I'm sure there are others here that can give a better explanation but I like to think of shell materials in terms of hardness and stiffness. The harder the material the brighter the tone, the louder the sound, and the further it projects. Softer shells like the old 3 ply ones sound warm and rich. More warm overtones. Mahogany and poplar are fairly soft. Maple ply shells are brighter and more punchy. Birch even more so since it's slightly harder than maple. Solid one ply maple shells are a different animal altogether. They seem to resonate better and are more sensitive to player dynamics.

Steve

Your question is so flawed I am just going to straighten out somethings here, the Hollywood ace model is both a radio king solid shell model and a plied model, it came in both maple solid shell and 3 ply maple, mahogany, poplar shell, also with a 3 point strainer and a rapid strainer.

Thanks, I'm just getting my feet wet with this stuff. I'm just looking for any info I can find on how much different all these snares are sonically, as Radio Kings, Slingerleedys, Artists and earlier Hollywoods or Chicago badge snares all tend to be a bit out of my budget ($200 range), but all sound great. I've seen a few mid-70s 3 or 5 ply Slingerlands that are in my range, but haven't heard them. This is for recording, so collector value or rarity isn't much of an issue, but I know the construction differs from a 1959 snare and a 1974 snare and in turn plays a role in how they record or project in a venue.

I personally would try to get past the names and badges and focus solely on the shell composition. Decide if you like 3 ply or later multi ply shells. Solid or not. When you've decided on the type of shell you like then decide on what your budget is and get the best example of that shell type you can afford. If this isn't for collecting you may be able to find some nice snares with extra holes for much less than a pristine one would sell for. I bought a nice late 50's single ply Radio King with a few extra holes for $200.

Steve

Steve

The bearing edges have more to do with the tone of a wood drum than any other characteristic or shell make up.

Generally speaking the rounder the edge, the warmer the tone, less sustain, and a quieter drum. The sharper the edge, more overtones, sustain, louder.

SC

The only "all maple" shells would be the one ply Radio King types. The 3 ply shells always had a poplar core (the majority of the shell) regardless of whether it was sandwiched between maple or mahogany (usually one of each). I don't think the later 5 ply shells were all maple either, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

Here is very good info for you slingerland folks to read on. http://www.vintagedrumguide.com/drcjw/article_3_shells1.html

Thanks everyone for the info.