Pioneer has 6 lugs. Jazz Fest has 8. Many times a Pioneer will have nickel plated hardware. Pioneers also have the plastic tabbed snare wires.

Gravy is right. Sound-wise the Pioneer is a wetter, more open, raw sounding drum than the J-Fest. The J-fest is drier, more focused sounding than the Pioneer.

John

Thanks for the super fast response. I thought i remembered something that obvious, but missed it in a quick review of the catalog. Keeping my eyes open for a reasonable 67 jazzfest.

hardly any left we have them all here lol but i have a gem of a skb for sale

what color/wrap do you need?

mike

Both are great drums. Be sure to check the drum hoops on the 6 lug pioneer models. Most I have owned had hairline cracks on the rims where the tension rods had put too much strain on them.

The shells used to make both were identical. A shell sitting in a stack could end up as either model with the determination being made when they drilled the lug holes. If they drilled for eight lugs it became a Jazz fest, If they drilled for six then it became a Pioneer.

I personally think pioneers are really under appreciated sound-wise. Man, I love their sound, they really embody what I think of as the "vintage snare sound."

J-Fests are great too, though.

Another thing to consider is how high you tune your drums. You might not want the pioneer if you really like higher tunings. It is hard to get those 6 lugs cranked without inflicting some damage to the rims or even the lugs. I had a 6 lug wfl with lugs that had spider web cracking. I guess the previous owner wanted to make it scream.