Mapex Black Panther Premium 13x5,5 cherry/mapple

The Mapex Black Panther 13x5.5" Maple/Cherry Snare features:

- 13" x 5.5"
- 5.1mm shell
- 1:9 bearing edge
- Premium snare wire
- 2.3mm Power Hoops
- Natural finish

I bought this snare as a replacement for my Pearl Joey Jordison steel snare. What I was hoping in buying this snare was to get a similar power as the Pearl had, but with the body and warmth the steel shell couldn't provide.

Unlike the Pearl snare, this snare sounds really great at all tunings (the Pearl sounded good, but it really excelled at high tunings), and while I usually crank my snares almost to the max, this one sounds great at a more medium tuning. The snare does have significantly more ring than the Pearl did, but I also have a different batter head on it, and this snare is also 1.5" shorter in depth.

With a drum dial, I tune this snare to 75 on the bottom, 80 on the top with the original head on the bottom and a Remo Coated Powerstroke 3 on top. The tone is fat with a punchy attack. Like I said earlier, this snare is fairly ringy, maybe a bit more than I'd prefer, but I find the natural ring of a snare really gives it a lively sound, people who dampen their snares a ton really choke the life out of them - I think with an Evans Genera HD Dry or a Controlled Sound head, it will really bring this snare to life (not a huge fan of Remo). The ping on this snare isn't as powerful as it was on my Pearl snare when hitting close to the rim of the head, and on rimshots, but it more than makes up for that with the overall fullness the cherry and maple combination give the snare. This snare isn't quite as loud as the Pearl, but instead sits in the mix much more nicely, it matches the maple drums on the rest of my set MUCH better.

This snare was made more with versatility in mind, being able to play a large variety of music. Unlike the Joey Jordison snare, which mostly only extreme highs cut through, making the snare sound a bit one-dimensional, the Black Panther is much more well balanced in the lows, mids and highs, which allows for a fatter sound that is much more full and overall pleasing to the ear. Unless you're playing Death Metal all the time, this snare is a MUCH better choice.

I would definitely recommend this to any drummer looking to upgrade their snare. The 13" size of the drum allows you to more easily play double bass, as your legs aren't riding right up against the drum, that extra inch makes a HUGE difference! This snare, while not quite as pingy on the rims as the Pearl, which I loved, has given me a new appreciation for the snare. Before, I thought that I needed that huge ping to sound how I wanted, but this snare sound AMAZING without it.

I really couldn't recommend this snare enough. I was going to go with a DDrum Dios snare, OCPD or a Pork Pie all in 13x7" configurations, and I'm glad I didn't. This snare puts those 3 to shame!