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Visually, they look the business, with the only blight being the cheap and nasty badges, thankfully only worn by two of the snares

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• Review

Response was pretty good, but it's not a drum for quiet moments. Once you get beyond anything harder than a tap, it enters its powerband and takes off. One for the budding Chad Smiths out there then…

The 6 1/2" Laser-Engraved black brass drum is decorated with a gothic-tinged coat of arms that scrolls all the way around the shell, almost meeting. The deep brass shell endows it with the sort of bright, thick snare sound that had me pawing at an imaginary 26" bass drum in unison. Slackening off the head brought about a massive, fat crunch, while tuning it up delivered a blink-inducing rifle shot.

Whatever the tuning, cross-sticks and rim shots were relayed with great clarity, while its metallic ring was just within the boundaries of enthusiastic.

The 14"x5" Chic Grey plated hammered snare consists of a brass shell that's been nickel-plated and then hammered. The deep, patterned hammering of the shell would normally increase complexity – all the extra surfaces inside the drum create reflections of the soundwaves – and this is the case here. The natural zing of brass mixes with altogether darker shades, creating an individual and musical drum. It's a little like playing a heavily hammered ride cymbal, in that different areas of the drum seemed to elicit different characteristics.