I've acquired a lot of snares these past few years. The one thing I lacked was a real, honest to goodness fat snare. So when I saw this in the Facebook Marketplace, I was immediately drawn to it. The dimensions were perfect for what has become popular in the past few years, the hybrid fat snare / floor tom. Web searches suggested this is a 1990s 14”x10” Pearl CMS 1410 "Competitor" Mahogany Marching Snare.
The seller was in Pampanga, and the drum had to shipped by cargo. But he was enthusiastic and easy to deal with. So after a failed, then a subsequently delayed attempt to transfer payment online, things were ironed out and the drum arrived two days later. After required alcohol disinfection, I wiped down the hoops, installed new Evans Hydraulic batters and Remo Ambassador Snare heads, and cleaned and lubricated all the tension rods. It now sits between the kick drum and the 16" floor tom. I'm still dialing in the perfect tuning, but it's already pretty close to what I want.
You might be wondering if I'm a Pearl endorser, as all my drums are made by them. I swear it isn't intentional. It just ended up that way by chance. Whatever, since everyone is still stuck here working at home because of Covid 19, I won't be able to play out with this big boy. But until I get some time alone her at home, it will be interesting discovering how sensitive it will be at low volumes.
