The Love Custom snare we have for review is one of McRoy’s personal favorites: a 7×14 stave-shell made out of .625″-thick Indian rosewood. The top bearing edge is cut to forty-five degrees and then rounded, and the bottom edge is what Buddy calls a “dull forty-five” and has slightly deeper than normal snare beds. All of the hardware is aged brass, including the ten tube lugs, single-flanged hoops, and family crest badge.

Indian rosewood is a popular tone wood for high-end acoustic and classical guitars. It’s harder than oak and is said to have brighter treble tones and a fuller low end. The snare came with a Remo Coated Ambassador batter and Ambassador Snare bottom and features a smooth Trick throw-off and Puresound wires. Its snare response is spectacular all the way to the edge, yet it doesn’t buzz uncontrollably, thanks no doubt to the expertly cut deep snare beds.

Sonically, this 7×14 rosewood drum is super-versatile. It has many sweet spots across its wide tuning range, producing big, dense, focused sounds with a ton of power at any tension. You can feel the energy emitting from the shell with every rimshot, and its volume ceiling is virtually limitless. Hit it soft, and it whispers. Hit it hard, and it cracks like lightning. I was particularly impressed with how full and thick this snare sounded when cranked up and how focused it remained when detuned for a deep, punchy thud. This is the real deal.