Spaun Drums 88 Snare Drum review

Hailing from California, USA, Brian Spaun has been designing and building custom drums for over 20 years. 

With a vast selection of drums available and pretty much anything possible through custom order, his creations have ranged from the beautifully understated to the downright crazy. 

Build

Themed heavily around the number eight, this behemoth of a drum is 8.8" deep (by a standard 14" diameter) and features an 8-ply all-maple shell, finished in a sleek flat black. The oversized vents, which have become somewhat of a signature style for Spaun drums are configured to create two ‘8’ shapes cut from the shell, ultimately giving this drum a look all of its own. 

The smaller top half of each 8 measures 11⁄2" across while the bottom half measures 2". Positioned either side of a custom black and silver badge, the unique vents are finished with seriously chunky (1⁄2" deep) chrome 8’s. Interestingly, these chrome shapes are marginally larger than the holes themselves creating an interesting effect. 

The 10-lug snare uses vintage-style tube lugs and is topped off with die-cast hoops. The throw-off is Spaun’s own cast snare strainer, paired with the machined aluminium butt-plate. All shell hardware is finished in beautiful chrome on our review model but there is also a Gold Edition available. 

Hands on

Boasting an outrageous depth of nearly 9" and with its meaty die-cast hoops, this beast of a drum is designed to rock, and rock it does. Double 45-degree bearing edges give it a speedy attack, which is accompanied by bags of warm tone from the enormous maple shell. 

The huge vents do dry the resonance considerably but help to strike a great balance and stop the drum from lingering. 

Tuned up to tabletop tight on both sides, the overall pitch still sits in the medium range but possesses a high-end hum, adding a touch more length to the note - it shares similar qualities with that of a bell brass drum. The Hyper-Sensitive Snare Bed and 20-strand wires work well in adding snap to the proceedings; we’d love to hear it with some larger wires too.