Just a small snare. I have a 3x13 Pearl Maple. Pearl also has a steel piccolo.  If you use the search feature there are several discussions on the piccolo snares.  They are great but not as versatile as a standard size.  Mine is actually quite sensitive and the rim shot and side stick is fat.  I use mine primarily as a aux snare when I want two different snare sounds (tighter vs fatter) and/or when I want to have a side timbale style piece.  For a while when I played at church I would bring my piccolo to use as main snare since it cut very nicely in that venue without being overpowering.  Everyone really like it. They now have a nice Taye Studio Maple.

My main snares are now either my 5x14 Black Acrolite or my 4x14 Taye Studio Maple.  I like em all very much.  I'm not sure if I need another but I'm told you can never have enough snares.   We'll see.

The Carlos Vega drum is .... *drum roll* ...

A 59 Bronze engraved 6.5x14. He also has a 65 chrome over brass Supra Phonic 5x14, too.

I have no idea where I got copper. He's not the one with the '72 Dynasonic, but I suspect my ears have been twisted. Apologies for the confusion!

Why?  Next time you are in town beat on it.  The cut is to die for.  It is a skull cracker for sure  .  Someone needs to buy one and do a review on it here   LOL

2000 beans for a snare drum- no thanks. 

I have turned over the name of the owner of the drum and I'm positive he has pictures. I want nothing else to do with this.

I am not, nor have I ever been, a member of the Communist Party.

 

Cool thread.  I'm getting a lot of input to what people want in snare drums.  That will help me for my pending foray into snare drum construction...  Two comments based on the above posts.

A nicely done stave may not have ANY visible stave lines on it. The snare in my avatar is such.  By looking at it, you'd swear it was a hollowed out log...  (No I didn't make that one.)  I agree that there is no one "best" way, but just that they will sound different.  You have to search for what you want. 

My very limited experience with large vented snares indicates that the large vents tend to make the drum seem louder when all other things are equal.  It also decreases a bit of the snare sensitivity (especially at lower volumes) and fattens the sound a bit.  I will be posting a custom snare for sale here, probably by tomorrow, that is a 6x14 10-ply Keller shell with 4 3-inch vents.  It was an experimental drum for my aforementioned foray into drum building.  We listened to it with no holes, 1 hole, 2, 3, then 4 holes.  There is a difference in sound.  Listen to the DW Acoustic EQ snare on the DW website to get an idea of what venting does. 

Though our goal is to make a "voice changing" snare, we opted to go another route rather than variable venting due to possible patent infringement.  But, we have an even better idea and I'll be talking about that more in a few months.  Anyway, that's why this large vented snare will be available soon.  I've just got to get it from my partner and then I'll post it here before it goes on Ebay. 

Maybe Carlos's snare was a chrome mapex 2004, with a blue/olive badge on it from ebay and bronzed for cosmetic appeal?. It just seems logical to me, why didnt anyone think of this?, its what i would have done to. Dont tell me im the only one to think of this? .

I couldnt believe when id heard it either Gaddabout. Didnt he have some depression problems?. I just listened to the clip. I to dug the drum sound as well as the warm and punchy snare sound. Dam!, i could have purchased a 70's 5x14 super for 125 at a local music store but i snoozed on it. 

A mutual friend of mine and Drum4JCs was Carlos' best friend. He said Carlos was the happiest guy in the world, lived for his daughter. They both did some Girl Scouts type thing together, went camping, etc. He was absolutely devastated by Carlos' death. In some ways he never really recovered. Lots of studio cats in LA were floored by the whole thing, because he was such an engaging and generous person. No one could really fathom what led him to do what he did.