Pearl Modern Utility Snare Drums

95
WWW.MUSICRADAR.COM/RHYTHM FEBRUARY 2018 |
PRICE
All drums £203
SHELL MATERIAL
Asian maple plywood
CONSTRUCTION
METHOD
Pearl Superior Shell
Technology (SST)
scarfed ply construction
NUMBER OF
PLIES
Six 0.9mm even-plies,
totalling 5.4mm thick
BEARING EDGES
45°, sharp
FINISHES
AVAILABLE
Matte Natural or
Black Ice Lacquer
HOOPS
1.6mm triple-fl anged
chrome plated steel
SHELL
AVAILABILITY
12"x7", 13"x5", 14"x5½",
14"x6½", 14"x8"
SUPPLIED HEADS
Remo UT Coated batters
LUGS PER DRUM
Pearl CL Classic bridge
lugs:
14"x8", 16 single-ended;
14"x5½", 14"x6½",
13"x5", eight
double-ended;
12"x7", six double-ended
SNARE STRAINER
Pearl SR-700
CONTACT
Pearl Music Europe
00800 8424 9328
www.pearleurope.com
salesuk@pearleurope.
com
Essential spec
LOOSENING THE SNARE WIRES A
BIT THE DRUM BREATHES MORE
EASILY AND THE SOUND BECOMES
MORE EXPANSIVE AND ENJOYABLE
AS THE BATTER HEAD PLAYS IN
VERDICT: Noting a gap in the market
for relatively inexpensive maple snare
drums, Pearl offers this collection of
fi ve Utility models with simple,
no-frills classic designs.
BUILD QUALITY
PLAYABILITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
RATING
LIGHT WEIGHT
The 6-ply 5.4mm thin Asian
maple shells are noticeably light
in weight but constructed using
Pearl’s unique SST method
EASY THROW-OFF
Pearl’s SR-700 is a classic side
lever design that is utilitarian
but perfectly up to the job
BLACK OR NATURAL
All the drums are offered in a two-way
choice of shiny black lacquer or
natural satin-matte maple
point out they are. Being so thin, the shells
are more liable to distort, and viewed from
directly above I noticed a few areas where the
curvature of the steel hoops and the wood
shells deviate by a
1/
16
" or two. No big deal so
long as the maple is resilient.
Hands On
There’s a vintage snare residing on my home
kit, with an excessively open, ringy sound. So,
swapping it for the fi rst Utility model – the
standard 14"x5½" – the difference is really
marked. The Pearl has a taut, less rangey
sound, almost boxy. It only takes a few
minutes to get used to it though and it occurs
to me that this is a typically modern sound.
Needing minimal damping, if any, as the rim
shots don’t ring madly, it’s easily manageable.
Loosening the snare wires a bit the drum
breathes more easily and the sound becomes
more expansive and enjoyable as the batter
head plays in. The deeply-cut snare beds help.
This leads to the other standard 14"ers –
the 6½" and 8". The former is more of the
same, an option if you want power with
marginally less edge. The 8" is more specialist
and a bit of a bargain with its 16 lugs and
deep shell. Yet because of the generally
compact nature of the Utility series the 8"
doesn’t feel overly deep. Eight-inch drums
don’t have the snappy close snariness of
shallow drums, so they can sound more like a
tom, particularly from out front or when
miked in a concert hall. They’re fat but rarely
cut though like a shallow snare. This one
doesn’t seem thus affl icted though – it’s crisp
and it actually sounds quite toppy from
behind the kit. Given that it also has a fat body
tone, it should be useable in varied musical
contexts, not just the clichéd 1980s big-hair
rock ballad.
The 13"x5" may just be my favourite. It
benefi ts from the series’ characteristic tight
punchiness with snappy beats that are not
thin and one-dimensional, but have substance
thanks to the 5" depth. So that slightly
reduced 13" width gives an extra brightness
without getting fl abby. It’s not too narrow for
cross-sticks either.
By the time we reach the 12"x7" we’re
more into effects territory. Its tom-like
dimension renders it naturally more tubby.
As a second snare you can have real fun
exploring its clear tonal contrast with your
standard 14" everyday snare.
RHY277.gear_pearl.indd 95 18/12/2017 18:23