Tama Artwood Custom Snare Drum  

I play at church almost every Sunday. The genres of songs we sing are all different. And this snare fits all of them. Detuning the snare for that deep rock sound, and tightning it for a gosple or R&B, both sound awesome, i love this snare!

I own the 6.5 x 13 TAMA Artwood with the Super Maple finish. Basically, I was in search of a versatile snare drum that I could use as a main or a side snare. I also wanted a snare drum that was reasonably priced. I knew TAMA was the direction to go with a reputation for ?great quality? products?which is also based on my personal experience. I like metal snare drums, however I needed something with a little more body to it. TAMA?s Artwood has definitely made an impression on me. It has a lot of character: depth as well as sensitivity, a bright open resonant sound, & the warmth of maple. I like the look of the black hardware against this ?quality? high-gloss lacquer finish. I also like the versatility of the Evans Power Center Reverse Dot head. I did eventually change the hoops on this drum. The factory 1.6mm triple flanged hoops were nice; they give the snare drum a more rounded open sound. However, I wanted the drum to be a little more aggressive, so I equipped the snare with 2.3mm triple flanged hoops. The snare drum has a more focused, brighter attack with lots of ring. I use this drum mainly as a side snare with the snare wires on or turned off. If you?re in the market for a maple snare drum, then definitely consider the TAMA Artwood?I?m certainly glad I did. You?ll receive top quality & great sound at a reasonable price. Highly recommended!!

I had been eying the previous version of Tama's Artwood Custom Maple snare drums, but MF never had any 6.5' IN in stock that wasn't the blueish finish. So I grabbed a 2010 catalog from Tama and saw they were putting out a new version of the Artwoods. After checking MF daily for about a month, they finally made these available for sale. I now have the 14 by 6.5' Super Maple snare. The sound it creates is so warm, I have it cranked kinda high too. The finish is spectacular, the pictures MF has don't do it justice. The Black Nickle hardware looks pro, the Diecast rims are wicked for Rimshots, the tone is smooth and warm. If I had to compare the sound mine has it would be almost identical to Kris Myers of Umphrey's Mcgee. Overall Great buy, best Maple snare under $300, just as good as a DW...IMO FYI I use Aquarian Focus X snare heads (eliminates the annoying ringing without sacrificing tone) and Evans 300 Hazy Snareside head.