13 June 2018 - I’ve always wanted a 13” snare since I played one in Shinji’s Soundcreation studios back in 2005. Since then, I’d read a lot about the Pearl Omar Hakim Signature a lot on the internet. Legend has it of being 13” x 5” of lively funky poppy goodness at any tuning. But local availability had always been few and far between. Both JB Music and local want ads hadn’t had them for years, and it seems people who own them don’t let them go easily.
Three weeks ago, I spotted a mint condition Pearl Omar Hakim signature snare in the Facebook marketplace. The price was right, and it came with an SKB hard case. But the seller was from faraway Meycauayan. After two failed attempts for a meetup in Quezon City I gave up. Just then, I saw an Facebook marketplace ad for another one, right inside of UP Diliman. It wasn’t as mint as the first one, and it didn’t come with a case. But it was cheaper, and accessible. So I closed the deal and sped there as fast as I could. I gathered that the seller is a session musician who at one point was in a band of a friend. The reason for selling, which was posted by his brother who lived in the UP campus, implied he was quitting. But the seller himself said he had one too many snares already.
So I’m now the third owner of this drum (Serial # OH 070228). I’d say it came in “fair” condition. First, the good news. The shell is round, finish is very good, bearing edges and snare bed are smooth, and the throw off is solid. And now for the not so good news. The hoops had some pitting. So a WD40 and aluminum foil scrub smoothed out most of it. Two lugs have hairline cracks. Fortunately, they're not in an area that will be stressed when screwed in and under tension. The tension rods are sort of matte, the threads are difficult to clean, and there’s one odd one. So I'm still deciding if it not being shiny will bother me enough to buy new ones. I dearly wanted to put a coated Ambassador batter and Ambassador snare side, but the local distributor hasn't had 12"s or 13"s since last January. So I again ended up with the more sober Aquarian TC batter and CCSN combo.
I practiced with it only briefly this afternoon, so I'm still finding its tessitura. Each tuning from low to high has a happy, excitable character, but with unique timbres as tensions increase. So to my ears, this drum lives up to its legend. Now I have to figure out how to setup four (!) snare drums in one setup.
Three weeks ago, I spotted a mint condition Pearl Omar Hakim signature snare in the Facebook marketplace. The price was right, and it came with an SKB hard case. But the seller was from faraway Meycauayan. After two failed attempts for a meetup in Quezon City I gave up. Just then, I saw an Facebook marketplace ad for another one, right inside of UP Diliman. It wasn’t as mint as the first one, and it didn’t come with a case. But it was cheaper, and accessible. So I closed the deal and sped there as fast as I could. I gathered that the seller is a session musician who at one point was in a band of a friend. The reason for selling, which was posted by his brother who lived in the UP campus, implied he was quitting. But the seller himself said he had one too many snares already.
So I’m now the third owner of this drum (Serial # OH 070228). I’d say it came in “fair” condition. First, the good news. The shell is round, finish is very good, bearing edges and snare bed are smooth, and the throw off is solid. And now for the not so good news. The hoops had some pitting. So a WD40 and aluminum foil scrub smoothed out most of it. Two lugs have hairline cracks. Fortunately, they're not in an area that will be stressed when screwed in and under tension. The tension rods are sort of matte, the threads are difficult to clean, and there’s one odd one. So I'm still deciding if it not being shiny will bother me enough to buy new ones. I dearly wanted to put a coated Ambassador batter and Ambassador snare side, but the local distributor hasn't had 12"s or 13"s since last January. So I again ended up with the more sober Aquarian TC batter and CCSN combo.
I practiced with it only briefly this afternoon, so I'm still finding its tessitura. Each tuning from low to high has a happy, excitable character, but with unique timbres as tensions increase. So to my ears, this drum lives up to its legend. Now I have to figure out how to setup four (!) snare drums in one setup.
