Not much. I'm sure there are some that would state one is drier than the other, but to be quite honest, you would have to have the ears of a cat to actually hear a significant difference. It's very very very minimal - if any.

Cleanup is a big difference. Chrome is MUCH easier to clean than NOB. NO doubts. NOB will never really hit the level of SHINE that chrome does......usually.

COB is actually brass then a layer of nickel, then a layer of chrome. All of the finishes (thickness) depend on the amount of time the part was left in the plating tank.

Some of the older brass hoops (30's - 50's) are a lot heavier than their newer counterparts (60's - current) regardless of their finish.

[COLOR="DarkRed"]With that said, Nickel shells and hardware, when kept in good shape...looks hella cool....[/COLOR]

I will second that one Jaye...Nickel is my absolute favorite.

On a funny note...in a couple of weeks I will post a pic of "Pimp my Drum"..I got a '58 Ludwig snare and when it showed it had the same born on date as my son..so I let him pick what he wanted it to be..red sparkle wrap...all the hardware gold plated.