Most sensitive batter snare head

19drum94

Senior Member
Just got a Joey Jordison signature snare that my friend gave to me. It has an old Powerstroke 3 on it. The drum has a killer rimshot! But that is the problem, that is all it has. When I just hit the batterhead for quieter playing ang ghost notes, they hardly come out and the snares sound like they are not even on. I have tried all different snare tensions and they all sound like the snares arn't on. Any help is appreciated.
 
thats a good free gift, 13 x 6.5 right? the old head may be wore out completely, maybe the reso too, I would invest in some new heads and maybe wires and tune it up adjust the wires and it should sound fine. I almost got one of those and messed around with one at the store. The most sensitive would be a Remo Ambassador coated, Evans G1 coated but might not hold up depending on how hard you hit. Also a Evans power center reverse dot or remo equivalent might sound good too.
 
I disagree with the use of center dots. I know, I was all into black dots and reverse dots throughout the late 70s and 80s, but I notice having a dot is exactly what kills the sensitivity of the drum, and you're still stuck with those annoying overtones that come from the outer ring of the head. I would experiment with diplomats, ambassadors, or emperors, with and without a ring you can make from an old head and you should get the sensitivity you're looking for. I slam pretty good for long amounts of time and I've never broken an ambassador weight head, it's all in your technique.
 
For me it depends on the drum, I have tried them on some drums and didn't like them, on my 8 x 14 Black magic I prefer a Evans ST dry and not a power center on my Brick Its a Evans G1 all the way. If you are looking for sensitivity on that snare I would suggest Evans G1 coated, Hazy 200 reso and Puresound custom 20 strand wires and leave them a little loose.
 
I use all of the heads that have been mentioned including the Evans Reverse Power Dot and the Remo PS3.
I have no problem with sensitivity with any of these heads.
I think that the drum that you have simply needs new heads or there is a problem with the snare strainer or its adjustment.

If this is your first experience with a deep 13 inch snare you may have to get used to differences with sound and tuning over say 5 and 5.5 x 14 inch snare drums.
 
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I also use Evans Power Center Reverse Dots on most of my snares and like them a lot. If I want a bit more sensitivity, I'll use either an Evans G1 coated or a Remo coated Ambassador. Much also can be done with the way you tune your drum and also the tightness of your snares.

Dennis
 
i think the new remo Ambassador X might be a good compromise. put one on my '65 ludwig supraphonic 14 x 5 (chrome-over-brass) & sounds GREAT. 20% thicker than an Ambassador but still one ply of mylar. very sensitive, lots of CRACK & nice ringy overtones that i have learned to love.
 
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