Bought an S-hoop, my thoughts....

[cdrums21]

I had been reading alot about the S-hoop and the favorable comments it was getting, so I decided to purchase one for my snare drum and give it a try. Here is my "review" for what it's worth.....
I put the S-hoop on a 6.5x14 Ludwig supraphonic snare drum. For those of you who don't know, the hoop's design gives it an overlying edge that turns in and bevels down towards the drum head covering the bearing edge. This new design also gives the S-Hoop a smoother playing surface for rim-shots and cross sticking. The hoop looks cool and is high quality. The cross stick sound is definitely better, no question. More solid sounding and a bit louder. It feels good too. But what I really liked about the S-hoop is the way it made the drum sound. With the original triple flanged hoop, I get a nice "pop" out of the snare and a good sound, but I run the drum wide open with a coated Ambassador on it and I still get slight overtones that I don't really care for and can't tune out. With the S-hoop, it made the drum sound "cleaner", retaining every bit of the volume and "poppiness" of the sound, and eliminated the higher stray overtones. It seemed to open the drum up and make it more focused without losing any of the desirable qualities that I liked in the sound of the drum to begin with.

The drum was big, cutting and sounded great through the PA with NO muffling whatsoever. I don't muffle anything anyway, but there was definitely no need for any with the S-hoop. It cleaned the drum right up. Bottom line....I'm very happy with the S-hoop and will keep it on the snare for sure. The cost was about $30 for a 10 lug hoop and it is well worth it in my opinion. They are recommended for toms too, maybe I'll try them out as well down the road. If you're thinking about checking one out, I'd say go for it. I think they're pretty cool.....

[Les Ismore]

Cool! S-Hoops rock! Check out pat Pertillo on You Tube w/them. Probably the drum least-likely to need one though is a Ludwig metal. With its one piece shell and bullet proof bearing edge, a standard die cast will give 'almost' the same result.

S-Hoop is stronger than any die cast I've ever seen and no doubt will in some way enhance the sound of any drum its put on. They look mighty cool too.

A big benefit is they protect the bearing edge of the drum (i.e. wood). One way the significance of this really sunk in with me was when after playing my drums with S Hoops all around, and then sitting on a set without S-Hoops... it honestly seemed like there was something wrong with drums minus S-Hoops, they didn't look right/correct!!!

They looked vulnerable, exposed, unprotected and fragile, producing a sort of ' Non S-Hoop anxiety' , I felt pressured not to unwittingly damage the bearing edges, even though I knew there wasn't a high probability of this. The drums seemed naked, like a new born baby not deserving to be struck. I didn't like it, I felt 'put on the spot and unduly responsible for their safety', I wanted my S-Hoops back.

All wood drums should have S-Hoops, there should be a law passed. Definitely a high-end option well worth the money. Oh yeah, as for the sound of S-Hoops... cdrums21 summed it up nicely already. Recommended!

[cdrums21]

Cool! S-Hoops rock! Check out pat Pertillo on You Tube w/them. Probably the drum least-likely to need one though is a Ludwig metal. With its one piece shell and bullet proof bearing edge, a standard die cast will give 'almost' the same result.

Les, you're probably right about the metal snare not needing an S-hoop as much as a wooden snare. I thought about that when I was deciding on buying one. (I did see the Pat Petrillo video btw) But, for the improvement in the cross stick sound and the overall improvement in the drum's sound as a whole, I thought it was worth a shot. I didn't really care about the bearing edge issue, at least on my metal snare drum. Do you like them on your toms? Does it have the same effect sound wise on them as it does the snare? Do you have them on the bottom heads as well? So many questions....hope you read this post!

[Les Ismore]

I do have S-Hoops on both tops and bottoms of all my toms with the main set I play. I like a focused sound and I've been through the 'damaged bearing edge' fiasco vowing never to have it happen again ala S-Hoops.

With S-Hoops the tom's come out with a more-pronounced, lower fundamental. I have asymmetrically cut bearing edges (round over top-45 bottom) favoring a tighter top head tuning, along with the S-Hoops this set yields a tighter, more EQ'd blossom and decay. True dat, rim shots of any flavor are more intense.

Are S-Hoops worth the scratch? If you really love your kit and want to provide the best for it, looks, security, added sound enhancement, then I strongly recommend investing in S-Hoops. Few things reek quality like S-Hoops and properly cared for, they'll provide service for lifetimes to come



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[Jeff Almeyda]

I'm getting a kit made for me next year and I'm thinking of putting these on all the drums along with the DTS tuning system.

[danander11]

I had been reading alot about the S-hoop and the favorable comments it was getting, so I decided to purchase one for my snare drum and give it a try. Here is my "review" for what it's worth..... <snip>

Thanks for the info... I might try one of these if I can find one down here.. (Man I miss the selection of goods in the states).

Have you tried the Renaissance RA heads for snare? I had the same issues and tried one of these by accident, and loved the result.

They offer the Renaissance in an RA (Ren. Ambassador), or RE (Ren. Emporor) for those that like a thicker head.

Merry Christmas!

[Drum-Head]

When I didn't know much about hoops, I was wanting to put on die-cast hoops on my Yamaha Stage Custom Nouveaus. But then I found out that they would kill the sound on such drums. Would any of you guys know if the S-Hoops could enhance the sound of a mid-entry kit like mine, or are they reserved to more high-end kits like their die-cast counter parts?

[DingerJunkie]

I have a question about sympathetic harmonics and hoop tone.

From watching the Gatzen tuning clips available here on Drummerworld, I became almost scared of the "lost tone potential" of diecast hoops, as they really add nothing to the tone of the trum with their lack of resonance compared to flanged steel. I'm one of those freaky purists who believes that all parts of a drum should add to the tone, not focus/muffle/inhibit it.

Do the S-hoops have their own tone like traditionally-flanged steel hoops, or did the designers move to "tune them to dead" like with die-cast?

[cdrums21]

I have a question about sympathetic harmonics and hoop tone.

From watching the Gatzen tuning clips available here on Drummerworld, I became almost scared of the "lost tone potential" of diecast hoops, as they really add nothing to the tone of the trum with their lack of resonance compared to flanged steel. I'm one of those freaky purists who believes that all parts of a drum should add to the tone, not focus/muffle/inhibit it.

Do the S-hoops have their own tone like traditionally-flanged steel hoops, or did the designers move to "tune them to dead" like with die-cast?

From what I can gather from the information available on the s-hoops and hearing them for myself, the resulting s-hoop is a cross between the two of them. I wouldn't say that the s-hoop inhibits the drum in any way, it's hard to describe unless you hear it for yourself. It just seems to make the tone more pure and evens it out without losing resonance or volume.

[cdrums21]

Thanks for the info... I might try one of these if I can find one down here.. (Man I miss the selection of goods in the states).

Have you tried the Renaissance RA heads for snare? I had the same issues and tried one of these by accident, and loved the result.

They offer the Renaissance in an RA (Ren. Ambassador), or RE (Ren. Emporor) for those that like a thicker head.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you too! I have not tried the reaissance series heads. I don't know much about them, so I think I'll go and check some info out on them right now. Thanks for the tidbit!

[yammiefan]

Thanks for the review cdrums21; I'll be ordering an s-hoop shortly.

[timmdrum]

I'd always heard that die-cast hoops don't inhibit the main resonance of the heads, just that they focus in the sound somewhat by allowing fewer overtones. This was due to them being more rigid, therefore more consistently flat around the circumference (more able to resist inconsistent torques at different lugs), and therefore fewer overtones are created because the tension is more consistent. Whether this theory is true, or the one stated above, is correct, beats me.

[cdrums21]

I'd always heard that die-cast hoops don't inhibit the main resonance of the heads, just that they focus in the sound somewhat by allowing fewer overtones. This was due to them being more rigid, therefore more consistently flat around the circumference (more able to resist inconsistent torques at different lugs), and therefore fewer overtones are created because the tension is more consistent. Whether this theory is true, or the one stated above, is correct, beats me.

Your explanation/theory makes more sense. I had die cast hoops on a Ludwig 6.5x14 hammered bronze snare and it just killed. Plenty of resonance, volume and presence from the drum...real nice even tone.

[masonni]

I was given one of these S-hoops last year at NAMM and I put it on my main studio snare, a 5.5" x 14" Black-chrome over Brass Peace snare. I have since used it on a few live gigs as well as 3 records. I was really surprised that a hoop could change the sound of a drum so much!
Just playing it in practice or at home I could clearly hear a change in the tone of my drum, it made it much warmer, yet still provided enough crack and volume. With the right mics, you could hear this come accross the few times I used it live.

In the studio it's like a dream come true!!! I have used this snare on other records with out an S-hoop, and ended up changing the snare to something else 1/2 way through a full lenght CD. But now that I added the S-hoop I have gone back to this drum and used it on 90% of everything I have recorded all year long.

[punkdrummer1]

I'd love to give the s-hoop's a try. I've heard very good things, and to see that alot of people are pleased with them, is great!