Overview
A very close sibling of Lilac Burst, Imperial Burst was more popular and therefore available for far longer in the Mapex range. There's not a huge amount in it, especially in low light, but in brighter conditions you can see that Imperial Burst fades to red rather than the purple of Lilac Burst. Personally I have kits in both finishes and unless I put them together I'm struggling to see the difference (see the shot below). That's probably why Mapex discontinued the Lilac version pretty quickly and just ran with the more popular finish.
Anyway, a very pretty snare and not a vast amount of these around, as they would have been made specifically to match an Orion Classic kit somewhere between the mid 1990s and the early 2000s. Although Orions continued to come with matching snares after this, they were branded Orion Series rather than Black Panther, but the difference is really just the badge in my opinion.
Photos courtesy of Garry Fowlds and Kyle Riley (it's the same snare - Kyle bought it from Garry). Cheers folks!
Specifications
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Shell Size:14"x5.5"
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Shell Construction:Maple
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Shell Thickness:5.1mm
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Shell Finish:Imperial Burst Laquer
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Bearing Edge:45˚
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Hardware Finish:Black Chrome
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Lug Casings:Low-mass oval
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Hoops:Die Cast Hoops
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Snare Wires:20-strand
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Snare Throw Off:Mapex Orion Standard Strainer
-
Shell Size:14"x5.5"
-
Shell Construction:Maple
-
Shell Thickness:5.1mm
-
Shell Finish:Imperial Burst Laquer
-
Bearing Edge:45˚
-
Hardware Finish:Black Chrome
-
Lug Casings:Low-mass oval
-
Hoops:Die Cast Hoops
-
Snare Wires:20-strand
-
Snare Throw Off:Mapex Orion Standard Strainer