Single Ply (Solid Shell)
The tonal quality of steam-bent, single ply shells are the best you can get if you ask us, which is why we only make our snares from a single piece of wood. Our solid shell snare drums are true solid shell drums. Meaning, we do not make use of two-piece or three-piece shells with decorative seams or inlays. Anything other than a single piece of wood is simply not a solid shell.
After the bending process is complete, our shells are CNC machined to achieve perfect roundness that human hands simply cannot achieve. Once the machine process is complete, the beds, edges are cut, and drilling is performed. Finally, our shells go through a multi-week process of applying many coats of a custom oil blend to eventually form a pleasing satin to semi-gloss finish that preserves the wood itself, not just the outer surface.
Once each shell is drilled, finished, and hardware is assembled, we perform a frequency/pitch test on the outer shell and bearing edge using a spectrum analyzer and label the inside of each drum with its fundamental frequency and note. You may choose to tune your drum with this in mind or not; as the drum will also sound great using many different tuning approaches. Our test and label is simply provided as a courtesy so you are aware of the frequency that the drum resonates the most.
Versatile Snare Bed
We wanted a versatile snare bed that would enable articulate and dynamic sound across the full range of tension & position of the snare wires regardless of the number of wires being used. To accomplish this, we prototyped various shell thicknesses and snare bed cuts to ultimately result in what we think is the optimal snare bed.
Our snare bed is a generous width combined with a subtle but appropriate cut in depth which provides great articulation, even up to 42 strand snare wires.
Measure Fundamental Frequency & Note
After each shell is drilled, finished, and hardware is assembled, we perform a frequency/pitch test on the drum using a spectrum analyzer and label the inside of each drum with its fundamental frequency and note. You may choose to tune your drum with this in mind or not; as the drum will also sound great using many different tuning approaches. Our test and label is simply provided as a courtesy so you are aware of the frequency that the drum shell resonates the most.
Our brass hardware typically lowers the fundamental pitch of any given drum shell by ~50Hz which is why we perform a shell body and shell bearing edge frequency check only after all of the hardware is assembled onto the shell. This approach provides the most accurate reading of the drum's sound profile. These readings are the same on solid shells vs. ply-wood shells where the outer ply will resonated differently than the ply making contact with the drum head.
The frequency of any drum shell will be slightly lower (~5Hz) where there are more hardware attached (besides the lugs) such as the throw off, butt plate, or air vent. We avoid these areas when performing our tests.