3rd & 4th Drum Co. 6x14 zebrawood/maple/zebrawood snare drum

If you read my last article about my late 60’s Pearl MIJ phenolic drum kit, I briefly mentioned this snare drum. It’s a recent build I finished a few months ago. I sent this snare to one of my good friends, Kris Redus, who is a session drummer in Austin, TX, to take it for a spin for a few weeks. Here is a video of him playing it in three different tunings.

“This is a really unique sounding snare! The resonance seems to have a lot of warm complexity to it. It’s very crisp and sensitive. Playing light quick ghost notes and buzz rolls felt super comfortable and articulate. It really surprised me when I moved it down to a lower open tuning - this whole other body and fullness came out of the drum... huge! Overall, this is just a beautiful instrument - sonically and aesthetically” - Kris Redus

Sound & Specs

The shell is constructed of 8 plies. The inner cores consist of 6 plies of maple. This wood is no stranger to drummers. Maple has very good low end frequency while keep the mids & highs well balanced. When adding zebrawood as an inner & outer ply it boosted the low end & also caused the maple core to “dry” up a little bit giving it an almost aluminum characteristic. Combining this shell w/ the single flanged hoops give your cross stick a more woodier and defined sound.

The outer edge has a nice hand applied round-over profile w/ the inner cut being 45 degree. The look of this drum is very earthy. To achieve this look I applied a single layer of this “ghost white” stain & then distressed it to show case the look of the zebra patterns. I choose to give this Aztec gold hardware (tubed lugs, classic strainer, single flanged hoops) & apply the same thought of earthy/distressed look out of them by spraying the whole drum w/ “metallic” black & white paint. I’m glad I went w/ black tension rods because it highlights the black patterns on the shell.

Overall, this is very sensitive snare drum. The slightest hit produces a nice snare response. I could easily see this as one of my go to snares.

If you would like a snare like this feel free to email me.

If all goes according to plan you can check this snare out and many more drums during the Music City Drum Show on August 8th at the 3rd & 4th Drums booth.