Snare Wires for Ludwig Supraphonic or Acrolite

skreg

Senior Member
I recently purchased a Ludwig Acrolite (a Supraphonic without the chrome) and I need to replace the snare wires. Has anybody experimented with different kinds? Any advice?

-sheldon
 
I use Gibraltar 20 strand wires on my Acrolite and get a nice crisp crack. I have tried Puresound Wires on it, and like the Gibraltar wires better. Experiment if you can. After all, it's all up to your ears.
 
Depends on what you want. I use Puresound Super 30 on every snare I've owned and it really seems made for me- the drum always sounds like a snare, with a bit more sensitivity to boot. If you want a big, open sound, you might want something more like their Custom Brass wires in a 20-strand.
 
Generally speaking, is there a way to describe the difference between more VS fewer wires?

-sheldon

more snares - fatter, more sensitivity (although many factors affect that on a snare besides wires)

less wires - thinner, drier

but these are generalizations.

I have an old 5 x 14 Supra and went from 18 to 42 wires (but cut out 8, so 34 wires). I quite like the sound of many wires.
 
I use Puresound Blasters (20) on my Supra and like them. The more wires you have, the more the snare sound contributes to the overall sound. Snare wires like Puresounds already give a thicker more prominent snare sound than stock Ludwig wires, or others of similar, lighter, and less expensive design. I'd say that Puresound 20s are closer to cheaper 30s, and if you get Puresound 30s or 40s, you're going to be maxed out on snare response. You may even O.D. on it since the shell tone gets more and more buried under all that snare contribution - which is why some drummers like only 16s or less.
 
I use Puresound Blasters (20) on my Supra and like them. The more wires you have, the more the snare sound contributes to the overall sound. Snare wires like Puresounds already give a thicker more prominent snare sound than stock Ludwig wires, or others of similar, lighter, and less expensive design. I'd say that Puresound 20s are closer to cheaper 30s, and if you get Puresound 30s or 40s, you're going to be maxed out on snare response. You may even O.D. on it since the shell tone gets more and more buried under all that snare contribution - which is why some drummers like only 16s or less.

Interesting how the metal on these wires can make such a difference. i've yet to try Puresounds but their snares must be made of different metal or coating to give the effect of more wires with less.
 
Interesting how the metal on these wires can make such a difference. i've yet to try Puresounds but their snares must be made of different metal or coating to give the effect of more wires with less.

Plus, they actually care about the wires, as opposed to most manufacturers who are just trying to buy the cheapest option that checks a box on "is this drum a snare yet?"
 
Plus, they actually care about the wires, as opposed to most manufacturers who are just trying to buy the cheapest option that checks a box on "is this drum a snare yet?"

But that said, after all these years I'm still yet to hear a Pearl, Ludwig, Gibraltar or other generic steel snare wire not make a snare sound when the drum is hit.

Not dissing the Puresounds, but I do think there's a danger that people make more of them than is actually warranted. Run of the mill, steel snare wires have worked just fine for a long time now......that didn't stop with the invention of an expensive coated copper snare wire.

I've never bought a Puresound (too damned expensive in this country), yet all my snare drums still sound distictly like snare drums.........especially my Supra's. :)
 
Not dissing the Puresounds, but I do think there's a danger that people make more of them than is actually warranted...

Run of the mill, steel snare wires have worked just fine for a long time now......
I agree. I had a DW Collector's maple snare that sounded better (to me) with run of the mill snare wires than with the stock DW wires (very similar to Puresounds).

More isn't always better, IMO, but I do like the Puresounds on my Supra and BB.

Note: Have I mentioned that I finally found the sweet spot on my BB and am over the moon with it? Turns out I like it tuned a lot differently than where I like the Supra tuned - I was trying to tune them to the exact same tension thinking what works for one should work for the other ... I guess not :)
 
I DO like the PureSound Custom 20 wires I have on the snares, but I always liked the cheap-o wires I had on all the snares too.
They do have a more dense sound than "Snappy" wires. When I want a change, I'll put the Ludwig, or generic wires I have saved (on a hook) back on.

The only thing I'm "snobby" about is I use cord, and I won't use a plastic strip, or anything else. It's cord for me.

I have a set of 42's (cheap-o's) on the 5" Acro. They have been on for years. I just liked the sound and left them on.
I did put a strip of tape that spans the very edge of the top the wires where they got into the plate. I did it for some reason way back, left it, and they sound good that way, so again, I left it haha!
 
They arent a super well known brand but i like there innovative ideas, FAT CAT snare wires, ive actually got the 24 strand dual tension on my very own Acrolite they sound great! You can find em on ebay for like 24 dollars they also have a 30 strand you can get which would work on the acrolite since there are no snare beds lol
 
The Acrolite absolutely has snare beds. Wide ones, at that.

I have to admit, at first I also thought they didn't. They are hard to see, but they are there. The snare beds I remember were the ones my first drum teacher had on his ancient gut snare drum. He played in silent movie orchestras, so the snare beds I remember don't exist anymore.

More to the point of the thread, I like 20 wire snares on my Acro and my Supra. I tried a 42 wire Acro in a shop when I picked mine out and I didn't care for it quite as much. I agree that good cords are important if you want them to keep a nice crisp sound.
 
On my 14x5 Acrolite I have the original Ludwig 20-strand snares on it. Love the sound.

On my 14x6.5 Supra I have 42-strand Tama Snappy steel snares - with proper tuning my snare sounds exactly like John Bonham's. Very nice response and sound IMO.
 
To add a little more detail, I was actually re-heading my Acrolite yesterday afternoon, and did stop to look at the snare bed profile. I didn't measure (since I hadn't seen this thread at that point), but based on memory I would say the bed was about 1/8 to 3/16" deep, and very wide, probably 9", give or take. So it has a very gradual, smooth taper in the bed, which does make the bed a little more subtle. An interesting comparison is visible in the thread in the Drums forum about the crimped snare beds on some Joyful Noise snares. Those looked narrow and deep, comparatively.

Also, FWIW, I've been using 42 strand Gibraltar wires on my Acro. I like the extra sizzle on this drum, and with the wide beds, it works well.
 
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