All three are great... but that Krupa's snare. That's a complete new level of beauty.

Yeah, the drums. But, the mad skill of the drummer is what makes all this work. Well done Steve Sr.

I can't play the drums, but THIS clip is one of many reasons i love watching them play!!!❤

That Buddy snare... What a gorgeous sound

Hi Steve, thank you for this incredibly rare comparison. The Krupa snare is just beautiful......but I can understand and hear exactly why the Bellson snare isn't going anywhere, and is staying safe with you. Fascinating channel, and so educating; congratulations. ❤

Hi Steve, Bellson's and Rich's snare sound are the base line of what I've always used for over 50 years. That crisp thunderous sound that Buddy got to distinguish every single stroke of the sticks was unmistakable. Krupa's has that rock sound that's great for recording. Very rare and extremely impressive demo of having all 3 genius' snares all together! In all my years I've never seen anything like this. What a treat!!! Cheers!!

Gene's snare is outstanding. The overtone is so smooth and mellow from that drum, the snares are snappy, and the tone is butta! It is made for the record, it's a music producer's dream snare, just beautiful! Billy Gladstone, a master! 3:20 omg.

The Krupa snare has such a deep, almost tom sound to it. Such beautiful hardware as well. I just love the sound of the Louie snare though. It has a distinct aftertaste.

Gene Krupa's snare sounded just amazing. In a category unto itself. Wow.

Great news guys, I’ve decided to sell my house and purchase the gene Krupa Gladstone drum. I haven’t told the great news to my wife yet, it will be a surprise… she’ll be SO excited, and to top it off, I’m announcing it to her on our 20th anniversary day! Steve, I guess this one is pick-up in person only right? Or perhaps delivery by armored car? … OK kidding aside, this was a real treat, thank you so much Steve Maxwell and your great staff

I keep coming back to hear these drums and played so professionally. No endless rimshot backbeats here. Thank you.

Holy shit man...you emulated the styles of the original owners of those drums perfectly. I got to see Louis Belson in the 90s as a guest at a local jazz ensemble concert. What a monster. Buddy's snare is my favorite

What an awesome demonstration and I am not a drummer although I am familiar with all 3 iconic drum legends. What a treasure to have all 3 snares together in one studio.

In 1996,I was a college senior working on my school newspaper as the arts and entertainment staff writer when I was asked to interview Louis Bellson for an article. I figured it might be five or six questions and last 20 minutes. I took my mom who was a fan of Louis. An hour later we concluded the interview. I could sense Louis wanted to keep talking but I told him I was on deadline. When the interview concluded he handed me his home address and asked me to mail him a copy of my review! Louis and his wife,Francine,couldn’t have been more charming! It’s a night I will never forget!

Terrific! From a 72-yr old former pro drummer. Or, in the words of someone we knew of, "How sweet it is!"

Thank you Steve. Great demo. I have always been a Krupa fan. He always played with such joy and enthusiasm.

Great demo... your skill in mimicking the figures that each one of those drummers used was superb. I had the privilege of setting up and chauffeuring Louie around for a weekend and he was kind enough to show me exactly how he tuned his snare which was cool because I was using a Dynasonic as well. Thank you!

I was fortunate to see Louie Bellson and shake his hand after the show in L.A. around the year 2000. Wish I could’ve seen Buddy and Gene live in concert as well.

Playing all three of them together would have to top my bucket list. Thank you, kind sir, for letting me live vicariously through for about 5 minutes.

Love the “snap” of the Buddy Rich snare!👍

A lifetime of perfection, and both the drums and the performer.😊

Steve, you make all 3 of the those beautiful snare drums Sing Sing Sing!!!!!!!! Thanks for the demo

Holy cow!! Not only I feel like a beginner now on a snare, but you also did open my eyes on how much important it is to listen back to guys from the past.

I lived in NW Indiana in the early 60's . One of my favorite memories was my folks allowed me to skip school to go hear Louie Bellson up in nearby Chicago . As a drummer myself I was in heaven .

Love when you started playing all 3 together! Beautiful sounding drums and great playing

I absolutely love Gene’s snare drum. It’s always been immediately recognizable to me anytime one of his songs comes on. That snare looked like the most fun to play. Great vid. Gene is definitely one of my favorite drummers period.

Wow Steve,! you have such (great skillful hands) 3 great sounding drums in your control, a truly great demo.

Really nice job on the drums that was very tasteful and quite entertaining. 👍

Thanks for sharing. That's something you don't see every day. Wonderful drums. Amazing playing!

Beautiful drums all, and great playing on all of them. Yet, I could sense the familiarity and fondness you have with Louie's snare right from the first press roll that went on just a little longer because it sounded so good!

Man those super soft rolls are so smooth it looks like you're rubbing the drum It's like magic

That Gene Krupa snare is gorgeous sounding

Bellson’s snare sounded the most wonderful to me. Lovely playing sir.

Epic! Thanx Steve, Rare opportunity indeed. Skal, 🤘 ^v^

Wow amazing sounds from all 3 snares. I never heard that sound present and so clear. I heard them on the old famous drummers back then but the quality of sound wasn't that great the way it is now and I hear more sound and dynamics. Thank You Steve for posting this amazing video. Wow those snares sound like no other snare I ever heard.

Absolutely love the history behind these drums! Three of the greatest!'

That krupa snare. Exactly why I love gut snares, synthetic or natural.

Steve you are a Treasure For Sharing to all of us the treasures that you come across. I was amazed at your Chicago store with all those famous drum sets including buddy riches that I used to see in Indianapolis. Meeting you at the Chicago show was very exciting for me. I look forward to my next purchase because I believe in supporting people who support the drumming community My next trip is going to be Forks in Nashville I’m already counting the days

Very nice work! Excellent sticking! Thanks for posting!

Very cool! Thanks, Steve!

Hi Steve. Ron Turner here in Seattle. We'll, the Three Kings would certainly approve of your royal treatment in showcasing their very personal instruments. Thank you so much for posting this. This is our Evolution! Our History! 🎶🥁

Excellent stick control Steve -- nice demo! Gene was the only one I never got to see live. Louie really impressed me, not only in his technical skill, but also in his musicality and enthusiasm -- a true gentleman.

Magnificent video demo! A triumvirate of tonal splendor. Beautiful playing, Steve.

I love this comparison. What I would also like to see and I understand why you won't do it, is to do a direct comparison of them using the same heads and snare wires. Thanks again for showing your mastery. Your mastery and body language are unique. I mean this in a good way. You make this look so easy.

Very Interesting. I am a guitar/bass player, but I love learning about Legends of Music. Enjoyed your great playing. Enjoyed them all, but preferred the Buddy Rich in the center.

Fantastic job contrasting the sounds so cleanly and stylishly! Informative and entertaining!

Great video Steve...you are a treasure and above all we appreciate you sharing your knowledge of drummers and their gear. Great stuff..warm wishes from Vegas!

Fantastic drumming! Excellent stick work. It's interesting to me how each drum sounds like the drummers who played them. It shows how equipment choice and setup reflects your own style and personality. Great video and thanks for posting.

Love this! Was fortunate to meet both Louie and Buddy due to their relationship with my drum teacher Joe Pulice. All of them gifted drummers!

Muy buen video comparando las herramientas de 3 grandes. Muchas gracias por compartir. Very good video comparing the tools of three huge drummers of all times. Thanks a lot for sharing. (From Buenos Aires)

Thank you Steve, Sir. Much appreciated and much respect for such priceless visuals and sounds. Your hands are incredible as well :)

Sir, you my friend are awesome! That brought a smile to my face! Very nicely done. Thanks for that.

awesome, I remember listening to Gene on LP back when I was first learning how to play the drums in grade school. I only wish I had been diagnosed and treated for my ADHD so I would have been able to study and learn how to read sheet music. I learned how to play the songs we played by ear and by watching others play the bits. I had the hardest time multi-tasking the whole playing while reading thing. If I couldn't memorize an entire concert of music I couldnt play it, so I just memorized entire concerts of music for our schools productions and marching stuff, and yeah, played at every football game, which was cool, I got to see every football game for free, but I digress... great video, you really know how to make those skins sing.

Great stuff Sir. Thanks very much for the demo.

Thanks Steve...great video, epic drums and terrific playing from you!

I appreciate to listen to these snares through current audio tech to appreciate better their sound. And they all sound beautiful and warm.

That was great...and it's Buddy's snare all the way. The absolute, quintessential, perfect snare sound. (Mr. Maxwell done knows his rudiments, don't he!! Well done!)

Very cool idea. An honor!

Thank you! Gene Krupa was my first drummer inspiration (amazing drummer) (The Carmine Appice) Got to see and meet Buddy Rich Clearwater Fla, in the 70s, and saw and met Louis Bellson also in the 70s...thank you!

Great demo and great chops, man! Bravo 👏

Thank you , what an honour.👏🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Great demonstration. Thank you.

It's amazing what percussionists can hear in their instruments that so many others can't, but yet it is all so very important to the music. That's not disparaging, as every instrument has it's fine points for the artists themselves to understand. It just seems to me that even a simple snare drum can have so many more variable and distinct sounds when compared to a trumpet, for example. I was playing my set one day and my roomie came in, having been drawn from the kitchen by the various tones I was making on the cymbals. I spent about a half hour explaining and demonstrating the various tones you can get out of a ride, hat , and crash in various configurations, strikes, and styles, and that HS choir boy was amazed at what he had just learned and put together that he had been unable to clearly see before. The tones were just there, but he didn't know the mechanics of them. Never stop learning and wondering.

Wonderful! Thank you! Real old school drumming.

Extraordinary voicing emulating each master on his drum. Superbly done! Thank you!

Fantastic performance! I love your classic style Sir! Cheers

Bloody wonderful. Thanks Steve for this amazing presentation of these Gods .

Amazing playing dude! Genes sounded different than most snares I’ve heard which is epic

The holy trinity of snare drums. Great video is an understatement. Thank you!

Thank you for all that it's very good info for me my dad went to grade school with Gene Kruppa he told me to listen to the greats so we always watched Lawrence Welk every Sunday nite peace brother your a great stick man

Great video! Thanks Mr. Maxwell.

Thank you so much for making this video.

And there you have it, a little etude on snare drums. Masterful.

Gosh, that was fun! Great playing too.

That was cool and fun. I used to own a Rogers chrome dynasonic snare drum in the 70 & 80's

I don’t know much about drumming in any real technical sense, but I really enjoyed this demonstration. Spent a couple hours watching Rich/Krupa videos tonight, so this was really just super cool. Can’t imagine what those things sold for.

Hi Steve,man as usual presenting us yet another premium video.Great stuff. To me the winner is the Buddy Rich Dyna- Sonic.

Thank you for posting.

I love all three ! 3 great drummers. (Louie Bellson was my favorite of the 3) !

Great rememberance vídeo, thanks.

Great demo! 🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼

All three sound great, and you sound great on all three! Beautiful! But the press rolls on the Buddy Rich Dynasonic? Amazing.

Thank you. I really enjoyed that piece of history. Beautiful tones.

Thanks Steve. Just a great video and information...BTW, you have some great chops!

Cool, Thanks for sharing...

Beautiful sounds, beautiful drums and most importantly BEAUTIFUL PLAYING!

Great drums and lovely playing. I loved the character of of Krupa's drum.

Too cool, excellent demonstration!

Wow, immediately in my top 10 of all time favorite KZfaq videos. Fantastic work. My wish list for the next three: Keith Moon, Art Blakey, Max Roach.

I just love the sound of gut snares. It reminds me of my fife and drum corps days. 🥁❤

Brilliant! Thank you.

Awesome job.....🥁 Touching on each drummer was cool. Nice improv towards the end also!!!

Wow! I see why the Bellson isn’t for sale! Sounds like a less in-your-face Rich. So awesome. Thanks for the demo!

Thank you so much, sr Steve Maxwell!!!! A gift to us, mere mortals

Very cool with the playing of all the drums combined together !

A wonderful performance! Thank you. I could be wrong, it wouldn't be the first time time. Just a thought on this: Close in time span, Buddy's snare seems influenced by Louie's tone , But Krupa's concept of low end in the snare was essential in the era when the Bass player dominated the low end pulse. When I hear the old recordings it sounds to me like the bass drum was feathered in accompaniment unless in a solo or ensemble figure, only later was the Bass drum brought to be a lead voice in the rhythm section. I think Krupa's was fighting for the low end control. If there was going to be a heart beat from the bass player~ his snare was going to be the Afib... Love my heroes RIP and thank you again for this great video.

That Krupa snare is a beast !

I was surprised that I liked the sound of the sound of the Gene Krupa drum over the other two. I never saw Gene Krupa in person. I had the good fortune to see Buddy and Louie live. I even got to shake Buddy's hand! Thank you for putting this together. I like how you added in some iconic Buddy moves while playing his drum. I assume you were doing the same on the other two but I am much less familiar with their playing.

What an awesome display of snares. Thank you sir!

Great demonstration, playing all three at the same time, really highlights the differences.