This snare drum was an absolute guilty pleasure for me. I've been building drums for many years now, and occasionally Stave, plywood, acrylic, metal, and hybrid shells start to bore me. I wanted to challenge myself a bit to try and achieve something a bit out of the ordinary.
The guilty pleasure part comes from feeding my inner wood nerd. There's nothing more enjoyable to me then the complex and daunting process of making a drum of this type. It requires a lot of planning, accuracy, grueling repetition, and a deft hand. It's not always the most fun process, it can definitely be challenging. But it's very engaging, and there's no better reward in the world then playing that first note on an instrument of this caliber and knowing that it'll go off into the world representing me and my craftsmanship.
Okay enough mushy stuff. Let's get down to the nitty-gritty.
The drum is 14 x 6. The average shell thickness is 3/8 of an inch. The shell is made from North American elm on the top and bottom, South American Bubinga in the center, with two stripes of purple heart on either side.
The Hoops on this drum we're also handmade at the hhg Drum Shop. They're made from the exact same Lumber as the shell, in the opposite pattern repeating out from the shell. Our hoops give any drum around warm tone, but when the Hoops are made from the same exact Lumber and wood species as the shell itself, it brings out a Clarity of tone that cannot be achieved in any other way.
The shell features a 45 and quarter inch roundover bearing Edge. The inner cut of the edge is a 45-degree chamfer, and the outer cut is a smooth quarter inch roundover. The round over allows for excellent shell to head contact, as well as a nice warm, fat, round tone. Where the two cuts meet there is a mildly sharp Apex that allows for just the right amount of pleasant overtones, and crispy articulation.
The shell is finished on the entire inside of the drum and on the edges with our house Blended mix of waxes and oils. The outside has three coats of high-qualitty nitrocellulose lacquer that have been buffed to a brilliant glass-like finish.
This drum features a fairly deep and wide snare bed. this snare bed should prevent all unwanted snare buzz and give the snare wires a nice cushy pillow to sink down into the snare side head.
Now let's talk Hardware...
This drum features gold single point lugs, has a vintage style P85 strainer, diecast air vent, and diecast buttplate. Every single piece of hardware that touches the shell has a hand cut, top-grain leather washer between it and the shell. This drum also features 42 strand snare wires.
I very much hope that you consider purchasing this instrument. It was an absolute labor of love building it... And I look very forward to it living its life in the hands of somebody that will put it to good use馃榿
-Sam from HHG