I Bought a Fake Tama Bell Brass Snare Drum

[@rdavidr]

Whats the first song you would play on this beast? 🤔

[@_gigi_1143]

For whom the bell tolls

[@timm1139]

Enter Sandman.... after I learn the song, lol

[@MsChihuahuapower]

Rich men north of Richmond

[@BillTheBubble]

how do i purchase this from you and whats your asking price good sir. i beg of thee.

[@leechick]

Probably Second Death by Black Tongue

[@mrbinky21]

You should make a snare where the whole bottom is covered in snare wires.

[@marcelinebrady5332]

Replying to boost this comment bc it’s hilarious

[@zkyishot]

Replying to boost this comment bc it’s hilarious

[@randomusername396]

yes.

[@vibecheck_gg]

yes

[@Monsterdrumma]

LOL

[@itsfonk]

This “custom” snare is now one of my favorites! Well done bud 🤙

[@mwdrum]

Elvin played one……

[@CrunchetySmack]

It's a small detail but I like how the ring of the shell after hitting it carries on as the next cut and commentary continued. I really enjoy all of your videos on repair and modification. The organization of your shop is very satisfying as well 👌

[@Officialshayne]

"Didn't have time to put it together" takes it apart and puts it back together*

[@blckbldng]

I think he meant drill the holes

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Nice work on that patina! As soon as I saw the snare wires go on I had instant nostalgia from the tape snare straps. My first snare drum (still got it!) was a Tama Artstar from the '80s and it had that same tape. Fun stuff! -Ben

[@hugorezende199]

You are real drum cientist. One of my favorite channels on youtube, so many great ideas.

[@randycassidy198]

The tone matched the song perfect!…and oh those cymbals! ❤

[@eddo00]

Good on you for the disclaimer label. I'd for sure be the one to get duped. Looks sick too

[@joshlevinn6644]

That sounds incredible, like seriously.. holy shit, so much pop but it doesn't bottom out and sound too compressed, I see why people want them so bad 😂

[@13StJimmy]

Glad to hear you say you like the look of old crusty drums, because my drum set is one I found in the literal trash and was covered in rust. Took it home sanded and grinned the rust away and tbh it looks cool to me too, very diy crust punk cool but still

[@bill_4359]

I own a Tama Imperial Star King Beat, w/ KG Parallel Strainer, 6.5" x 14" , Chrome, It came with Remo Ambassador heads. S/N: 125517, purchased in 1978.

[@junhyoungream1127]

sounds awesome !!!! It doesn't feel at all worse than the original.

[@timbofromkeno]

LOVE how this looks and sounds. Big props to HHG to putting this together and to you for nailing that patina. Incredible! Is this a 3 or 5 mm shell? I don't think I heard you mention that spec in the video!

[@rdavidr]

3mm. I doubled checked the measurement when I had it apart but forgot to say it in the vid lol. Also from what ive been told, all the Tama BBs were 3mm and the catalogs that say 5mm were typos. Idk how true that is though...

[@timbofromkeno]

@@rdavidr I saw that in the catalog, but I thought they were all 3 mm too. Too funny. hahaha

[@GeoffBosco]

“This snare could cover your mortgage for a year.”

[@stephano421jr]

Facts 😆

[@scottspencer979]

If I ever become a famous drummer I would hire this guy in a heartbeat as my drum tech!!!!

[@RyTrapp0]

Some cool things you can do is mask off stripes or patterns, so the unmasked brass gets patina, but you pull the tape off and have fresh brass to contrast with the patina. You can also do it in multiple steps, adding and removing tape every so often during the patina process so you can get different levels of patina in the design and really get a lot of depth and layering. Hell, you can even mask up most of it if you want the patina to be the accept instead of the primary finish too, lots of ways you can get creative with this. Damn, gonna have to find me a brass shell now... Might be cool to take the inside of this shell back down to fresh base material(masking off the lettering to keep that) and polish it up so you have that 'yin/yang' of this old, used looking, patina'd outside, but reveal a nice bright shell inside. That's a lot of extra work just for a little bit of a quirk though lol. Definitely needs a bit less muffling, has a great pop that's just being subdued a bit too much by that head, minor fix though; killer snare!

[@DulceDul217]

This is great! Definately not what I was expecting of the bell brass, but a pleaseant surprise (:

[@stevenraparelli3396]

I just watched this video again and that snare drum ended up beautiful, and it sounds atomic! Well done.

[@SopranoPizzaJMFNJ]

You did a great job with this drum! I never play brass because it rings forever so this would never be for me but it definitely has an audience! Thank you for sharing.

[@mountainhobbit1971]

guitar drum hack...use lighter fluid (naptha) to clean up grease and gunk on your drums and hardware (just make sure not to use it on bare wood)...A guitar tech showed me this trick and it works amazingly well. Naptha has a high flash point so it evaporates very quickly. I guess it is a super refined petroleum product like jet fuel and it's cheap.

[@DarrenHicklin]

I don’t know if it was just really good mixing in your video but I thought the P4 sounded awesome. It was nice and fat and definitely gave me that early Nirvana vibe. Well done! I’m off to go scour the internet for a brass shell now.

[@hippydippy]

All his mic's can make the "worst drums" sound good. They cost thousands & thousands of dollars. One day I'd like to hear him do comparisons with an average drummers mic budget, so you really hear what most of us in the real world would.

[@ctogive]

@@hippydippy The most expensive mic's in the world are not gonna make a shitty drum sound good, they will only capture the shittyness better. As long as your mic is decent, i'd say tuning, mic placement, the players touch and post processing are all more important for a good sounding drum recording.

[@gibby3350]

Dude that drum sounds amazing!! I am a total sucker for brass snares!

[@Frollicking_Gurnard]

If you have the option with your plotter, you can adjust the offset of your blade and it might sharpen up the corners of the letters a little more.

[@schwarzerrogen930]

I think the big difference is the first 'Bell Brass' Tamas were actually bronze, which patinas very differently to brass.

[@sky.london]

I love that snare, both the look and the sounds. YES.

[@m6hill983]

That sounds awesome! Even though I'm an aluminum guy, a brass shell is a brass shell, and you always get nice body and depth with them. Some sources say that the 80s original BB shell was just a very small bit over 14" in diameter, which most likely made all the difference in becoming the legendary drum it is..

[@michaelshreve6455]

Bro!!! That sounds amazing Great job

[@spasevrp]

Remo CS dot heads are pretty good. I was gonna say you could try scorching the shell to see if would look like the lars ulrich model. Cool video!

[@fikon1]

The sound of that snare ❤️

[@reubenk7331]

Ok, that ended up looking pretty sweet when it was done 🙂

[@davidenorth]

I keep collecting drums because of David. There is a Tama Japanese Imperialstar set close to me I want to pick up for a good price that is the same finish in the video. It comes with an Acrolite snare as a bonus.

[@Miloshe71]

I’ve recorded with the famous one the drum doctor has in LA. Also used the Sonor bronze snare too he has. Sound amazing.

[@net6403]

fun fact: the tama bell brass is actually made of a bronze-brass alloy (hence the name bell brass), not just brass

[@drumfanatik316]

Sad But True! After all, it was Lars Ulrich that made this drum famous on the Black Album, NOT Dave Grohl. After everyone heard the snare sound on that album, everyone was asking what did he use to record? The Drum Doctor still owns the drum to this day!

[@Leotardoification]

Apparently what was so special with the original compared to all the replicas was that the shell was slightly oversized. You really had to jam the head on there but it also meant it was more like a 14.1"

[@lucasagustinrafael]

The problem here with your "copy" is that the Bell Brass is not made out of Brass... the shell is made of sand cast BRONZE. (Japanese translated wrong in the 70's). Greetings from Argentina my friend, I love you content

[@declanwhite]

Correct

[@Bensworth_Drummington]

Helpful tip for remo powerstroke 4's. Cut the inlay ring out. I use one on a gretsch limited edition 14x7 aluminum. What you end up with is a remo emperor coated with a clear top dot. Awesome head for thicker shell snares.

[@brianphillips9152]

I have a "fake" 1980 Terminator and I found that Emperor coated was the correct head choice.

[@Regorsnare]

I gave you a Ps3 on that Superstar, I don’t think I’ve ever used a P4! Glad to see you play that drum so much.

[@rdavidr]

im an idiot, idk why I thought it was a p4 😑

[@dalekay9ine]

Sounds amazing!

[@stevewest2849]

Sounds really nice. Tight and thick with a drop of brightness topping it off.

[@djentlover]

The patina looked way better than I expected! Would love to hear this with Ambassadors

[@charlesseagraves6210]

I’d SO love to have a Tama Bell Brass snare! The first song I’d play is “When The Levee Breaks!”

[@Cancun771]

No no _no_ *NO!1* You need to play this snare with the *Sonor* kit of course! Love from Germany!

[@GMtheTurtle]

need to hear this snare cranked and with a clear ambassador 😫

[@williamperri3437]

Your an honest “Goodfella” for not ripping someone off and selling it for five or 600. And the drum sounds great regardless.

[@tikidrummerpoi]

That turned out way better than I thought it would. Good call with the ammonia!

[@DeadKoby]

I've been a "Ludwig Guy" for what seems like an eternity...... but I have nothing bad to say about the Tama gear. I fixed up a Tama kit for Church, and I play it often... does a great job. I THINK these bell brass snares were associated with Lars from Metallica also.

[@adamwebster9784]

Gun bluing does the coolest patina i have ever seen

[@romelshowell7638]

SNARE SOUNDS INCREDIBLE!!!!

[@omnidrums]

Cool drum, but it appears your shell is brass instead of bronze. Correct me if I’m wrong. Tama bell brass drums were always made of sand-cast bronze. Those Savage drums you displayed were also cast bronze. Very different sound

[@joanchilet2954]

You are correct sir, bell brass is bronze.

[@tommyleeroth818]

I’m pretty sure Sam at HHG makes his shells sand cast B20 bronze.

[@aaronsudasna]

I would agree that the P4 is a bit too muffled. I believe your go to head is a CS? If you’re looking for something slightly muffled I would say to check out the P3 with a clear dot. That one is my go to head

[@mikecortes8481]

ive done this before! definitely changes the sound in the best way!!!

[@thedrummingcuber]

This is the best snare drum I have ever heard, and the first song I would play would be Wipe Out.

[@JacobPorras-dj3cq]

Pain in the Booty experimenting different shell hacks for yourself to make it look and sound better. I get your perspective, and I’m glad you fixed it! I find this video very helpful! Again I’m afraid to try it for myself cause it’s just not necessary and I don’t want to ruin my DW black nickel over brass Designs Series. Just wanna thank you! Sounds incredible! Awsome. ❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@geoffcowan2384]

Where did you get the shell? I don’t care about matching the lugs or throw off, but I would like a shell like that.

[@luiszuluaga6575]

Phat snare sound, great mixing and love your feel on dem drums, you mad talented dude, you. 🤷🏻‍♂️🥁

[@dancorvalan3205]

Break cleaner, thats when u know the person truly knows about material cleaning prep. Congrats man on the "fake snare drum", i would try the same thing if i wasnt an absolute failure that cant afford even a single hardware nug m. And great video!

[@CharlieLord]

Holy heck that could be absolutely anything with that head combo on it

[@srm0074]

I love my '81 Tama BB. I has developed a nice warm patina over its 40+ years. And of course, nothing hits you in the guy like it does.

[@RustyKnorr]

What’s your address? 😂

[@thumperpaul]

Nice job, ordinarily I like shiny bits, but this looks ( and sounds) awesome! I would play “ The Ocean “ by Led Zeppelin for the first tune on it.

[@mightyV444]

Being from NZ, Odie's is a brand I'd not been at all familiar with - until it popped up in a video on another channel only a couple of days ago, and here it is again now! 😆

[@duncanbarker1885]

Ah fudge! I bought one in 91 for a £100 and sold it to pupil for £200!

[@jeffbridges6110]

dude , that middle eastern sounding riff you had going on , sounded cool. And YES , the snare does too/

[@pecsizsolt7081]

It's always a good day when Rdavidr uploads a vid :)

[@MM-ig1iv]

My God that sounds amazing! seriously. there are reasons for things to be this expensive really. It's like buying that Gibson les Paul or REAL USA Fender Strat for guitars.

[@benjaminolsen8774]

hel yeah dave this is probably one of your best soundings snares yet! Also great head choice.

[@howardevans6302]

The colour immediately tells you this is not Bell Brass, which is actually bronze, not brass, so you'd really have to be unknowing about bronze drums to even think this was a bell Brass drum.bell Brass is a misnomer from Tama, possibly a bad translation from Japanese, they were cast bronze drums made in a similar way to cast church bells, hence the Bell Brass.

[@AdamSoucyDrums]

God DAMN that thing looks fucking awesome

[@TaoBonFu]

When I was working at GC a customer ordered an Ocheltree Paiste 2002 snare. 22 lbs. Beast. I have brass and copper free floating snares. I want to get a maple shell, just so I can get a cast made using all my broken cymbals. End result would hopefully be a bronze free floating shell 7.5mm thick, made from B8, B20, and Paiste Signature bronze. I'll probably never do it, but I still dream about it.

[@gillesrichard2228]

Looks and sounds fantastic. Well done!

[@tylrbass]

He thought "pay off a year of your mortgage" would be relatable lmao bruh I have no idea how much that is..

[@drumdotpizza]

Beautiful drum! I too have a Bell Brass Mastercraft clone (mine made by Cade at Savage Drums). Will likely do a video on mine soon, though Cade built the entire thing with the donor hardware (mine too was sourced from a. steel Mastercraft, though mine has coffin lugs), so the only thing I did myself was put an era-correct Superstar badge on it (don't worry though, like you I don't want anyone to think it is original, so I had Cade put his 'Savage' badge on the interior of the shell like you did your lettering -- good man!) BTW, I use typical straps for my snare wires... what tape did you get for yours? I'd love to do that with all my Tama snares (I have several Mastercrafts and a few others as well). GREAT VIDEO!!!

[@b.p.879]

The entire kit sounds amazing.

[@Dzwonek05]

Anyone else was hungry for a new RdavidR video?

[@MancunianToryDespiser]

I’d love to have a 12x8 free floating BB made. Imagine how that’d sound??

[@BretCahill]

That thing sounds awesome!!!

[@wyatt7231]

Oh it looks so good with the kit

[@Darkaxelgaming-tt7ip]

With all the kits he has he should make a mega drum set with all of his drum set

[@Sweet92879]

"Didn't have time to do this myself..." Proceeds to spend days turning a brass shell green and reassembling it.

[@cymbalism1]

That thing looks and sounds amazing!!!! You nailed it!!!

[@mazsietsma6565]

That snare sounds good AF!!!!!

[@TrashMarineMusic]

I think that is the best sounding snare I've ever heard

[@andreaskallee103]

Absolutely cool! I have a faked Sonor SQ2 with Purple Heart shell (befassen Sonor dont offer one) which is as good as the original Snares. Payed maybe 400€.

[@drumdoug8083]

And now Tama is making a newly manufactured version of the original from the 80s. It is supposed to be as close as you can get to the original and you can have one for the bargain price of only $4k. Still probably cheaper than an original 80s Mastercraft "Bell Brass."

[@dalekay9ine]

Look them up, anywhere from $10,000-$20,000 for an original. Wild.

[@drumdoug8083]

@dalekay9ine you are absolutely correct! The used market for the originals is just crazy. Still, $4k for a snare drum is a little to much for me to stomache right now.

[@dalekay9ine]

@@drumdoug8083 I agree, 4K could get an incredible shell pack and at least 2-3 top of the line cymbals and hella pairs of sticks!

[@chriscromelin413]

That's a rad snare, Regardless if it's fake. I would throw an Evans HD Dry on it and see how that sounds.

[@HushAngel]

Awesome vid.....the brownish patina is the signature of the raw Tama 1980 Bell Brass with the short lugs, 1981 to 1986 TBBs with the long lugs were lacquered at factory....is your shell a Duluth or a Guven ?...13.9375'' (13'' 15/16) oversized diameter is everything...

[@mynameismudd1518]

I was not expecting this. Wow.

[@DrRusty5]

Just a note of caution to anyone else thinking of doing this, Ammonia can cause stress-corrosion-cracking (SCC) of brass.

[@stevebrown3955]

Great sound and a really cool looking drum in the end!!!

[@joeovermoe2124]

This sounds and looks AMAZING!!!

[@KennethHard]

Another great drum and video!

[@smokymountaincabinrentaltours]

Sounds and looks fantastic.

[@85devlin]

sounds dope man

[@RokDAWG1]

Yeah I’m digging this big time!

[@mcgrud]

For the algorithm. ✊

[@Weareeverywhere14]

For the algo and WFP o/

[@LucasCoolDude]

Woo

[@Lumerdrums]

great build! I would love to hear it with a more open sound/head :)

[@Jonathan_Doe_]

The badge being in there on the first few attempts made me nervous, thought the fumes were gonna ruin the badge or the chrome on the vent.

[@rdavidr]

I was actually hoping it would crust up a little which is why I left it on at first lol

[@Jonathan_Doe_]

@@rdavidr Ah, bringing ‘relicing’ over to the drum world 😂

[@leofender909]

i dont have anything to comment but i still want to leave a comment so your video gets more traction lol