I figured it out. The sticks are wooden!!! A+ now. Laughing H

What I notice most is it sounds like he's hitting both the rim and center of the head, or a bit off-center. That kind of rim-shot doesn't ring too much. Plus mic type/placement. I don't hear a particularly low note. Definitely some muting going on...

Wooden sticks though, that's crazy!

I guess what I love about it is that he created a loping groove by alternating the rim shot with a head shot countered by the double hit on the bass and then hi-hat that opens after he applies a hit there on the last eight note of the bar and drops the bass simultaneously. It's all so crisp up top and fat down bottom. Really sends that back and forth motion to the brain and body. Falls under the heading of dynamics, for which he had a high degree of intuition. Little wonder that he's in the Musician's Hall of Fame.

Still a bit amazed to hear that rim shot came from a brass drum. I don't have my Dynasonics with me at the moment, but anxious to compare wooden and brass shells side by side just to listen for the difference. Also makes me wonder if the Gretsch 7-line shell sends any discernably differing tone in that mode than the later 5-line shell.

I do know that under one recording engineer's work, everything I used was altered and you'd never identify the equipment. I recall him taping a nickle to the bass beater and that really generated a disturbing tone to my ear, but it was what it was. However that recording of of Son of the Preacher Man does sound rather unaltered in terms of the snare drum sound inparticular. Really clean and natural drum sounds to my ear even if I did think it was a wooden shell.

Hi Dan,i think that DownTownFarmer has some very good points for achieving that rimshot alternated with a muted backbeat.It`s amazing what can be done with those 7-liners and especially in the hands of an experienced studio guy.It does sound like he is playing off-center every other beat and those snares are amazing for being able to get so many different sounds from just one drum and of course Gene`s soft hands are pure evidence of that.I know we both have one of those snares and it sure makes you appreciate what we have when you hear one miked up perfectly.

Wayne