Snare wire preference...

[larryace]

So I'm taking a poll on everyone's favorite snare wires. Please tell me what you like about them, and if you could describe the sound of your pick, that would be great.

[MadJazz]

Is there really a big difference?

And if so, what's the difference exactly and why don't more people change wires?

[drumtechdad]

Oh yeah, there's a difference.

I've gone to 16-strand Puresound wires on all my snares. More tone, less sympathetic buzz. I'd love to try some 12- or 14-strand wires but they're hard to find.

Biggest drawback to Puresounds is the hideous cost.

If you like 20-strand wires, the Pearl UltraSound wires sound pretty much identical to the Puresound 20s for a lot less money.

[Stoney]

I'd love to try some 12- or 14-strand wires but they're hard to find..

Just snap 2 or 4 snare strands off. Simple

[Pollyanna]

DrumTechDad, do they really make that much of a difference to the tone and buzz? I've never experimented.

How can one type of wire buzz less against the reso than another when the reso is banging against it with the vibrations? Not having a go. I've never been able to get a handle on the physics of it, which is probably why I never experimented.

[masonni]

I used Pursound wires in the past and I LOVED them, but I just started playing on Fat Cat Wires. (More or Less the same thing).

All my Snares have 20 strands on them, but my 14" x 6.5" has 30 Strands. They KICK ASS.

[NUTHA JASON]

cheap wires are unevenly tensioned or become uneven quickly over time which leads to annoying buzz from sympathetic resonance.

i buy 40 or 30 strand wires because they are so fat sounding and yet also dampen the bottom head which gives my snares a good crack.

j

[MadJazz]

What's the difference between all wires spaced evenly and wires spaced apart with a gap inbetween?

[bonzolead]

Puresound best snare wires IMO, I use 14" blasters on my 14 x 5.5 brass Pearl Sensitone and 14" customs on my 14 x 5 Ludwig Epic. they really bring your snare to life. the blasters are loud & crisp and the customs are crisp but with a vintage overtone.

Bonzolead

[Boomka]

While I think we should be careful not to overemphasise the role of snare wires in the sound of a drum, it can make a notable difference. I choose wires based on the drum and on the sound I want for any particular application.

[zambizzi]

+1 for Puresound. I really, really like the 30-strand. I've got a 24-strand on hand for when I want more drum and less snare in my sound.

[Khaine88]

puresound 30strand for my steambent maple snare 14x5.5

[GRUNTERSDAD]

I noticed on two of my snares the stock snare had less than adequate soldering where the snares were connected making them uneven. There is a difference like most things.

[Bruce M. Thomson]

Oh yeah, there's a difference.

I've gone to 16-strand Puresound wires on all my snares. More tone, less sympathetic buzz. I'd love to try some 12- or 14-strand wires but they're hard to find.

Biggest drawback to Puresounds is the hideous cost.

If you like 20-strand wires, the Pearl UltraSound wires sound pretty much identical to the Puresound 20s for a lot less money.

Timely info as I was just about to change my Puresound 2o strand and the price is high.

Cheers

[Steamer]

Puresound 20 strand Custioms and yes they DO make a difference.

Just listening to some tracks with my Peace phosphor bronze snare with them for an upcoming trio CD and smiling...:}

[Retrovertigo]

i gotta go with grover snares which were the most expensive by far the last time i bought them but they sound so great. i found that i was breaking them very quickly so now i generally go with the puresound wires because they last longer than the grovers. but if i was just going by sound than it would be grovers.

[caddywumpus]

I experimented with lots of different snare wires a while back. I tried several Puresounds, a Fat Cat, a DW True-Tone, a Tama Starclassic, and some cheap-o "Made in Taiwan" snares. I tried them all out on a DW Black Brass and a DW Craviotto. Just like most factors of a snare, the differences were noticeable, but not really all that important. I got a good snare sound regardless of what I used, but the difference in sound wasn't better or worse between any of them. Just...different. Here's what I found:

If you want a "snappier" and brighter sound, go with a Tama or cheap-o import snare. If you want a drier and darker sound, go with a Puresound Custom or Fat Cat. If you want something in the middle, try out a DW True-Tone or a Puresound Blaster.

...just like many other factors we talk about in this forum, though: The audience won't notice or even care. You won't bomb the audition because your snare wires suck. When miked up live, you won't be able to tell a difference. Etc., etc., etc., blah blah blah...

[Steamer]

Well the Puresound Customs did make a big difference when matched with the right drum. Maybe that's the secret to success with selecting after market replacement wires. It was like someone turned the light switch on in the room sonically speaking with the 20 strand Customs in place on my phosphor bronze snare. The drum was allowed to fully open up tone wise and never chokes at any dynamic range of playing thrown at it. The high quality recorded studio sound is noticably different over the stock wires with the Customs as I just discovered listening to studio tracks from a recent project. True stuff....

Money well spent.....

[freebirdgdw]

cheap wires are unevenly tensioned or become uneven quickly over time which leads to annoying buzz from sympathetic resonance.

i buy 40 or 30 strand wires because they are so fat sounding and yet also dampen the bottom head which gives my snares a good crack.

j

I play music that every one calls different all kinds of 'core' if you know what I mean (Metalcore, Deathcore, Hardcore). I prefer a big, fat, deep, crack of a 'DOOSH' noise when I hit my snare. However I thought that more snare wires means they're more sensitive which I thought would mean they're made more for intricate playing. I want an almost power ballad snare noise. Would you suggest I go for more or less wires?

[drumtechdad]

Just snap 2 or 4 snare strands off. Simple

Yes, but you still end up with a 16-strand width butt. It's cool to experiment, though.

DrumTechDad, do they really make that much of a difference to the tone and buzz? I've never experimented.

They do on my drums. If you have old snare wires you can fool around and see, as Gatzen does here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcHAFgafPkE) and here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNNGBVA66Hk&NR=1).

How can one type of wire buzz less against the reso than another when the reso is banging against it with the vibrations? Not having a go. I've never been able to get a handle on the physics of it, which is probably why I never experimented.

Snare wires are made of different metals, thicker or thinner strands, plated and unplated, etc.

I prefer a big, fat, deep, crack of a 'DOOSH' noise when I hit my snare. However I thought that more snare wires means they're more sensitive which I thought would mean they're made more for intricate playing. I want an almost power ballad snare noise. Would you suggest I go for more or less wires?

Fewer strands = more tone (drum sound). So (I think) fewer strands would be the direction to go for that sound.

[Steady Freddy]

I've been messing around with a few of my snares for the past few weeks. I like the Pure Sound Super 30 wires on my three steam bent snares. It wakes them up.

I use DW true tone 20 strand wires on most of the metal drums. It's a good wire and has been very durable.

42s on my Dunnett because that's what it came with.

Someting kinda weird happened today. I put a Evans 200 on the snare side of my Super Sensitive Black Beauty. When I dropped the wires the drum still sounded like a snare.

I had the thin snare side head cranked pretty high. Since the snares on the SS drums go through the gates in the hoop. the hoop was still pressing the wires against the head.

I think If I go back to a 300 wieght and don't crank it so high it will be fine.

FWIW.

[Jeremy Bender]

The products I use and the results:

Puresound Symphony 16 strand for my maple concert snare... Very dry and articulate

Puresound Custom 24 strand on the Ludwig Hammered bronze...Med dark and powerful

Noble & Cooley cam-action snares on the Yamaha brass...Very bright and large dynamic range.

[Funky Crêpe]

Whats the difference between a lot of, and only a small amount of wires? I recently got a vintage slingerland that i love, but would prefer a little drier tone, a bit darker. It currently has 16 wires, but they look as though they were also made in the 60's! I dont want a buzzy sound bright sound, a crisp dry one. Could a change in wires help with this?

[drumtechdad]

Whats the difference between a lot of, and only a small amount of wires? I recently got a vintage slingerland that i love, but would prefer a little drier tone, a bit darker. It currently has 16 wires, but they look as though they were also made in the 60's! I dont want a buzzy sound bright sound, a crisp dry one. Could a change in wires help with this?

Unplated wires (like the Puresounds and Pearls) ought to give you a darker sound. As for drier, not sure what you mean, I always associate that with tuning or muffling. (Be a shame to muffle that drum in any way.)

If you like the overall tone I'd say stick with a 16-strand set. More strands give you more snare-sound and less drum sound. More strands also tends to give you more sympathetic buzz.

[Donning flame-suit]It seems to me that the high strand-count wires came about because guys started using heavily-muffled heads on their snares and lost sensitivity, so they upped the strand-count to get it back. It's all taste, though--Nutha Jason likes the high strand-count wires because they dampen the reso head; I dislike them for the very same reason. ;-) [flame-suit off]

[keep it simple]

16 strand Puresound on my 13" maple stave offers a slightly darker than average sound. 16 strands means I get a bit more drum tone than wire snap. I want that on a stave to let the woodyness show through.

16" Pearl 16 strand on my 14" Pearl piccolo brass FF. Using 16" wires on the FF snare is critical to getting the best out of that design. I love the idea of not having the snare wire end plate resting on the reso head. Just the wires are in contact. That's a bit of design feature that actually offers a worthwhile benefit IMO. Good for controlling buzz, & doesn't dampen the reso head. No wonder it's the loudest snare drum you'll ever play! Again, 16 strand gives me more drum & less wire sound. I like that, but I'm a backbeat player. 16 strand is probably not the way to go is you want highly sensitive articulation of subtle work.

[Florian]

my 13 x 6.5 Unix snare uses Puresound 20 strand, my 12 x 5 Gavin Harrison Sonor Delite uses an 18 strand Puresound and my 14 x 5.5 Brady Jarrah ply gets 16 strand Puresounds....

Puresound FTW!!!!

F

[Florian]

duplicate - deleted.

F

[motleyh]

I generally use Puresounds on my snares, sometimes Blasters, sometimes Customs, sometimes 30s. It depends on the size of the drum (in particular the depth) and the shape of the snare beds -- plus, of course, the sound I'm trying to achieve. It's important to note that the end plates of these are different shapes, so the shape and tension of the head near the bed -- determined by the shape of the bed itself -- gets to be a critical factor in how a given set of wires works on a given snare drum.

[Donning flame-suit]It seems to me that the high strand-count wires came about because guys started using heavily-muffled heads on their snares and lost sensitivity, so they upped the strand-count to get it back. It's all taste, though--Nutha Jason likes the high strand-count wires because they dampen the reso head; I dislike them for the very same reason. ;-) [flame-suit off]

Drumtechdad, the earliest ones I remember were the Gretsch 42-strand wires back in the 60s - they had them on the high-end drums.

[mrmike]

I had a nice sounding newer George Way snare that had more sympathetic buzz than my other snares for some reason. Put on some Puresound EQ snares and problem solved.

For the most part I like the stock snare wires on most of my snares. The only other one I did not like was the stock wires on a DW collectors. Replaced it with Puresound 20 strand and all is well.

[drumtechdad]

Drumtechdad, the earliest ones I remember were the Gretsch 42-strand wires back in the 60s - they had them on the high-end drums.

Were they deep snares? Now that you've jogged my poor cobwebby mind, it occurs to me that a high-count wire might be just what you need to get the sensitivity back in a deep snare.

[mrmike]

Were they deep snares? Now that you've jogged my poor cobwebby mind, it occurs to me that a high-count wire might be just what you need to get the sensitivity back in a deep snare.

I think it has more to do with the beds than the wire count. I tried a 42 count on a 6.5x14 Radio King and it did not produce more snare sensitivity. One of the local drum building gurus say it's the way the beds are cut and that less strands give better results on these drums. All the 42 strand did was add more ring for some reason.

The way Yamaha makes it's sensitive series drum with a wide 2.7mm bed is very sensitive like it's name implies. I might have the Radio King re-cut but I hate to alter it from it's original state.

[bobdadruma]

I never really give them much thought. I play 20 strand in whatever brand is on the drum. All of my snare drums came with 20 strands.
I have only had to replace one strainer in the 40 years that I have been playing.

[Bo Eder]

I thought this thread was about the wire you used to hold the snares to the drum.....damn.

I was going to extol my praise upon this blue coated aircraft wire I get at Pro Drum in Hollywood....oh well.

[pbm2112]

Is there really a big difference?

And if so, what's the difference exactly and why don't more people change wires?


The wires make a huge difference to the sound. You can really improve the sound of an average drum with great wires, and it's amazing how many expensive drums ship with really bad wires (all Ludwig snares for example). I heard two new Black Beauties next to each other, one with Ludwig wires and the other with Puresound Blasters and the difference was like night and day. The sound with the Blasters had much more body, power and definition - more 'balls' basically. You really noticed the wider range of dynamics playing the drum to.

I use 14 strand Puresound Custom wires on my Brady 14 x 7 Jarrah ply and find that they give me a really great solid snare attack without masking the true tone of the drum. I've 20 strands Customs for when I want a little more volume or separation between the snare and the rest of the kit.

[dg52drums]

I have a Pearl free floater brass. I bought it on ebay it came with a 32 wire snares. The configuration is 10 space 12 space 10. It's the best I have ever played and local pros agree it's a great sound. The only problem is it has no brand name on it. I am not sure Pearl even made these snares. It might have been a replacement by a former owner. If anybody can shed a light as to where I can find snares like this one, I would be most grateful! Or who made them even.

[simmsdn]

20-strand steel and I want them all to be equally tensioned. Drives me nuts when 1 of the 20 strands is looser than the others...I usually cut it (unsolder) it from the set. I'd rather be short a couple strands than have my snare sound bad because of the poor quality control in the factory.

Something tells me that 99% of all snares are made in the same factory in Taiwan. Of course there are exceptions. Probably the same factory that makes Yamaha/Tama/Pearl/Mapex/Ludwig imported lower-lever kits.

[braincramp]

Puresound 30wire is what I usually use

[samthebeat]

Canopus if Im feeling rich, Pure Tone if im not feeling so rich. I dont like pure sound wires, they dont do what I want, very good wires dont get me wrong, very well manufactured, but the pure tones are very well made also and sound just the I like it and are good 20% cheaper.

[Astropath]

I thought this thread was about the wire you used to hold the snares to the drum.....damn.

I was going to extol my praise upon this blue coated aircraft wire I get at Pro Drum in Hollywood....oh well.

What Do you call the wires that attach the snares to the drum?

[RobertM]

Canopus if Im feeling rich, Pure Tone if im not feeling so rich. I dont like pure sound wires, they dont do what I want, very good wires dont get me wrong, very well manufactured, but the pure tones are very well made also and sound just the I like it and are good 20% cheaper.

Yes, I've heard the Canopus Vintage Dry snare wires are pretty awesome. I believe even Bill Stewart uses them on his Ludwig snares when gigging.

[RobertM]

I think Trick snares use that same aircraft quality cable wire, Bo.

[Jeremy Bender]

What Do you call the wires that attach the snares to the drum?

Snare cord is what I always called it. I would recommend throwing away the wire and go with something like Ludwig snare cord. It makes the drum open up more and you don't run the risk of cutting your snare head or damaging the snare bed (which wire can do).

This bag of cord goes a long way http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Genuine-Ludwig-P4078A-Snare-Cord-10-Yards-The-Best-Stuff-Ever-Made-NIP-/180753682735?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a15c2512f#ht_1927wt_1185

[P33v3]

DW True Tone on all my snares.

[zarrdoss]

Snare cord is what I always called it. I would recommend throwing away the wire and go with something like Ludwig snare cord. It makes the drum open up more and you don't run the risk of cutting your snare head or damaging the snare bed (which wire can do).

This bag of cord goes a long way http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Genuine-Ludwig-P4078A-Snare-Cord-10-Yards-The-Best-Stuff-Ever-Made-NIP-/180753682735?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a15c2512f#ht_1927wt_1185

I dont like the wire either, I dont like cord much more, for me its a trip to my local Joannes fabric or any craft store and get some of this

http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?pageName=search&flag=true&PRODID=prd39081

of course 20 yards lasts a long time.

[19drum94]

I just went to Guitar Center yesterday and picked up some Tama 42 strand snares to replace the stock PDP ones and to just rey it out for fun. They took off a lot of the ring, made the drum more sensitive, and it gave it a better crack. It helped a lot.

[pcastag]

Canopus vintage. Great sound. Sonor snare wires are also awesome.

[stillgroovin]

20 strand Puresound customs on my Gretsch 14x 5.5
30 Strand Puresound customs on my OCDP 14x7 microvent.

What would you guys recomend for a 12in snare?

[samdrum]

Tama 42 Strand on my Ludwig 402 Supra.
Pearl 20 strand on my Ludwig 6.5x14 Maple Snare.

[Astropath]

Snare cord is what I always called it. I would recommend throwing away the wire and go with something like Ludwig snare cord. It makes the drum open up more and you don't run the risk of cutting your snare head or damaging the snare bed (which wire can do).

This bag of cord goes a long way http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Genuine-Ludwig-P4078A-Snare-Cord-10-Yards-The-Best-Stuff-Ever-Made-NIP-/180753682735?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a15c2512f#ht_1927wt_1185

Nice! Thanks for the tip!!

[Astropath]

I dont like the wire either, I dont like cord much more, for me its a trip to my local Joannes fabric or any craft store and get some of this

http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?pageName=search&flag=true&PRODID=prd39081

of course 20 yards lasts a long time.

And another great tip. Thanks!!

[cdrums21]

Puresounds are great, and I also use a Gretsch 42 strand on my 402. They sound great as well. What I really noticed more than anything about an improved sound was the method of attachment. I used to use nylon straps, and for a while, grosgrain ribbon. Nothing sounds better to me than the good old Ludwig orange snare cord or its equivalent. I have a post on here about this and it is amazing how much better the drum sounds with string as opposed to straps. Here's the link, check it out: http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81701&highlight=snare+string

[BigSteve]

20 Strand Puresound Blasters on my old acrolite with Ludwig white snare cord. I agree with cdrums21 that the snare cord gives a noticeable sound improvement over the plastic straps.

[tamadrm]

What Do you call the wires that attach the snares to the drum?

They are usually called snare cord,reguardless if they are nylon or metal

Steve B