Overview
This material could be viewed as the natural equivalent to aluminum. It is fat and meaty at all tunings.
The mid range is obvious but not dominant and can be heard dissolving into the low end.
The shell is attack and bottom oriented. Different than aluminum, birch's dry characteristics have less decay and more lingering sustain.
I spotted this example by shear accident one evening in April 2022 on a sales listing on Drumsellers.com. I contacted the seller, who turned out to be George Lawrence from that amazing resource for vintage drums Not So Modern Drummer. He got back to me almost immediately and gave permission to use the images. This particular snare is from the drum and cymbal collection of John Dittrich, drummer for Restless Heart, and is in just about showroom condition. You can see it (and the whole collection) on the video below - it's clearly shown at 0:13. The auction runs until 2 June 2022 if you want to grab this rare model from a celebrity owner.
Photos courtesy of George Lawrence from Not So Modern Drummer - thanks a million George!
