If it's the 1 ply maple artist snare, you'll love it. I have one and wouldn't sell it for anything. Great woody snare sound.

I have a 3 ply Artist and I love it.I believe Niel Peart only retired his Artist after signing with DW.Every snare sound you hear prior to his dw's is that Artist and i believe its a 3 ply also.Either way a great sounding drums with an edge to the single ply.

Steve B

Far be it for me to disagree, but I did read somewhere in one of Rush's tour programs (where he describes his kit), that he actually used a "cheap" Slingerland wood snare....not one up to the quality of an Artist or Radio King.

I know I'm new, but I have followed NP for years, since he's one of my favs...I built a replica of his '82 tour kit (sort of...some pieces were custom made for him by Tama) and was looking to get the type of snare he used. I found out it wasn't Tama, he kept this Slingerland snare for years.

Far be it for me to disagree ...

Here's Old Number One...... Enjoy.

It's a nice old 3 ply Slingerland. It started life as a copper beaut and was eventually painted black to match another kit.

[IMG]http://www.andrewolson.com/Neil_Peart/neil_images/neil_no1_snare_small.jpg[/IMG][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]This Slingerland 5x14 drum was used on Rush records from nearly the beginning (I've never heard an exact date) through Counterparts. Neil replaced it as his "number one" snare drum during the Test for Echo tour.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]This interview with Neil Peart in Modern Drummer (April 1984) tells part of the story of this drum:[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]Scott K. Fish (SF): Are you still using your Slingerland wood snare with the Artstar drums?[/SIZE][/FONT]

[LEFT][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]Neil Peart (NP): Yeah. It's ironic, because it's not even the top-of-the-line Slingerland. It's their

second one down. I don't know what it's called. I bought it secondhand for $60.00.

It was the first wooden snare I ever owned. I'd always used metal ones before that and had never been totally satisfied. Then we picked up this wooden snare and it was perfect. It was the one. Then I thought, "Well, if this isn't even the top-of-the-line wooden one, I must be able to get something better." So I got the top-of-the-line

wooden Slingerland, and I've tried several of the wooden Tama ones. I even have the twin to that $60.00 snare behind me for the other kit. Everything's identical, but it just doesn't sound the same.

I think somebody who had this snare before me did a modification on the bearing edge of the snare side. Someone filed the bearing edge where the snares go across. It's murder on snare heads because it makes the tension very uneven, but the snare never chokes. I can play it however delicately or however hard, and it will never choke.[/SIZE][/FONT][/LEFT]

[FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]SF: Have you ever had Tama try to duplicate that drum?

NP: No. Basically I've just tried what Tama makes. They either sound good loud or they sound good soft. None of them have the versatility that my snare has. I haven't pursued it that much because my snare makes me happy as it is. I'm not looking for something better, really.

SF: Is the inside of the snare Vibrafibed?

NP: No. I've never fooled around with it. I was even afraid to get it painted. For a long time it was copper colored. When I had the black drums or even when I had the rosewood Tamas, it didn't matter so much. It looked okay. When I got the red drums, the copper started to look a bit tacky, but I was even afraid to get it painted because disassembling it, painting it, and putting it back together might have affected it. I think Slingerland probably still makes that snare. I still have one of their top wooden snares too. It's good. I have a Gretsch wooden snare, and it's also a good wooden snare.[/SIZE][/FONT]

Okay then, I defer to you! The $60 statement I recall and that it was a wood snare, but never associated it with an Artist snare. While I do have a beautiful example of a Radio King snare, I have seen a couple of 1-ply Artist snares that I would love to have bought instead.

Anyway, thanks for clearing that up!Eye Ball

Cool. The first line was a joke....hopefully you took it as a tongue in cheek.

Number one was painted several times over the years to match whatever kit he had at the time. It was candy apple red, white/pink pearl, plumb metallic, blue shadow and Black Cherry. I believe the copper wrap was painted over. The old style Tama throw was added at some point.

I believe you might be mistaken or misremembering. That snare was played as copper until it was painted black. It retired as black. It is still very much black. He's got lots of snares and maybe your thinking of one of those? This is not to infer or in any way state that I know a lot about Peart. I don't. Nor am I an expert on this snare. I merely read several statements made by Peart and tracked down the pictures.

Go to andrewolson.com...He has documented all of NP's drums sets,and he states he used a 60's 3 ply Artist model snare.And that model was not a top of the line drum,being less money that the Radio King or Hollywood Ace.

Steve B