So I'll start this off by saying I'm a guitarist, but I had always been in school concert band in the percussion section from 5th-10th grade. I had a Pearl Forum beginner drum kit package as a kit and over the years I held onto it before trading for a smaller kit privately, and then to a bigger 80's Tama kit (low end Japanese model). I never bought cymbals or a snare before, but now that I'm playing in a pretty heavy punk/noise rock/grunge band, I knew that my drummer needed a big punchy drum that cut threw a wall of fuzz coming out of a halfstack.
Suffice to say, he is kinda cheap and never wants to buy gear, I ended up pulling the trigger on a used BB on craigslist for a very cheap $370 including a beato-bag soft shell case. It has imperial lugs and a p85 throw. No pitting or rusting, just a lot of finger smudges. Checked the inside to make sure it the shell was seamless, but aside from that didn't really know what I was looking for. Figured it was a very good deal, it's a go to snare drum for pretty much any rock or pop application, will last a lifetime, and I can always sell for the same price (or more since I got it for less than they usually go for.
Anyways, I got to play with it a little bit today and mess around with tuning (don't really know much more than the basics of tuning). The heads look like they're the original ludwig heads, but after tuning it a few different ways, I definitely found out that I like the open ringing sound of it and it has a huge punch and presence to it!! Tuned up the resonance head pretty tight, I think I have the batter head medium (I have no idea what pitch I should be tuning these to, or what ranges of pitches I would), the muffler pretty much off, and the snares medium-tight.
Plan is to purchase a Remo Ambassador coated for the batter so I get nice overtones openess to it, not sure what I should get for the resonance (Ambassador "hazy??"), and maybe some new snare-wire (was thinking the puresound blasters or brass..I have no idea as I'm not a drummer).
Well, here's some pics, let me know what you think (aka is this actually a real BB and how old is it), and maybe some recommendations on tuning, heads, snare wire (not going to purchase a P86 for now). Again, this is mainly going to be used for a very loud punk/noise rock band and I want the snare to sound huge, punchy, and have a lot of cut.
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