Pearl Snare?

[32ndHeartBeat]

I traded a buddy of mine for this snare he had laying around to practice on for my birch Catalina snare. The only reason I traded him was because I simply liked the sound of the Pearl better then mine and he's new to the scene so... yea
Anyway, I'm having a whole lot of trouble identifying what this thing is since neither Musicians Friend nor Pearl's website has it listed. It has a metal shell, not sure what type of metal, sounds like aluminum (chrome idk)... And it has two groove patterns in the middle rather than one like all the other Pearl snares. The closest resemblance I could see would be to the Ian Paice signature model, but like I said that snare has only one groove going through the middle.
I'm confused with this, so I'll try to get pics up

Peace

[Andreeew]

a pic would help :D

[32ndHeartBeat]

[Roger]

That would be a pre 2000 series steel snare drum. Not sure of which Pearl Series though.

[holycow77]

I have an early 90s export snare and it is much newer than what you have there....so pre 90s

[Shazane]

I have two unidentified snares, I didn't know there were people here that could tell that much just by looking at the side of it! I'll have to take pictures of my own

[koopa]

looks like an old export snare to me too.

[32ndHeartBeat]

I have two unidentified snares, I didn't know there were people here that could tell that much just by looking at the side of it! I'll have to take pictures of my own

The distinguishable factor in this snare is that unlike ALL other Pearl snare drums, this one has two beads rather than one. The closest resemblabce I could find so far was the SensiTone series, but again they all have just one bead.
And sorry about not posting another picture, something was up with photobucket that wouldn't let me get the better shot, here it is.

snare.jpg

[coke_can]

i really hope its higher than an export, but i dont know. it says made in taiwan, and if no one recognizes it as a high class snare...then well i guess it might be export

[Shazane]

Isn't most of their stuff made in Taiwan other than what is sold to Japan?

[1DrumBum]

I've done a lot of searching as this snare caught my interest. Here is what I have found:

The badge says that the snare was made in the mid 70's (gold badge for the ones made in Taiwan and a black badge for the ones made in Japan).

The shell is the exact same as the Maxwin line that Pearl made in the mid 70's. This is the snare that the Forum / Export series replaced.

But........

That badge and that snare do not match. The Maxwin snare had a badge that went around the vent, AND, it said Maxwin on it, not Pearl.

There is also a student snare set that has the double ribbed design, but the badge does not match on that one either ( silver rectangle) as the student drum was made in the late 80's - early 90's.

Unfortunately, I can't see the vent to tell. Take a look and see if there is any sign of a badge ever being on the vent and also look to see if there is any engraving on the inside of the drum shell.

Hope that helped a little (or confused you even more!)!

[funkymcstain]

hmmmm. i was thinking 80s export or student model. the badge is similar to the 80s and early 90s exports, except i think the exports accually said export on them. just a guess tho. i dont want to pimp another forum , but if you dont get a for sure answer here, you could get one pretty quick by some of the pearl historians at thier forum.

[holycow77]

I just pulled my early 90s, possible late 80s Export snare out and it is almost identical.

The only differences are that the badge is black and says Pearl Export Series under the logo and the snare lever is all metal and looks much more heavy duty.

The shell and hoops and lugs and everything are all the same including the position of the badge and the 2 beads.

[32ndHeartBeat]

I've done a lot of searching as this snare caught my interest. Here is what I have found:

The badge says that the snare was made in the mid 70's (gold badge for the ones made in Taiwan and a black badge for the ones made in Japan).

The shell is the exact same as the Maxwin line that Pearl made in the mid 70's. This is the snare that the Forum / Export series replaced.

But........

That badge and that snare do not match. The Maxwin snare had a badge that went around the vent, AND, it said Maxwin on it, not Pearl.

There is also a student snare set that has the double ribbed design, but the badge does not match on that one either ( silver rectangle) as the student drum was made in the late 80's - early 90's.

Unfortunately, I can't see the vent to tell. Take a look and see if there is any sign of a badge ever being on the vent and also look to see if there is any engraving on the inside of the drum shell.

Hope that helped a little (or confused you even more!)!

After I removed the old head, I explored the inner shell long and hard, trust me. No sign of anything, it sucks. There wasn't any kind of evidence to support that a badge had been over the vent, not even a little. Thanks for all the estimations, 1DB, I'll bring them up next time I go to Guitar Center and see if I can get any more info from what you've provided.

[funkymcstain]

32nd, you are smarter than anyone i have ever met working in a guitar center drum department. i doubt they can help.

[32ndHeartBeat]

32nd, you are smarter than anyone i have ever met working in a guitar center drum department. i doubt they can help.

ha, thanks Funk. It's just that I'm getting closer and closer to my initial idea that this snare was merely some crap that found it's way down the bargain train to my set and I'm leading people to think otherwise because of my ignorance towards Pearl's history. Don't get me wrong, personally I think think it sounds great based on my experience with wood and metal shell snares, and definitely fits my own style more than the Cat did.

[funkymcstain]

there is nothing that says a cheep snare cant sound good. there is alot to be said about deep steel snares. its about the same quality as the 80s rockstar snare i used to have. with good heads and wires it can sound real good.

[backtodrum]

If it serves its purpose why sweat it. Who really cares other than other gear head drummers, and you never know if it sounds good they may go looking for one thinking you know something they don't.