Does anyone keep a shell bank of Pearl Free Floating snare shells?

[APelletier]

Being new to the design concept, I was wondering if anyone has or entertained the thought of keeping a variety of Pearl Free Floating Snare shells and a backup of posts to make shell depth/material changes to cater to the music or vibe being performed. Shell depths range from 3.5", 5" and 6.5" with shell compositions of brass, seamless aluminum, stainless steel, steel, phosphor bronze, birch, maple, maple/mahogany and mahogany. Just wondering if anyone takes advantage of this seemingly flexible way to have a number of snare voices at your demand. Also I assume that these shells have no snare beds and fit in the chassis ring atop the snares? Does the chasis ring that the posts screw into have snare beds on the snare side?

 

[Ptrick]

I have a ton of free floater shells that I mix. I have gotten into stave shells or thicker metal shells not available from Pearl.

The chassis does have a snare bed built in.

 

[JazzDrumGuy]

I have a CB700 bronze 6.5x14 (with a 5x14 shell). A precursor to the Pearl. I only have the one chassis, though. However, I have swapped in a vintage 5x14 Luddy KB Super sensitive shell, a 5x14 steel Sonor, and a 5x14 MIJ wood shell.

I've thought about selling it with these various shells to give someone a 3-in-1 snare (the Super is now a converted "Supra" and a keeper).......I think it would be very cool to have a bronze/wood/steel snare in one!

 

[APelletier]

Would the one chassis be able to accommodate all shell depths? I compared pictures of the Piccolo to the 6.5" deep and they (1st generation) looked like the throw and butt on the chassis were the same. My thought was that the posts on the chassis could be swapped out to accommodate different shell depths, or even using longer t-rods with the Piccolo sized posts seems to be an even speedier way to swap different depths and shell compositions.

 

[cribbon]

I have a brass shell FFS piccolo that I bought brand new in 1983. I used it almost exclusively from then until the late 90s; it was especially effective with a coated Pinstripe on the batter, which fatten it up somewhat. I used it on and off from then until about '05 when I retired it after picking up a Blacrolite, which has been my primary snare since then. However, I did recently purchase a Tempus fiberglass shell (4" deep and silver sparkle) for the FFS and gave it its maiden voyage on an outdoor gig last weekend (the weather forecast was iffy and I wanted something that would be both sonically robust and impervious to whatever weather was coming our way - turned out that the rain passed us by). It sounded great and will probably continue as my outdoor-gig snare. (First pic from the '90s shows the original brass shell; second one taken last weekend shows the Tempus fiberglass shell.)

 

[Ptrick]

Would the one chassis be able to accommodate all shell depths? I compared pictures of the Piccolo to the 6.5" deep and they (1st generation) looked like the throw and butt on the chassis were the same. My thought was that the posts on the chassis could be swapped out to accommodate different shell depths, or even using longer t-rods with the Piccolo sized posts seems to be an even speedier way to swap different depths and shell compositions.

With the piccolo size, you can use whatever shell depth you want, as long as you adjust the tension rod length. It is possible to change out the lugs, but it gets expensive. Last I checked it’s $130-150 for a new set of different length lugs.

 

[APelletier]

With the piccolo size, you can use whatever shell depth you want, as long as you adjust the tension rod length. It is possible to change out the lugs, but it gets expensive. Last I checked it’s $130-150 for a new set of different length lugs.

So it seems the economical/ergonomical way to go is to have Piccolo posts and a variety of t-rod lengths. That way you're not having to remove snares and snare head, messing with posts. This all seems very interesting to me.

 

[Ptrick]

I have a few different chassis’s for this purpose, but yes, it is economical to just have the piccolo and a bunch of different sizes rods.

 

[Redbeard77]

I just came across this video comparing all the current Free Floater snares and figured this would be a good place to share it:

 

[BennyK]

I always keep a measuring tape in car . You never know what that interesting pot out with the garbage or at a yard sale might sound like in a free floater . Restaurant supply dealers usually have a mountain of used 14" aluminum and stainless steel stock pots that have been traded .

 

[pgm554]

I've got about 10 or so of varying depths and shell combos.
CL has been very good to me in that were very cheap to purchase over the years.
It's been a real pain in the butt to buy new shells from Pearl though as it usually about 6 months wait and a lot of them are no longer sold(copper).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL5IO3jkOe4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fm8ZiwmBk0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnnlO-XWIsE