Snare side head question and survey

nicotine25

Senior Member
For you guys that have snare drums with good snare beds, how do you tension your bottom head?....I have read a few different ways and wanted to see what y'all do. Do you tension the rods adjacent to the bed tighter, looser, or same tension as the remaining rods?

I look forward to hearing your responses

Thanks
 
ok...so on the snare side, do you have the "rods" tensioned evenly, or the pitch at each lug even...the problem I am running into, and its not really a problem more of a nagging question is that I just put on a new emperor snare side head on my Geo. Way 14x6.5 snare drum and I think the snare beds are so deep and well made that in order to have the pitch be the same, the rods next to the bed have to be much tighter than the surrounding rods. So I don't know if I should ignore getting the pitch the same and focus on having more or less the same tension...or get the pitch the same and have the tension tighter around the bed...hmmm....orrrrrrrr, I could do the method of loosening the rods adjacent to the bed as stated in a previous thread, (I even heard that a very prominent nashville cat...name escapes me right now...completely removes the tension rods next to the bed)...im at a loss....hmmmmmm....(BTW I want a super fat snare sound...i.e. Steve Jordan)
 
Personally, I tension every rod evenly, to within 1 psi or so. Take in mind that I owned, for the most part, steel snares, which have small or nonexistant snare beds.
 
ok...so on the snare side, do you have the "rods" tensioned evenly, or the pitch at each lug even...the problem I am running into, and its not really a problem more of a nagging question is that I just put on a new emperor snare side head on my Geo. Way 14x6.5 snare drum and I think the snare beds are so deep and well made that in order to have the pitch be the same, the rods next to the bed have to be much tighter than the surrounding rods. So I don't know if I should ignore getting the pitch the same and focus on having more or less the same tension...or get the pitch the same and have the tension tighter around the bed...hmmm....orrrrrrrr, I could do the method of loosening the rods adjacent to the bed as stated in a previous thread, (I even heard that a very prominent nashville cat...name escapes me right now...completely removes the tension rods next to the bed)...im at a loss....hmmmmmm....(BTW I want a super fat snare sound...i.e. Steve Jordan)

In my most humble opinion.....I genuinely believe that an emperor snare side is too heavy for a snare reso. I highly recommend using an ambassador (or even diplomat) snare side head and tuning so that the 'pitch' at each lug is the same rather than concentrating too much on the 'tension'.

There may be those that do remove the tension rods, but in my 20+ years, all I can say is that I've never needed to. Tuning (like every other aspect of drumming) needs to be learned....it takes a while and is an art in itself. I'd recommend trying the standard tuning methods first (they DO work, trust me)....rather than worring about removing tension rods etc....IMO, this will only make your job all the more harder.
 
I use Evans Hazy 300 heads for the snare head. They are a 3 mil thickness head with great snare articulation. Yes, each and every tension rod is equally tightened and the head although very tight (tighter than the batter) is in tune with itself. No matter what snare I'm using wooden or metal, they all have the same snare head and are in tune with themselves.

Dennis
 
Well I got it sounding unbelievably awesome....I really love the emp snare side head. I tuned each lug to the same relative pitch and did not focus on the actual tension as much as the pitch. I have it pretty low and the snare has a super fat sound. I have always been pretty good at tuning but never had a snare with really good snare beds before, so it was a little challenge. I basically have the bottom head a 3rd lower than the top head (Control Sound Batter) and the top head is a 3rd higher that my highest rack tom (12x9, tuned pretty low)...Next thing I am going to do is put on a Dunnett/Gibraltar Hybrid wood hoop....

Anyways guys thanks for your input.

Nick
 
In my most humble opinion.....I genuinely believe that an emperor snare side is too heavy for a snare reso. I highly recommend using an ambassador (or even diplomat) snare side head and tuning so that the 'pitch' at each lug is the same rather than concentrating too much on the 'tension'.

.

Yeah I hear you but wanted to try something a little different. The depth of the drum 6.5 and the fact its copper gives it a lot of body and the Emperor ended up working out really well. It has a very fat wet feel. I do use a aux snare 14x5 steel with a ambassador snare side reso and have it very tight for the more articulate stuff. Ill try to load up some sound clips later this weekend. Thanks again for your input
 
For you guys that have snare drums with good snare beds, how do you tension your bottom head?....I have read a few different ways and wanted to see what y'all do. Do you tension the rods adjacent to the bed tighter, looser, or same tension as the remaining rods?

I look forward to hearing your responses

Thanks

Depends on if the drum has a snare bed or not.

If there's a snare bed I tune the t-rods adjacent to the wires tighter, otherwise even tensioning on the snare side.

I have a 59 Radio King with DEEP snare beds and it's impossible to get a great sound without really tensioning those 4 rods down a bit more. Once I do however, it's a fantastic sounding drum. Very full, round & warm tone. Due to the snare beds the difference in tuning with my RK snare is dramatic compared to everything else I own.
 
If there's a snare bed I tune the t-rods adjacent to the wires tighter, otherwise even tensioning on the snare side.

I have a 59 Radio King with DEEP snare beds and it's impossible to get a great sound without really tensioning those 4 rods down a bit more. Once I do however, it's a fantastic sounding drum. Very full, round & warm tone. Due to the snare beds the difference in tuning with my RK snare is dramatic compared to everything else I own.

Yeah thats what I did....I more or less got the bottom head in tune with it self considering pitch but I had to tighten the 4 rods next to the bed down a bit further to achieve that...so now It sounds killer!!!
 
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