Neil Peart DW Limited Edition Icon snare: More details
We're starting to get more details about the three DW Limited Edition "Icon" snares that were announced last week at the NAMM show. Here's what we know:
- There are three snares being produced, including a Neil Peart Time Machine design, as well as one for Nick Mason of Pink Floyd and one for Roger Taylor of Queen.
- DW is making 250 of each snare.
- The Time Machine Icon snare drum is a 6.5x14-inch 10-ply Collector's Series Maple VLT (Vertical Low Timbre).
- A portion of the proceeds will go to the charities of each drummer's choice. Neil Peart's charity is The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation in Toronto, Canada.
- As far as price goes, one drum store in England has listed the Time Machine drum for 1399 pounds -- or around (US) $2,308. Yes, this is a lot of money for a snare drum -- but these are limited editions being produced at a level of craftsmanship far above typical snares.
- To purchase a snare, DW recommends contacting a dealer from their locater map. In the past, Neil Peart limited edition items have sold out, so if you're interested I wouldn't wait.
DW has also released a handy inlay legend (PDF) detailing the different woods used in each drum. Just to be clear (because I didn't understand this at first), the designs and colors aren't created by stencils and paint, but by inlaying different woods into the drum itself.
- The dark wood used throughout the drum is padauk.
- The Time Machine symbols are made of natural maple.
- The gears surrounding the Time Machine symbols are made of dyed orange maple.
- The cogs around the lugs are made of natural walnut.
- The vertical borders are made of white poplar and dyed black poplar
A promotional video is now available from DW about these drums:
Neil says in the video, "This is made to replicate the exact snare drum that I use -- not only in concert, but on every one of our records since I started using it -- five or six years, I would suppose. It's a personal instrument in that it is the drum that I play, but it is an evocation of the design that we came up with for the live kit -- the Time Machine kit. This is a further development, if you like, of that technique of what it takes to do this kind of inlay, and what it takes to create such a beautiful piece of art and craft."
Here's a close-up of the inlays in the snares (from left to right, Roger Taylor, Neil Peart, and Nick Mason):
The "Icons" and their snares:
Labels: Drum Workshop, drums, Icon Limited Edition snare