Snare shopping. Suggestions?

[cearleywine]

Thanks for the suggestions guys! Seems like the consensus is that metal is the way to go, huh? I'm glad I asked, a buddy of time was telling me to not even bother looking at anything that wasn't wood.

to each his own. As much as I love my supra, I prefer the sound of high quality wood.

[MattACaster]

Don't count me in that consensus: I say, go to The Drum Pad and see what they have that you like and is within your budget, consider what you currently have and where you could fill in gaps and then make a decision based on all of the above.

I had a wood OCDP-X that I liked. But it wasn't exactly what I wanted.

Right now, I'm back to my Pearl Export snare.

[1001gear]

Try a coated Falams batter head.

[MattACaster]

Try a coated Falams batter head.

 

 

Thats a marching head, right?

[1001gear]

The very one. At regular tension it makes killer backbeats, rimshots, ghost notes and is all but indestructible.

[SYMBOLIC]

The very one. At regular tension it makes killer backbeats, rimshots, ghost notes and is all but indestructible.

 

 

If you over tighten that head, that is all you will have left of your snare.

[1001gear]

If you over tighten that head, that is all you will have left of your snare.

 

 

I have no doubt about that but I gotta say I have one on a cheap luan snare, no prob; on two cheap steel snares, no prob, and on my Tama maple also no problem. I think people may run into trouble trying to crank the thing. IMO you'd strip the screws before any thing else went wrong.

 

One difference that may account for over tightening is the hoop will sit twice as deep at tension than it will with a plain mylar head. I frankly love this depth. Rim shots are easier to produce and over a very wide dynamic range and the cross stick shots are fat and wood blocky. You do lose that airy pop that a less constricted diaphragm will produce but I'd only want that sound for recording anyway.