Product Close-Up Sugar Percussion Stave-Shell Snares Discreet design, careful construction, and top-shelf tones. Although it’s a relative newcomer in the crowded world of custom drum builders, the Santa Cruz–based Sugar Percussion has already earned high praise from top artists like the Black Crowes’ Steve Gorman (“Exactly how drums are supposed to sound, exactly how they’re supposed to feel”) and producer/drummer Eric Valentine (Third Eye Blind, Taking Back Sunday, Nickel Creek). The company specializes in offering fully customizable solid stave-shell drums made to fit each player’s applications. We were sent three snare drums constructed from different species that range on the density scale from soft (Alaskan yellow cedar) to medium (black cherry) to hard (Macassar ebony). The softer woods are said to enhance the warmth and roundness of tone, while the hardwoods emphasize cut and crack. Fluid, Graceful Construction All Sugar Percussion drums are meticulously built from thirty-two stave pieces. The […]

July 2015 Issue