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What's the Piccolo Snare Holy Grail?
- Thread starter jskdrums
- Start date
afwdrums
Well-Known Member
Shawn Martin
Well-Known Member
if this size verifies as a piccolo, I agree!
I own two: a wooden small badge aquamarine sparkle, that, for decades, was used by a family as a decorative hanging table ceiling lamp holding 8 candles in its open lugs. the wrap was under a black paint, easy to remove.
The hoops luckily were still there, but only some parts of the double strainer. I installed a ludwig piccolo strainer, non drilling.
I own many vintage snares, ludwig, gretsch 3ply, but this drum is something else, from bigband to funk. with a calf head you get the twist and shout crack sound no problem.
Second is a COB Royal ace large badge, all original. a heavy shell, giving me one of the loudest fattest snare backbeats I know.
I want to like the green Carl Palmer…I really do, but find it so unsettling. Not sure why? Aaaargh
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Elvis
The King of Rock'n'Roll
Not 100% sure if there is a definitive answer to that question, but I think in a lot of people's mind, it might be a Ludwig Downbeat snare drum with a transition badge in a rare finish.
drummingbulldog
Very well Known Member
My favorite is a Gretsch Taiwan made Max Roach 4x14. It is very versatile in the studio. Mics love that size. I am hunting a copper or bronze 4x14.
TonyVazquez
Very well Known Member
I once had a 13" piccolo snare drum that was made by a company offshoot of DW
(if I remember correctly, Dixon?)... I sold it dirt-cheap back in the late 90s, and I regret selling it. That snare had THE crack sound and volume I had always wanted from such a snare.
I'm not on a hunt for any holy grail piccolo snare... any wood or steel pic snare that's a 13" x 5 or shallower is fine by me.
I'm currently playing a 13"x5" cute little Sound Percussion snare that is a wood shell wrapped in glossy black. I kept its stock reso head which sounds nice cranked up high; and for the batter I'm using a Remo Emperor coated batter head.
The Emperor has a deep sound, I have it cranked high but it still sounds deeply low frequency for a pic-sized snare drum.
I think I'll try a Remo Ambassador batter, or a Remo CS blackdot batter, as long as I can crank it to high pitches without breaking it. I enjoy the full bodiness of a wood shell, but I want my pic snare to sound high and dry...
Eventually, I would like to try one of those steel shell pic snare drums such as the Pearl M80.
(if I remember correctly, Dixon?)... I sold it dirt-cheap back in the late 90s, and I regret selling it. That snare had THE crack sound and volume I had always wanted from such a snare.
I'm not on a hunt for any holy grail piccolo snare... any wood or steel pic snare that's a 13" x 5 or shallower is fine by me.
I'm currently playing a 13"x5" cute little Sound Percussion snare that is a wood shell wrapped in glossy black. I kept its stock reso head which sounds nice cranked up high; and for the batter I'm using a Remo Emperor coated batter head.
The Emperor has a deep sound, I have it cranked high but it still sounds deeply low frequency for a pic-sized snare drum.
I think I'll try a Remo Ambassador batter, or a Remo CS blackdot batter, as long as I can crank it to high pitches without breaking it. I enjoy the full bodiness of a wood shell, but I want my pic snare to sound high and dry...
Eventually, I would like to try one of those steel shell pic snare drums such as the Pearl M80.
MarkB
Well-Known Member
I have a Garbaldi as well. GREAT drum. Between that and Yamaha brass SD493.
Elvis
The King of Rock'n'Roll
I remember those.
Yes, you're right, it was a Dixon snare drum, but they had nothing to do with DW.
Not sure how they got away with the similar turret lugs, but yes, a lot of kids got those because they saw them as a "cheap DW", because of the look.
Sold through St. Louis Music, they originally went new for like $49.95, but eventually climbed to $99.95.
The price of popularity.
I heard the edges were pretty wavy on most, but they actually tuned up and sounded pretty nice, considering they were a 13x3.5.
...also, you mentioned 13x5 snare drums.
I got a Tama Stagestar snare drum in 2006.
I was looking for an inexpensive metal shelled counterpart to my 13x3 Ludwig Classic Maple snare drum and this one came along in excellent shape and for the right price.
When I initially played it, I noticed the darker, more resonant sound but there was an icy cold characteristic to its sound that didn't sit well with me.
I sat on it for a while, deliberating what to do.
In the meantime, the Ludwig always had a raspy sound that bugged me and one day, I was sitting there when I spied the Tama and realized I had never really looked at the underside.
It had a 20 strand snare and I thought this might help smooth out the sound of the Ludwig and its 12 strand snare.
So I swapped them.
At first play, I didn't really notice very much difference.
Disappointed, I set them both off to one side and threw a 14x4 Pulse steel shelled drum I also had up on the stand and used that for a while.
A few weeks later, I decided to switch them back, as I was planning on selling off the Tama.
I threw them up on the stand one last time and it was then that I noticed the drums now sounded quite different.
The Tama had picked up a slight warmth and fatness that wasn't present before.
The Ludwig had picked up a much smoother snare sound and it was a little bit drier now, too.
Quite pleased with what I heard, I scrapped the idea of selling off the Tama and left the snares as they were.
I still have the Ludwig kit and I still have that Tama snare drum, too.
Elvis
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TonyVazquez
Very well Known Member
That's exactly why I had that Dixon snare in the first place, because the turret lugs lead me to believe Dixon was a "junior" to DW (like Epiphone is to Gibson, Squire to Fender).
During the time that I had that piccolo snare drum I heard Dixon got sued by DW, and so they closed shop.
Now I'm seeing that the Dixon piccolo snare drum is sought by collectors.
I don't see anything special about it but it's beautiful glossy natural wood finish,
and its particular crack sound and volume. That snare sure had a nice loud crack that cut through everything.
Elvis
The King of Rock'n'Roll
Yeah, once the younger crowd got wind of that drum, every music store/drum shop in the nation got inundated with orders for those.
I think those were advertised as a Maple shelled drum, too.
In the late 90's, the ultimate status symbol, was to have a Maple snare drum.
Now that you mention it, I think there might've been some kind of legal action, because I remember Dixon stating "officially" their turret lug was different from the DW, so it wasn't like they were ripping them off (although it was pretty plain to see they were trying to gain some sales off of that design feature).
Don't recall them closing down, but they eventually dropped the turret lug from their inventory.
I think those were advertised as a Maple shelled drum, too.
In the late 90's, the ultimate status symbol, was to have a Maple snare drum.
Now that you mention it, I think there might've been some kind of legal action, because I remember Dixon stating "officially" their turret lug was different from the DW, so it wasn't like they were ripping them off (although it was pretty plain to see they were trying to gain some sales off of that design feature).
Don't recall them closing down, but they eventually dropped the turret lug from their inventory.
TonyVazquez
Very well Known Member
Oh man, that snare was quite popular during the late 90s.
I wonder if the shell was indeed Maple, because it had a distinct sound, and without any dampening to it young drummers were rim-shotting the heck out of it for that 311 Chad Sexton snare sound.
Even I was doped on that snare sound.
And since then it's become a stuck habit for me to use rim shots as the back beat.
But no matter type of snare that I play nowadays, I'll never get them to sound as good as the Dixon piccolo snare drum.
I'll bet Lars WISHES he had that Dixon piccolo snare drum for the St Anger album! I would be shocked if he DID use a Dixon for that album...
...because that ugly snare sound would be sacrilegious to the Dixon!
I wonder if the shell was indeed Maple, because it had a distinct sound, and without any dampening to it young drummers were rim-shotting the heck out of it for that 311 Chad Sexton snare sound.
Even I was doped on that snare sound.
And since then it's become a stuck habit for me to use rim shots as the back beat.
But no matter type of snare that I play nowadays, I'll never get them to sound as good as the Dixon piccolo snare drum.
I'll bet Lars WISHES he had that Dixon piccolo snare drum for the St Anger album! I would be shocked if he DID use a Dixon for that album...
...because that ugly snare sound would be sacrilegious to the Dixon!
aindiparse
Active Member
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I have a Brady Jarrah block constructed 5" x 12", one of the first Chris Brady ever made. I've had it since 1985. I actually don't use it that much as it's sound isn't all that versatile. But a high pitched gunshot crack - it does that extremely well!
TwoGuns
Member
No, I’ve never seen any other one piece maple shell Pearl snare drums anywhere. Maybe it was just the one year that they made them and it was only the piccolo size that I remember being available.
Marquisjohnson22
DFO Veteran
Legend Bronze 4x14
Pearl Marvin “Smitty” smith copper 4x14
Yamaha Brass 3.5x14
Pearl Marvin “Smitty” smith copper 4x14
Yamaha Brass 3.5x14
TheDrummerFromAmsterdam
DFO Master
Not really sought after, as you can get them super cheap because Dixon was that cheap brand (and they never got over that image unfortunatley for them)
Here is one which you can probalby even pickup for 50 bucks too.
≥ Dixon 14” x 3,5” piccolo snaredrum/kleine trom — Drumstellen en Slagwerk — Marktplaats
Inclusief standaard, stokken en stemsleutel! Goed voor zowel de beginnende als gevorderde speler.Deze Dixon 14” x 3,5” piccolo snaredrum/kleine trom
They made them in steel too:
≥ Dixon snaredrum — Drumstellen en Slagwerk — Marktplaats
Keurige dixon piccolo steel snaredrum. Afmetingen zijn 13x4.Remo Ambassador coated als slagvel.Remo Ambassador als resonantievelPuresound snarenmat
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always suspected the lugs on the 3X13 Dixons (had one) were plastic. they sure didn't 'tap' like metal..but none of the Taiwan era snares of that time did..
they sure around (no pun) tho... (must of ..every store sold them
they sure around (no pun) tho... (must of ..every store sold them
funkypoodle
DFO Veteran
I had a 13x3 Ludwig hammered bronze that was a fantastic piccolo
