that kind of cash.

    jimbo that artwood is a nice deal. i like the big sizes that are available. they really are a great buy.

  11. #11

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    I don't really consider price. If I have to have something I will save my money.

    My next goal is something along the lines of a 6.5x14 Bell Brass. If I can find one.
    O Bailan Todos, O No Baila Nadie

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  12. #12

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    In my humble opinion, its stupid to pay that much for snares, a good musician cna tune the drum good, the snare is the easiest to tune too, i have a crap snare, that i have sounding better than this one kid aty my school with a collector snare, but id probably spend like 200 dollars tops for a snare

    And ive thought of it, why do set players pay so much for their snare, most dont even use much more besides the 2 and 4 beat on them

    ANNNDDD, marching drums, good ones, at like 600 dollars-800 dollars, thats a marching snare, all the hardware its build for all the abuse, ect, you play it more, and thats only 600-800 weith a harness usually, why would you spend so much on a concert snare

  13. #13

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    1K AU is my limit, I just don't think the quality of the snare drum could improve anymore after spending 1K on it.

    My two dream snares: JJ Sig and the VP sig (14*8 FTW)

  14. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by drummer View Post
    What's the most you would pay for a snare drum? I guess this goes for more of the experienced players in here. I've had friends pay upwards of $1500. Personally I think they need to be slapped silly.
    I have a Pearl, sensitone, brass, 14 x 6.5". Beautiful response and projection.
    I paid $500. The band I was in didn't appreciate it. I could have gotten away with playing a $l00 drum.

  15. #15

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    "In my humble opinion, its stupid to pay that much for snares, a good musician cna tune the drum good, the snare is the easiest to tune too"

    I agree with you here to a point. A good musician should be able to make any drum sound good ,but just because you're a good mountain biker doesn't mean you need to roll on a Huffy. Plus some of the mid to higher end snares have more of a range than your average lower level snare. It's like my DW's in general, I can tune an entry level kit and make it sound good, but with my high end kit, it's HARD to make it sound bad.....just an opinion here, take care bro. Blessings...........

  16. #16

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    I have always wondered what the Tama warlord series snares sound like.
    The Spartan and Praetorian mainly.

    I've also wondered about Arcylic snares. like those green-ish Spaun snares in Musician's Friend magazines.

    Anybody play them?
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  17. #17

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    I'm looking at a Pork Pie acrylic snare right now, and it sounds pretty good.

    My view on this is:

    If nobody buys a $2000 snare, then they won't charge $2000 for that snare anymore. Unfortunately, there are people out there that have to have the best of everything (or, since it has a huge price tag, they assume it's the best), no matter the cost, which justifies drum manufacturers charging outrageous amounts for something that might cost them $50 more to make than an entry level snare. I have seen snares that were the exact same thing (ie. same wood, # of plys, diecast hoops, same hardware, etc...) as another snare on the market, but because they decided to add the words "Limited Edition" to the badge, they can charge 2-3 times the amount of the other one. Pretty sick when you look at it from a manufacturing standpoint.
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  18. #18

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    One other thing to consider in the price of drums is where they are manufactured. Take for example DW, they are made in Oxnard California. Allot of people complain that their pricing is out of line in comparison to other high end brands. And perhaps they are higher priced, but from what I have seen they are compariable with other custom name suppliers. Be that as it may; another thing to consider is the cost of doing business in the United States, especially California. Their overhead just to manufacture a drum is probably three times what it would be overseas or in Mexico They have higer lease or property values as well as higher taxes(via employment, FICA, Suta, unemployment, property) worker compensation in California is higher than almost any other state. They have unrealistic and prohibative enviromental laws to deal with. Wages to afford to live in Oxnard is considerable. I have a niece who is looking to move there with her husband to attend automotive desigen school. She was looking at the news paper for employment and noticed they were paying receptionists and administrative assistants upwards of twenty dollars an hour to start. whether that is accurate or not I really don't know. But I would imagine that labor costs are considerable because it is expensive to live in LA (Oxnard). I can only imagine what it would cost to actually run a business there. But all of these things are obviously calculated in to the cost of producing a drum. I think that DW is doing exceptionly well in spite of it all, but I also feel that the cost of a drum isn't always what it appears to be in terms, that is just expensive. And I am not justifying expensive drums either way. I am just stating that sometimes we loose perspective of why things are the way they are and why companies price things the way they do. I think they are trying to make a buck like any other business, but I also think that costs are fixed and to keep making them in California their overhead is allot higher than mainland China for expample. I would also suspect that is why Sonor's German made drums are exorbantly expensive as well, is because taxes and costs and tarrifs are tremendously expensive in Germany. Just some of my thoughts on the subject!

  19. #19

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    BTD, I think you have a well thought out handle on things. I also think that marketing comes into the picture, and plays a hand in setting the price of goods. Supply and Demand theory dictates that if I manufacture few of something, then I can charge more for the item (think about the cost of the Tama Warlord kit). Manufacturers, then, are able to affect pricing to their own advantage. Also, the more people that want you goods, the higher the prices go.

    It is up to us to be informed consumers, and that is the beauty of Drum Chat. We help each other to be more informed!
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  20. #20

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    Cool Expensive snare drums

    An experienced drummer can make a cheaper snare sound cool...

    The most expensive snare you can buy won't sound good if it isn't played properly...

    the sound of a snare (or any drum) is in your hands (okay, feet as far as the bass goes)!

    The most expensive snare drum may not be the best one for the kind of playing you do, so you have to check 'em all out, just as if you were buying a car or a washing machine or any other purchase...
    keep the beat goin' ... Don't keep it to yourself!

    Charlie

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    "There's a lot to be said for Time Honored tradition and value." --In memory of Frank "fiacovaz" Iacovazzi

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  21. #21

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    Yeah bongo bro, you nailed it!

    all the best...

  22. #22

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    good call bongo

    i would say that i would spend 1000 maybe up to 1100
    but as i have said before i love custom drums in exotic wood finishes and wraps
    also i hit really hard so die-cast hoops deffinately would go on there
    thats the reason i would pay that much
    i love having drums that loook as good as they sound
    =]


    cheers

  23. #23

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    I just played a ludwig hammered bronze snare, and more importantly heard one of my drum mentors play it. He got it for $400.00 and it's hard to imagine a snare drum sounding much better than that. I would have a really hard time spending more than $500 on a single drum.
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  24. #24

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    I would happily pay $2,000.00 for a spirit of 2002 snare.
    However, my GF might leave me... and that would be bad. LOL

    Matt
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  25. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by VegasDrummer69 View Post
    I would happily pay $2,000.00 for a spirit of 2002 snare.
    However, my GF might leave me... and that would be bad. LOL

    Matt
    Vegas I hear you!! The main reason I'd have a hard time paying more than $500 on a single drum is that it would cost me much more than that in Alimony. That is if she didn't kill me first.
    Gretsch Catalina Birch 6 piece fusion set (10,12,14,16in. Toms, 22 Bass). Sabian 20" HH Classic Ride, 16" Istanbul Agop Dark Crash, & Zildian K 13" Hi-hats.

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