Pearl Fat & Skinny 2 x 14-inch Auxiliary Snare Drum - Sweetwater Exclusive Reviews

I use this as a floor too (accessory mounted to a cymbal stand) with my Pearl compact traveler set up. I use the 10" snare that comes with the compact traveler kit as the top tom (mounted to the bass drum as usual just angled differently). And a piccolo snare on a snare stand as the main snare. With the left side ride and high hat this feels as close to a regular acoustic kit that I can get without losing a real snare sound and that fits in my compact car with ALL of my belongings (I'm a travel nurse).

I've had the same Ludwig Super Classic set of drums since 1967, but I recently started playing coffee shops and other very small venues with a 3 piece acoustic group and needed something much smaller with less volume. I found an old Samsonite suitcase in a pawn shop and rigged up a suitcase kit and this snare fit the bill perfectly - fat snare sound with much less volume. This was my first purchase from Sweetwater and I was very highly impressed with their customer service. Kevin the Sales Engineer couldn't have been more friendly and helpful in his follow-up call to my on-line order.

Perfect addition to my kit. Great customer service

Huh? Why would anyone want a one-sided 14x2 snare drum? Certainly it's not going to replace a Black Beauty or nice maple snare. Don't be so quick to judge. If you're in a space-constrained situation, such as a small club, or a street venue, having a snare that can slip into a cymbal bag is a real asset. It can be used as a primary snare, or as a stand-mounted hanging tom if need be. Being 14" means that you have plenty of real estate for brushes, and you don't have to work quite so hard for a good cross-stick sound. Combined with a pancake-type bass drum, like a Pearl Compact Traveler, DW Pancake bass, or Farmer Stomp drum, and you've got a nice little setup that can fit into a soft or hard cymbal case.

Construction-wise, I've never seen anything like the Fat and Skinny. It is actually a _dual-shell_ drum: there's an inner wooden shell, which is what the drumhead rests on, but it is completely surrounded by a metal shell, which is surprisingly heavy, and probably contributes to the drum's heft. The 3/8" rod mount is welded to the metal shell, as are six tabs which the tension rods screw into. The inner wood shell is attached to the outer metal shell with six machine screws/washers--similar to regular lugs on a normal snare. In this sense, the outer metal shell acts as a single-piece, six-holed lug. Very, very cool. It's heavy for sure: most of my regular two-headed snares, even steel ones, weigh less.

The snare mechanism of the Fat and Skinny is the same sort of thing you find on the Compact Traveler snare: it's a leaf spring with a half snare screwed to it, and a thumbscrew at the bottom of the leaf to adjust tension. Same type of thing you see on many single-headed snares, or with internal mufflers. Only difference is the screw location. Of course, this isn't an 8" or 10" snare, so the wires can only be so long before they'd begin to droop. For all of that, though, it's a good-sounding compromise. If you were so inclined, you could go out and purchase a snare with stiffer wires, chop it in half, and get a little bit better head coverage.

If you're in need of a full-size snare with a very small footprint, I can thoroughly recommend the Fat and Skinny. Likewise, if you'd like a rod-mountable hanging tom, it's a solid choice. If you like creative drum engineering, ditto. It is never going to replace a regular two-headed snare, but I guarantee you there's nothing else like it.

I wanted a snare that could fit in a bag with a kick or tom for a small portable kit. Given that the snare is one of the most important drums in the kit I was on the fence as to whether buying a snare like this to cut down on the overall kit size was the best option. I'm actually quite happy with it. It has a surprising amount of resonance and tone. When I opened it up, the head was tuned down, the snares were off, and it got a nice full low tom sound. As a snare it also has a surprising amount of body as well. I thought it would do the job, but expected it to be kind of thin sounding, but again, it's quite full. Sonically, it sounds a heck of a lot better than some of the cheap snares I had as a kid. No, you're not going to mistake it for 6.5" or deeper snare, but I sure as heck wouldn't be able to tell how thin it is or that it doesn't have a bottom head just from listening. It sounds like a legit snare. The downside is that the snare tension is a little tougher to dial in and the sweet spot of a the right tension is a little smaller than on a two headed drum. Because of this, I wasn't sure if I liked if for the first couple days, but like most things I quicky got accustomed to it and now it's easy to get the sound I want. The lack of a snare throw-off means I probably wouldn't want to use it if I were in a situation where I needed to turn my snares off a lot, but for my purposes it's great. I would not hesitate to gig with this as either a snare or tom. What you give up is so very slight for getting to carry one less bag. I gave it four stars just because of the lack of a throw-off, but really for what it is (a sub $ single-headed snare) it probably deserves 5 stars (at least 4.5). It's a solid piece of gear and Pearl did a really nice job with it.

I added this to a Kickboxx, to replace the 10" snow that came with it. Nice sounding snare and great sounding rim shot.

I purchased this to complete a Rhythm Traveler type kit. It's portability can be an asset as it's easy to tuck into another case or bag. I used a section of an EVAN's E-ring attached to the rim to remove some ring, mostly to match the sound of the kit. This drum would sound find wide open too. Another use is as a very portable timbale.

I bought this for my Pearl Traveler kit. (BTW, that little Pearl Traveler kit is really cool, lots of compliments) I was originally thinking about buying the Pearl 2 tom add-on pack made for the traveler kit, but I really wanted a warmer snare. The snare that comes with the Traveler kit is very 'cutting', which is cool for some applications but can be harsh after a couple hour gig. The Pearl Fat & Skinny Auxiliary Snare Drum definitely has a warm tone. I had to use an O ring and/ or moon gel with the stock head to get rid of some of the over tones. My expectations were realistic. I wasn't expecting this to sound like a $300-$500 snare. I'm ok with the sound when tuned properly. My only problem is the snare mechanism. It takes some adjusting to get it right. Also, you need to hit the beater head right on top of the snare wires or you lose some of the snare sound. I want to like it because it works so well with the Pearl Travel kit! The nice thing is I can use it as a floor tom (I haven't tried that application yet) for now, I'm still working on dialing in.
I wanted to mention that the staff at Sweetwater are fantastic!! Great customer service! Thank you to Nick and staff at Sweetwater!

The Pearl Fat & Skinny snare is a beast I am very impressed with the sound and price well built. The only thing I do not like is how the throw off is mounted it basically a wing nut but it’s easy to work and adjust . I highly recommend this snare

You'll probably be disappointed if you just start playing out the box and expecting a good sound. However if you put a good quality drum head on it...Look out! I went with a Evans HD and man, it really sounds good now. It works really well with my Cajon. Definitely worth $ if you put a few more dollars in it.

This has an inner layer of a wood shell and an outer exterior shell made of steel. It seems pretty durable and it looks very sharp.
The snare mechanism is simple and does its job, if slowly. At 14" it can get quite low pitched, and actually seems best suited to low tuning (as would be implied), but surprisingly doesn't sound very good at a more snare appropriate tuning.
The snare "on" sound is surprisingly lacking- and I have experience with single sided, small snares like this- but it DOES have a surprisingly loud sound. You could overpower an acoustic band with this if you wanted to. Optional max volume is never a terrible thing.
The mount exists, but would benefit from anything to allow it to be moved a little bit without needing the not provided hardware to do 100% of the job. It tunes fairly easily but is a very unique creature to tune.

If this is the right move for you, grab it. Maybe you want a great small left hand floor tom. ^^

I however feel that, for the price, you could get a decent Piccolo snare or other 'side snare'. Not being able to flip the snares on and off makes it less usable on stage but as long as you choose your sound and stick with it you're fine.
I love you, Pearl, we'll always be together- but this one is just not gonna even be usable for me.