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Birch/Maple 20 ply 7 x 14 Mike Perkins' signature Deep Ocean Blue finish
My dreams came true with Thumper Custom Drums! After the creation of this latest snare, I know there is nothing this man can't do! The birth of this drum started many years ago for me & to actually see it in action is amazing. I've been managing a large retail music store & have had alot of drums pass through my eyes, ears & sticks. I of course had some favorites in the shop, but ther has always been a void left ufilled. When I got my first snare from John, I couldn't stop playing it from the start. Just his (what he calls "standard") 8 ply maple had more to it than anything I'd heard in retail at the time. I noticed the "custom" thing really started growing in the drum shop. Companies stating "custom" usually only consisted of some other color & size choices, not really giving you all that's available in the aspects of drummaking.

Putting Thumpers' "custom" abilities to the test, I aproached John with the "dream". The dream was to combine a multitude of snares into one mainly by focusing on the wood being mixed plies of maple & birch (my two favorites). I really liked this 16 ply maple I had seen & then John showed me Kenny Bate's 20 ply maple...so potent it sounded like a bunch of snares rolled into one. I have an old birch maple from the 70's that has never left my stand until my new Thumper snare. I favor wood over metal for its' warmth & timbre, but there are alot of great metal snares with amazing cutting abilities. I wondered....could I actually get a snare that had thewarmth/resonance/boominessof maple, the projection/attack/controlled resonance of birch, the bite/cutting abilities of a metal snare, have a huge potent sound that bstill played like a small snare & get that ALL into ONE drum? The dream is a reality!! Thumper Custom Drums took care of ALL of the elements that go into this custom drum. The elements: 20 plies of birch & maple alternating every 5 plies to ensure tonal balance with the switching of woods. Birch on the inside for the projection I wanted. Maple on the outside for the warmth on the way out (where the mic usually placed). At 7" deep it has alot of bottom-end. Add the best bearing edge ever & you've got low-end punch with articulation & crack. Die-cast everything, no cheezy parts. I use an Aquarian Hi-Energy head for the strength/sensitivity & tonal mix. Using different heads give more or less of the birch & maple qualities, depending on what you want. I no longer have to pack around several snares to get the sound I want!
Live/Recording:This drum records amazingly! Microphones love it...just be careful not to get it too close. Some gigs I don't even need a microphone on my snare. Even our prep demo recordins, done with cheap gear, the snare sounds like it's mixed & EQ'd for hours on an expensive board.

"The dream is a reality"-Mike Perkins