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Brightness of tone is a high priority in the case of the VG-1450.

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It's a snare drum that thrives on a very tight batter head and bogs down a little when the tension's dropped. But keep the tuning rods wound up and you can't go wrong.

Although the 'none-more-black' aesthetics and, to a greater degree, the presence of the logos might narrow the appeal of Joey's snare, it is well worth investigating if you're into super-controlled backbeats pitched just below the stratosphere.

Aggressive hip-hop and electro grooves are particularly well served by this snare. However, the black beauty is certainly less flexible than Virgil's sexy sparkler. Treated to a similarly rod-cranking level of tension as that on which the JJ thrives and the 1450 acquits itself extremely well. The extra inch of diameter broadens the scope of the tone nicely and the maple/ birch shell turns up the warmth factor a nudge, although that birch inner and the relatively shallow shell mean that the drum's voice always sounds lively.

Virgil's drum is also far happier-sounding than Joey's at medium tension. It doesn't get tubby or hard to tune, it simply indulges the player with some extra low-mid punch without losing any of its crisp responsiveness. Unless you need the real deep tone that a deeper shell brings, this is a must-hear snare.