That's a great band! You're a tasty drummer I always enjoy listening to you. The best advertisement for that drum is YOU! Your videos allow the drum to speak for itself. You don't need to mention Copeland either... he used to muffle the crap out of that thing. You make it sound good as is. Copeland cheated...Best of luck with your sale...John
Nah ... Stewart Copeland did NOT "cheat" ... not even close .. and .. his name SHOULD be included with this particular model snare drum, as otherwise it's just a standard 70's era PEARL COB 10 lug snare drum! The fact that it was THIS DRUM that he used on most all the Police recordings and LIVE performances gives the drum some desirability outside of the fact that it's a nice playing/sounding drum in it's own right. I have had THREE ... currently have one that is the exact model that Stewart Copeland played, although not set up/tuned/tensioned in the area he had his, which leads nicely here:
Stewart Copeland did not muffle this snare drum at all ... it was played wide open. However! .. and this is where the formal semantics enter the conversation .. he DID modify the drum with a CAST batter/top hoop, and had the drum tensioned up like a timbale! In this regard, based on the way the drum was set up with that batter hoop and tension, yes ... the drum was "muffled" ... simply as a by product of how it was set up though. That much batter head tension coupled with a CAST batter hoop will dry up/focus pretty much ANY drum! Saw The Police LIVE three times back in the early 80's, and was able to have a good look at his set on two occasions. It was indeed "THE” Snare as he calls it, and there was no muffling of any kind used .. well .. outside of the towel he had wrapped around the shell so he wouldn't chafe his thighs, as he always played in shorts back then! In addition ...
... I have played/gigged on mine numerous times!, and whereas I am carrying a lot more tension on mine than FP is on his, the drum can function pretty well through this entire range. I just SOLD one of mine here a few weeks back actually, and I made a demo video that showed how the drum looked/sounded, although again... tuning/tensioning choices are subjective, as is playing style! A few guys requested the video and dug the drum! Here's the demo I did, which might aid in FP's sale too as I have the drum in a totally different area tension wise. I take it through a few different musical styles so one can really hear the nuance of this drum. As always, speakers are recommended, but you'll get the idea even on a mobile device. Hopefully you might enjoy! BEST with your sale FP!
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpy5ZABVphw"]1979/80 Pearl B4514 COB Stewart Copeland - YouTube[/ame]
Tommyp