Sonor Gavin Harrison Protean Signature 14" x 5.25" Std Ed Snare Drum

The Sonor Gavin Harrison Protean Signature Standard Edition 14” x 5.25” Snare Drum is a superbly versatile drum designed to meet the most diverse of demands.

Gavin Harrison Signature Snare

Part of what Sonor call their Big Five, this Sonor Gavin Harrison snare drum delivers the ultimate in versatility to ensure you have a workhorse snare you can rely on in all situations.

Referring to the most dangerous animals in Africa, the ‘Sonor Big Five’ are the most dangerous signature snare drums that Sonor make. Dangerous, they say, because if you play one you want one.

Made up of the Mikkey Dee signature snare, Steve Smith signature snare, Benny Greb signature snare, the Phil Rudd signature snare and this Gavin Harrison Protean snare, this big five is a definite force to be reckoned with.  

Constructed from birch and featuring a range of design attributes made to make it as diverse as possible, the Gavin Harrison Protean snare is an all-purpose drum for every style and situation.

Sonor Gavin Harrison Protean Signature 14” x 5.25” Snare Drum Key Features:

• 6 Ply / 6mm Birch Shell
• Black Stain Finish
• Hybrid Bearing Edges
• Vintage Lugs
• Hybrid Hoops
• Dual Glide System
• Straight 8 Snare Wires
• Included Dampening Rings
• Protean Tuning Keys
• Remo Heads

Snare for Every Situation

When Gavin Harrison was first approached to make a signature snare drum, he says he knew instantly want he wanted the snare to achieve.

His goal was to create a snare with Sonor that was as musically versatile as Gavin is.

Gavin wanted the snare to be a daily go-to workhorse snare that can be quickly altered to suit the needs of practically any musical situation.

Utilising a variety of modern and vintage design, the Sonor Gavin Harrison signature snare offers unparalleled versatility that you can rely on to deliver.

The Protean name comes from Greek mythology and means ‘versatile’ and ‘diverse’ making it the perfect title for this all-purpose snare drum.

Making design choices based on each components versatility and ability to work in various situations, Gavin used his 30+ of professional playing experience to select the shell material, bearing edges, dampening rings, hoop style and snare wires.

Birch Build

Handcrafted in Germany, this Sonor Protean snare comes in two size options; this 14” x 6.5” and a 12” x 5”.

Constructed from 6 plies of premium hand selected birch wood, this snare has a thin 6mm shell.

Characterised by it’s loud and punchy tone, birch delivers a snare sound filled with boosted highs, subdued mids and a full low-end.

Capable of cutting through in live performance settings but as equally at home delivering full, punchy depth of tone in the studio, this Sonor snare has every situation covered.

Classic Black

Gavin Harrison wanted the look of his Sonor signature snare to be just as versatile as the diverse sound.

That’s why he opted for a timeless silky black finish that will slot seamlessly into any drum set up or style.

Offering a classy attention to detail, the black finish is contrasted perfectly by the white underlays between the chrome fittings and the shell.

The chrome hardware pops beautifully against the black colour of the shell while the sleek art deco styling provides an instantly classic look.

Hybrid Bearing Edges

Gavin decided to utilise a combination of two different bearing edge cuts in the design of his Sonor Protean snare.

Creating a true blend of vintage and modern, the top of the snare has a quintessentially vintage round over bearing edge which Sonor last produced in 1975!

Round over edges typically produce a sharp stick impact and a mellow, warm overall sound thanks to their increased head to shell contact.

Meanwhile the bottom of the snare features a modern 45 degree bearing edge, which provides less contact between the head and shell to deliver added attack and sustain.

Using a hybrid of the two bearing edges enables this snare to harness the advantages of both within one single drum.

While the 45-degree edge ensures cutting projection and powerful attack perfect for live settings, the round over edge provides a fuller tone, filled with big warmth, that’s great for the studio.

Hybrid Hoops & Vintage Lugs

In keeping with the hybrid bearing edges, the Gavin Harrison Protean snare features two different drum hoops.

The top is adorned with an S hoop to offer a great balance between focused tone and open resonance, while the snare side features a special open 2.3mm triple flanged steel Power Hoop to deliver optimum sustain.

The birch shell is fitted with vintage bow tie style Phonic lugs which provide a sleek aesthetic and add mass to the shell while eliminating stress from high tension.

The snare comes with standard square head tension rods.

Remo Heads

This Sonor Signature snare drum comes fitted with a Remo USA CS white coated, black dot batter head and a Sonor by Remo USA medium resonance head to deliver superb sound and great durability straight out of the box.

Dual Glide System

The Sonor Gavin Harrison Signature Snare features Sonor’s Dual Glide Snare Strainer System which allows the snares to be taken off and replaced very quickly and easily.

Working with the open bottom hoop, the Dual Glide System enables you to remove the snare wires from the drum without needing to unfasten the snares from the strainer.

Accommodating quick and convenient resonant head changes, this innovative snare removal system also makes tuning the bottom head without the snares really easy.

Ideal for last minute tuning tweaks before gigs or for super speedy head changes, the Sonor Dual Glide Snare Strainer is the perfect addition to this functionally versatile snare.

The Protean Standard Edition Snare comes complete with a set of excusive ‘Straight 8’ snare wires that have been specifically designed by Gavin and Sonor.

These snare wires feature 8 stainless steel strands that run straight in the centre position to deliver a clear, crisp, bite to the snare sound.

Unique Dampening Rings

The Standard Edition Sonor Protean snare comes complete with 3 newly designed dampening rings to allow you to tailor make your ideal tone with ease.

Featuring three varying dampening options – light, medium and heavy – these hoops are simply placed on the batter head and sit perfectly under the S-Hoop rim.

The light hoop is the thinnest of the three and gives the most subtle amount of dampening while the heavy hoop is the widest and offers the most muted sound.

You can also combine the hoops to create different degrees of dampening for your snare drum, providing even more versatility and flexibility to this already diverse drum.

Protean Tuning Keys

Featuring a design inspired by Gavin’s extensive time as a touring professional tuning and exchanging drum heads regularly, this 14” snare comes with 2 Protean Tuning Keys.

The Protean keys feature a bright red aesthetic specifically designed to make them more visible to prevent them being lost.

This top red part of the key has also been designed to enable you to tighten the tension rods in a finger tight way, just as you would if you were twisting the tension rods directly with your hands, before making adjustments in the typical manner with metal part of the key.

A nifty little feature, the underside of the heaviest dampening ring features a set of faint numbers designed to help you follow an easy tuning method around the snare lugs.

Developed as a set of two, these keys allow you to adjust the tension of two rods at once for more consistent incremental changes and a quicker tuning time.

Summary

Jam packed with an extensive range of features designed to make your drum life easier and to make this stunning snare as versatile as possible, the Sonor Gavin Harrison Protean Snare was designed to cover all occasions.

From the all-purpose tone of the birch shell to the versatility of the hybrid bearing edges this snare is able to achieve a range of sound to meet the most diverse of demands.

The combination of a different batter and resonant side hoop works to accentuate the natural sound of the snare shell.

The inclusion of the Dual Glide System, unique dampening rings and 2 Protean drum keys serves to make this snare as user friendly as possible.

Helping you to achieve your ideal sound with ease no matter what your requirements are, this Sonor Gavin Harrison snare is a superb choice for the diverse modern drummer.

For the ultimate in versatile tone and convenient adjustability, buy the Sonor Gavin Harrison Protean Signature Standard Edition 14” x 5.25” Snare Drum now from PMT Online.