Rock music demands loud sounds. You should be able to select the best snare drums for rock so that listeners will be able to easily recognize drum sounds despite loud music from electric guitars.
Your drum set should be equipped with a reliable snare drum that is equally powerful with the electric guitars.
In this article, we’re going to look into our 10 snare drums for rock.
Contents
The best snare drums for rock reviewed (2024
- Yamaha Stage Custom Birch
- Gretsch Drums Silver Series
- Pearl Piccolo Snare Drum
- PDP by DW Maple Snare Drum
- Mapex MPX14
- Ludwig Black Magic Snare Drum
- Pork Pie Little Squealer
- Ludwig Supraphonic
- Tama SC145
- Ludwig Supralite Steel Snare Drum
Runner Up | Editor's Choice | Also Great |
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Yamaha Stage Custom Birch
Yamaha is a trusted brand of musical instruments, so you shouldn’t have any second thoughts on its Yamaha Stage Custom Birch snare drum. This 14 x 5.5-inch snare drum is made of 6-ply 100% Birch shells to deliver warm tone and good resonance. The thickness of the ply and the 45-degree bearing edges are the same as the popular Live Custom.
Related: Best Professional Drum Sets Reviewed
So, with this design, you’ll be able to get maximum resonance with high overtones. You’ll be enjoying performance after performance because it’s fitted with reliable 1.5mm triple-flanged hoops, B-Type side throw-off, and Remo’s heads. Additionally, it has 10 lugs for more accurate tuning.
- Stock heads are great to deliver wonderful snare sound
- It’s excellent for rimshots, the overall quality is top-notch
- Stunning high-gloss finish, perfect for any drum set
- No muffler; you need to have one if you don’t want to be noisy
- Batter head lugs won’t tighten in place
- Some drummers want 2.3mm rims
Gretsch Drums Silver Series
Gretsch brings us into a whole new level of playing experience with its Gretsch Drums Silver Series snare drum. It’s a hammered snare drum made of 100% brass shells that gives warm tone — bridging the gap between wood snare and steel. This means you’ll get the cutting power of metal and the dark character of brass.
As mentioned, Gretsch used the hammering pattern to reduce overtones, thereby giving us a more focused and powerful response. This 14 x 6.5-inch snare drum comes with 1.2mm polished brass shell, 10 lugs, 30-degree bearing edge, and chrome hardware. You’ll immediately recognize that it could be the best snare drum for rock once you play with it.
- Versatile drum, especially with the balanced tone
- Durable and can last for several years
- A perfect add-on to any type of drum set
- Sometimes, lugs around the hoops loosen up when playing rimshots
- Quiet expensive compared to other drums in this list
Pearl Piccolo Snare Drum
A compact and black-lacquered steel drum could complete your drum set for rock music. The Pearl Piccolo Snare Drum is interestingly gorgeous because of the black lacquer finish of the shell coupled with the steel hardware. This 13 x 3-inch snare drum promises loud sound, brilliant attack, and great projection.
The Pearl Piccolo provides the snare voice of the modern drummer. Since the steel shell offers a sheer cut and bright tone, this drum is perfect for different music styles like jazz, pop, reggae, and rock. It’s fitted with triple-flanged hoops, side throw-off, and bridge lugs.
- Steel shell offers a bright tone, tight sound with better projection
- Small and compact size, easy for transport
- With its versatility, it can be used in different music styles including rock
- Drum heads are good, but could be better
- No muffler, maybe you need one to reduce the noise
Mapex MPX14
If you’re looking for a snare drum made of 100% real Maple shells, but not too expensive, the Mapex MPX14 is the one for you. It’s a 14 x 5.5-inch drum that offers the best of Maple — delivers warm tone, crispier and fuller. It seems durable and versatile enough to accommodate different music styles including rock.
You’ll find it gloss-finished and decorated with chrome-plated 3mm triple-flanged hoops, Remo stock heads, and chrome-plated lugs. Remo is a good brand for drum heads, and they are very easy to tune. Therefore, you’ll get a good snare drum without breaking the bank.
- Snare drum is made with high-quality Maple shells
- Batter hoops take on frequent rimshots
- Drum is easy to tune and stays in tune
- Bottom skin isn’t great and needs replacement
- Though batter hoops are good, an upgrade to Pearl could be better
PDP by DW Maple Snare Drum
Maybe you want something with thick drum shells for a good amount of volume? Perhaps, the PDP by DW Maple Snare Drum is the one you’re looking for. It’s made of 10-ply Maple shells, a smaller drum with only 13 x 7-inch dimensions, yet you’ll still get a high tuning range with a good mix of depth, body, and pop.
This one is fitted with true-pitch tension rods with brass inserts, Remo drumheads, and MAG throw-off, to give you a multipurpose snare drum. The hand-applied wax sealer, which makes the drum look stunning protects the maple exterior and provides a nice finish. Not just in looks, but you’ll also be amazed at how great this snare drum is.
- The earthly matte finish provides premium looks
- Sound produced is very articulate and clear
- Very easy to tune and responsive, perfect for rimshots or roll
- Throw-off seems to have poor quality
- It appears to be dark gray instead of black
Ludwig Black Magic Snare Drum
If you have played or have seen Ludwig Black Beauty, then we say it’s a cousin both in beauty and performance, but this has a more affordable price tag. The Ludwig Black Magic Snare Drum is a 14 x 6.5-inch drum made of beaded black nickel-over-brass shell. It’s thinner and welded shell, rather than hand-spun with low-mass hardware to give you the classic Black Beauty and attack, but with a crisper tone.
All the loved features of the Black Beauty are here in the Black Magic. It’s dynamic and the projection is way better than its expensive competitors. The triple-flanged hoops capture open tone with dynamic sensitivity as what Ludwig snare drums are known for.
- Amazingly designed, not cheap looking
- Has a large range of tuning capacity and sounds beautifully
- Tunes quickly and easily, with good overtones
- You could upgrade to your preferred drumhead for better results
- Not a complete replica of a Black Beauty
Pork Pie Little Squealer
We love Pork Pie because it offers us exciting products not just with its moniker, but also with its features. Now, we have one on the list of the best snare drum for rock from this maker, the Pork Pie Little Squealer. As the name suggests, it’s really squealing the true sounds Pork Pie is known for.
This snare drum is just 13 x 7-inch, made of 8-ply Maple with hand-sanded bearing edges so you could have better resonance. It has cast hourglass lugs, 2.3mm heavy-duty hoops, and all-black hardware. Since Pork Pie is putting painstaking attention to the details of this Little Squealer, you’ll easily fall for its ebony satin finish, and of course, the power of this snare drum.
- Awesome drum with great tone
- You’ll get the warm tone from the Maple shells every time you play it
- Versatile offers you great tones for different tuning
- Some bullet hole venting covers are loose
- Tension rods loosen with frequent rimshots
- Get a new snare drum head if you want better results
Ludwig Supraphonic
An American-made snare drum that offers crisp, bright and cutting sound, the Ludwig Supraphonic could be your best snare drum. Rock music needs this kind of snare drum, so if you’re into this genre, you’ve already found the best for you. The Supraphonic is versatile enough to be used not just in rock, but for other music styles, as well with proper tuning.
This is a 14 x 6.5-inch drum with enhanced triple-flanged hoops, 10 classic lugs and P-85 thrown-off — very common to Ludwig snare drums. With these, you’ll be able to have a very responsive snare drum. Since it’s made of chrome metal shell construction, bright tone and crisp sounds are guaranteed.
- Versatile snare sound with bright and crisp response
- Durable and very consistent from rim to the center
- Very responsive drum
- Metal shows wear and tear sooner
- The most expensive one on the list
- Some drummers have a concern about the P-85, and they change it to P-86
Tama SC145
We include Tama SC145 on the list because we found something intriguing in this snare drum that could also be interesting to you. The SC stands for Steward Copeland, a drummer for the British rock, The Police. Tama tries to replicate the penetrating sound of Copeland’s snare drum, which could cut through the ear-piercing sound of the guitar.
With many attempts and prototypes, Tama was able to have a close replica of that snare drum with a combination of a die-cast batter hoop and a triple-flanged hoop on the snare of the 1.5mm brass shell used. So, this 14 x 5-inch snare drum will allow you to be like Stewart Copeland.
- A mid-priced model, yet the volume and the crack is superb
- Well-tuned drum and it’s very easy to tune
- Lugs and hardware are reliable, no buzzing
- Still a bit expensive
Ludwig Supralite Steel Snare Drum
Our last snare drum on the list could be someone’s best rock snare drum. Why? The Ludwig Supra Steel Snare Drum is a 14 x 8-inch snare drum with a 1.55mm steel shell. This means it has better depth, with loud and powerful snare ‘crack.’
It’s fitted with 2.3m triple-flanged hoops and brass snare wires, along with chrome-over solid brass tube-lugs. If you’re a fan of Ringo Starr and John Bonham, you know they are a fan of the Ludwig Supralite, too. Given that and its mirror-polished looks, who doesn’t want to get that elegant snare drum?
- Well-crafted and the chrome finish makes it even greater
- Suitable for different music styles, including rock and metal
- Delivers loud and powerful crack that easily cut through the mix
- Dampening the batter head will offer more ring
- Some drummers upgrade to 3mm triple-flanged hoops and get better results
What to Consider When Buying a Snare Drum for Rock
We’ve made a list of the best snare drums for rock for you to save time and probably money since we also include cheaper options. You don’t need to go through the hassle that we’ve gone through. However, if you are adventurous enough, we’ll provide you some guidelines on what to consider in your new snare drum for rock.
Drum Heads
Though Mylar polyester is the most common plastic drum head used today, you can also see Kevlar aramid fiber for marching drums, as specified by Sweetwater. There are four types of drum heads, single-ply, double-ply, Coated and Clear Heads, and Specialty Heads.
For rock music, the most commonly used are single-ply, while some drummers also use double-ply. Single-ply resonates better and so it delivers the bright sound and brings out the overtones. However, with frequent use, single-ply is not as durable as double-ply, so, some rock drummers used double-ply, instead.
Shell Materials
Snare drums are now made with different materials including acrylic, carbon fiber, and fiberglass, but still, the most common drum shell materials are wood and metal, said Thomann. That being said, as you can see from our list, the snare drums we included are made of either wood or metal.
You can have birch, maple, mahogany, basswood or poplar for wood snares. On the other hand, you can choose between brass, steel, aluminum, copper or bronze for metal snares.
However, for rock music, the recommended drum shell is steel, because it’s capable of producing loud sounds. Yet, it still doesn’t mean wood snares can’t be good. You can check our top pick to know what we mean.
Drum Depth
Snare drums usually have 14-inch diameter, but in this list, we have a 13-inch diameter. For the depth, it goes from around 3.5-inch to 8-inch. But, for a drum to be suitable to play rock music, the depth should only be around 5.5-inch to 8-inch.
Snare Drum Shell Thickness
While the diameter of the snare drum affects the pitch and the depth affects the body, the thickness of the drum shell affects the volume. Unfortunately, this isn’t a major consideration for a lot of drummers.
Thin drum shell (4-ply with 5mm thickness) offers rich and resonant sound. Drums with this drum shell are great for studio recording and close-mic pickups.
Medium drum shell (6-ply with 7.5mm thickness) can project better, which is a great all-around drum for studio and stage performances. The thick drum shells (8-ply or 10-ply) has strong projection and more focused energy, as differentiated by David Bellm.
This YouTube video will allow you to hear and see the different sounds for different drum heads and tuning. Although the drum heads are all from Remo, you’ll hear the different sound characters on high, medium and low tuning. Since you’ll need a greater volume from your snare, the best thing to do is experiment on the tuning and technique of playing the drum.
FULL LIST: Best Snare Drums Reviewed
Our Top Pick
Considering the craftsmanship, affordability and tonal versatility, our choice for the best snare drum for rock is the Yamaha Stage Custom Birch. This 14 x 5.5-inch snare drum made of 6-ply birch shells fall in the medium drum shell category that offers better projection and more focused sound. With birch shells, you’ll get a warm tone with good resonance.
However, it’s not only great because of the Maple shell, but also because Yamaha equips this snare drum with 1.5mm triple-flanged hoops and 10-lug design for easier and more accurate tuning. It’s excellent with rimshots, but it offers versatile sound great for rock and similar music styles.
