Dynasonic with beavertails from 64 to very early 69. Either COB or wood shell. Part of my view is associated with successful recordings where the snare is particularly crisp but also clear under powerful hits. That drum simply delivers to the spot I like to hear the most, and the same is true when using these drums live. Another factor is the architecture, which I consider to have just about peaked in the form of Rogers drums from 64 to very early 69.

I really like the sound of 6-lug wood snares, and I'm scared to hit Dixielands or Luxors very hard, so I'll go with the Pioneer or the Supreme Concert. I like their character a lot, it speaks to me. The feel, tone and even the looks are the cat's meow in my book.

I've had a scientific education and I must say that it's impossible for anyone to say what is the best snare drum ever manufactured. For several reasons. One of them is that none of us has ever tried all snare drums. Another is that defintions of "best" vary widely. Etc.

But... off course it's fun to post about it! Each of us will make his own translation of "best snare ever manufactured". For some it will mean "best snare I played" for some it will mean: "snare I heard most positive remarks about in my life". You could also count: "most recorded snare ever" or "snare used most for live shows by famous drummers."

I'll translate it as best snare I owned and played. I have 7 snares. All of them I bought for very little money, only one was a bit more expensive (Pearl Session Elite, which I want to re-sell cause I don't play it). By far my best snare is a Royal. A vintage dutch brand. It's the snare on this page:

http://www.vintagedrumguide.com/royal/history3.html

I play it with a remo skyntone head and I removed some of the snarewires from the parallel strainer (seperate snarewires, fit with small screws, about 40, now 20). Complete drum is COB. Nice thing about it is, that is sounds very open, but still has volume and balls enought to cut through the other instruments in my band (we play pretty loud). Sounds good in every tuning. Never bores me. Really happy with it. Snagged it somwhere for 50 bucks. Very high quality drum, solidly made.

By the way. I am very curious what would happen if there would be rigourous scientific experiments about soundquality of drums. I suspect that in the world of drummers and drums there is a lot of brand-o-filia, lore and maybe even magical thinking (that a "round over" bearing edge would give a "round" sound, that "cheap" wood wil sound "cheap", etc.). How would my cheaply bought Royal snare fare when compared to a 600 dollar Ludwig in a blind test (with comparable edges and the same heads, wires, way of tuning)? Same for drum sets. I once customized a MIJ set (pre-Tama), played it a few times and then sold it to make space for another project. Never had a drum set that sounded better. To be honoust, it sounded better (to my ears) than my Rogers Big R, which has quite a reputation.

Same for bearing edges. I've read lots of stuff about it on the net, but most info is conflicting. Some say round edges will give more sustain because more energy will get into the shell and cause the wood to fibrate, others say round edges shorten the sustain. It would be nice if somebody in some laboratory would do scientific test. Factors being: construction type (stave, ply, stack, solid), thickness, woodtype, edge, heads, tuning. And outcomes being: volume, tone, sustain, etc. I have a floortom that has masses of sustain, but had round edges. I have a wood snare that has little sustain (and overtones) but has sharp edges. Confusing. Maybe a round edge on a very thin shell will improve sustain, but will decrease it on a thick shell, same for soft vs. hard wood, etc.

Oh well, just some thoughts.

6.5" Rogers Superten oval badge...It`s my go-to snare for sure...

Cheers

I've always thought that a wood dyna would be probably the best sound wise, but price wise it's beyond most people. I'm going to vote radio kings. My humble acro never lets me down on contempory stuff though. It's prob not the best though.

Yepper.....:):)

What is that drum?

An MIJ stencil gifted to me by Backbeatkeeper......

Finest in the land....:):)

Right on brother.

Best wood snare I've heard - so far - is Slingerland student 14x7 circa 1959 or something. Purdie has one..

Then there's the keystone badge Acrolite..