ON FIRST INSPECTION, the two Cannon snare drums proffered for review this month presented me with a bit of a poser. Although they both sport the Cannon logo prominently on their outer shell, they have no other common features whatsoever. True, they are both round cylinders covered at each end with a film of plastic, and they both perform roughly the same function. Apart from that, they are completely and utterly different.

The poser, then, is exactly who or what are Cannon. Because if they manufacture these drums themselves, they've certainly got a lot to learn about corporate identity.

Obviously they don't, however, and we can assume that Cannon are one of those companies that import anonymous drums from the Far East, apply their own badges — which in this case are rather tacky stick on/peel off affairs — and market them under a suitably percussive, home-grown moniker.

A couple of years ago this might have been regarded as not quite playing the game. Largely because the standard of cheapie drums from places like Taiwan was, at the time, approximately as low as a rattlesnake's genitals. Now, however, following a veritable quantum leap in levels of quality, some more than respectable Taiwanese drums are winding up on these shores. They are still relatively cheap, which is part of their attraction. But if these two Cannon snares are anything to go by, "cheap" is no longer the inevitable companion of "nasty".

These two snares have brass and maple shells respectively, and we'll start with the brass. In fact, we'll start with a simple fact of life, which is that until now, the very notion of being able to buy a 6½" brass-shelled snare drum for under £100 would have been akin to swapping your beer mat collection for a Lamborghini. What's more, this Cannon example is not simply a low-priced, indifferently manufactured drum that just happens to come in brass. It is a solid, credible snare that offers all the tonal characteristics you have a right to expect from a brass-shelled drum.

The pure ringing tone is undoubtedly there, as are the crispness and the enhanced projection that brass affords. The thing is loud and remains responsive at all useful tensions. What more can I say?

It's not the most individual-sounding drum on the market. And in terms of appearance it would, I have to confess, come second-best to six hundred quids' worth of Sonor Signature hand-crafted bell brass. But for Chrissakes, this is a brass shelled snare drum for less money than 75 pints of lager. Its sound certainly gets no complaints from me — substantially the opposite, in fact — and the photo should tell you all you need to know about how the thing looks. As for the price, it should by now be screaming hysterically at you from the page.

Construction-wise, the brass-shelled snare differs from the 8" maple in just about every conceivable respect. For a start, one is made of wood while the other is made of metal. The snare throw-off on the brass model is a side-action affair like that found on older Pearl models, whereas the maple drum features a parallel-action snare strainer and a lever-action throw-off like that found on Ludwig drums. I'm sorry if this is getting to sound a bit technical, but honestly these two are very different. The maple has 20 single-ended lugs, the brass has ten double-ended. On one drum they're grooved, on the other they're smooth. One has snare tension adjustment knobs at the butt and throw-off ends, whereas the other... Look, let's just take it as read that these snare drums are not the proverbial peas in a pod, shall we?

OK, now we've laid that to rest I can point out the one thing they do have in common, namely that they both sound superb. In fact, I think I preferred the sound of the maple drum to that of the brass.

To achieve optimum noise from the maple, I tuned it fairly high and placed a sound control ring on the batter head. Following that I hit it very hard towards its centre with a wooden stick. I then proceeded, in a very low voice, to swear violently under my breath. This drum, you see, is a killer. The depth of tone is immense, and it has a rich, resonant retort that really hits you in the solar plexus.

It's obviously a "rock" drum — the material of the shell, its heavyweight construction and the 8" depth see to that. Consequently it does takes a bit of hammer to get the best out of it. But when it is hit good and hard the response is there with balls to spare, and with more beef than a herd of Aberdeen Angus.

In the right context, then, a wonderful snare drum.

So once again, I find myself in a state of near incredulity that such fine-sounding instruments can be had for such a reasonable outlay. As regular readers will know, this is not the first time I've been confronted with excellent equipment at car-boot sale prices, and I should by now have accepted the fact that this is the current state of play. Even so, as far as I'm concerned the gauntlet has again been thrown down, and the onus is once more on the drum manufacturers (and distributors) to astound me further.

In the meantime, give these Cannon snares a try, and don't spend all your change on whisky and loose women. (Or loose men of course.)

CANNON SNARE DRUMS: £99 each

INFO: King Midas Distribution, (Contact Details)