Tama LST148 Sound Lab Snare

Tama has done it again..Fantastic piece of drum, best snare I have ever owned! I play mainly rock/metal but this one is very well suitable for all sorts of music. Extremely versatile.

The shell is solid and has a nice black finish. It sounds outstanding, crisp and loud! it can handle both low/high tuning very well and keeps it all in place. I haven't had to re-tune for several months now! Just play and enjoy!

It is very strange to have a snare drum which is still not announced at manifacters website, but this limited edition drum is really something special. I love deep snares (although they can be unpractical to carry nad set up) and very appreciate Tama and their S.L.P.snare drum line. A already have Studio Maple model which is excellent so I had faith in this one as well.
I don't like black finishes, but the solution with matte-black beaded steel shell with black nickel hardware is very nice. However, there could be problem with cleaning and maintenance since the matte surface is very sensitive. I don't mind long tension rods and big lugs, but Silvestar-like throw-off is a bit disappointing. Also, I am not thrilled with hi-carbon Starclassic snare because I find it to aggresive to my taste. However Tama/Evans USA made drumheads (with Level 360 collar) is something which separates Tama for othe manufacters.
I don't see any flaws in production, but the resonant hoops does look suspicious (slightly out of round).
S.L.P. badge ensures that this is reliable product. Althoug I would prefer brass over steel, I think that steel is quite underestimated. Often is associated with cheap, sharp and ringy material. I disagree: I think it is very bright and versatile material which can provide as well warmth and crack so it is better (to me) than aluminium.
Deep snare must have deep sound and this is no exception. With a little moongel muffling at low tuning this black giant can provide very huge, deep and warm, studio-friendly sound. There is some sweetness in the attack in this range (and this is my prefered snare sound).
At mid tension there is more harshness and ring and attack is not so ear-friendly, but now
rim-click is more pronounced. High tuning offers controlled round crack lound enough to cut through. Simply, 8? deep snares are quite versatile and I am very satesfide with this snare drum which can be used in many musical situations.

For the price, this is a very nice snare drum. It does have some fairly pronounced overtones, but with some careful tuning and a Snareweight M80 it sounds awesome. I play in a punk band and a hard rock band and the guys in both have said how much they like this snare.

The only thing to watch out for is your snare stand - I use a Mapex Falcon stand which is fine, but some stands I've used at various rehearsal rooms don't go low enough for a snare of this depth to prevent involuntary rim-shots or worse, complete miss-hits.