Hello!, and ...

... you read CORRECT! I have had three of the late 70's PEARL B4514's, and they all had three lines around the shell, and they were all COB. I still have one in my collection actually. VERY NICE snare drums truth be told. The PEARL metal snare drums with TWO LINES around the shell are steel. Here are a few pics of mine ...

Tommyp

Remind me again, is this THE "Stewart Copeland" snare? (Standard depth and not deep).

vyacheslav!

The PEARL B4514 "Stewart Copeland" in indeed the standard depth 5X14, 10 lug, COB. The one in my previous post is the model he played. I also have one that I outfitted with a CAST batter hoop as Stewart did on his back when he was with The Police. Here are a couple pics ... and again, if looking for the model he played, you want the 5X14!

Tommyp

Excellent! Thanks for clarifying. I actually recently got a 14x5 Jupiter with the parallel strainer which sounds incredible. Also managed to get a great deal on it. It was a little grubby but in excellent condition. Have yet to polish it up. Hopefully it ends up as good as yours which looks amazing. Thanks for sharing. I love deeper snares too so may as well buy that deeper one as it’s going so cheap.

A few of us here have nothing but love for these COB Pearls (Hey TommyP! How'd I know you'd be here?) & that's a nice B4514L for sale. I've owned a couple B4514's and a deeper B-714D & just finished teaching on one of the former. Do snatch this one if you can!

There is actually one exception to the 3 lines=brass general rule, which is the m-514D from the 1984 catalogue (attached), which has a rolling glider adjustment snare adjustment bridge thingy.It looks strangely like my B-714D, but sports a different badge. I got to try one on a 80's fiberglass kit last year & it's a mighty steel snare, but just not COB. Someone at Pearl has a weird sense of humour though....Hmmmm

Thanks! That’s good to know about the 80s steel shells. Strange they’d change their formula after all that time!

Have to say I’m loving the sound of my Jupiter. Luckily it still has its original snare wires which are in good shape. I didn’t realise it was so difficult to find new wires to fit them. I don’t suppose anyone knows where I could track down replacements that will fit a Jupiter should I ever need them? Are there any wires that might fit with a bit of adjusting?

So I bought the above snare and turns out it is a steel shell after all! Same three lines as my Jupiter but the magnet sticks. I really don't mind though as it's a really nice sounding snare and different enough from my 5" Jupiter. Nicely musical without the harsh overtones most steel snares usually have.

The question is which model number is this? Could it be a D4514 from the 1978 catalog?

Crap, I knew that there were shells that were steel out there. I never make it in here, anymore, as I am working so much. Sorry I wasn't there for you, Pontifff. Though, you might have a rare bird there... and if it sounds good you win, anyway.

Check the location of the vent hole. I would guess that your snare is earlier as the catalogs show the vent hole in the center of the rings approx pre 1977 and under the center rings post 1977. I'm only going by the catalogs and what other pearl fans have said. Pic is Jupiter from 1973 catalog.

No worries! I've always heard good things about those steel snares and am happy to say they were true. Really nice sounding snare so will happily hold on to it.

Thanks for the info. The vent hole is in the centre of the rings so probably pre '77. I had done a lot of research about those snares prior to buying and couldn't find any mention of three ring steel snares other than the later 80's models someone mentioned above. Seems it must be reasonably rare in that case.