Taming a Legend Brass Snare

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GretschTiger

Junior Member
Hello all. I have a 6.5x14 Gretsch Legend Brass snare. I've tried the stock heads (Genera G1 coated & Hazy 300), Emperor X / Hazy 300, Emperor X / Emperor Snare, and EC2 / Hazy 300. NOTHING sounds good on this thing yet. The G1 and Hazy 300 weren't bad, but were still pretty 'pingy'. The Emperor X and Emperor Snare were lifeless.

Anyone have any tips?
 
G1, 300 hazy.... w/ moon gel to taste:

It certainly is a modular solution (is capable of just tweaking the sound, cutting the "ping", or really modifying it), you won't be locked into anything, and you won't have to buy new heads. How many pros do you see shots of or on the tube, and you see a little piece of moon gel tucked near the rim on their snares? Quite a few.

I'm sure it's not fashionable to bring up moon gel, but the way I see it -- one can have clear G1's over clear G1's and w/ a deft placement of moon gel, one can be "practically" playing G2's over G1's, or even "coated G1's over G1's, or come very very close. All for a little box of moon gels.
 
Standard Emperor over snare side Ambassador.....or G2 over Hazy 300.

You say you liked the the G1 over Hazy 300 but it was just a bit to open, but then you jumped to ultra thick heads like Emp X's and snare side Emps. I think it was a huge jump and you've probably gone too far in the other direction. Try something a little more gradual.

The Emp or G2 over a 3 mil snare side reso will give a little more focus than the G1/300 combo, but will give a lot more life than the thick and muffled heads you then experimented with. You could also try a Controlled Sound batter if you don't like the Emp.
 
Pocket-full-of-gold said:
Standard Emperor over snare side Ambassador.....or G2 over Hazy 300.

You say you liked the the G1 over Hazy 300 but it was just a bit to open, but then you jumped to ultra thick heads like Emp X's and snare side Emps. I think it was a huge jump and you've probably gone too far in the other direction. Try something a little more gradual.
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I've tried moongels on it and they tend to deaden it too much. I have a little 6x14 maple snare with a PS3 / Emperor Snare on it that sounds superb. It has a moongel on it and it works great.

The G1 / Hazy 300 was still to pingy for me even with moongels. On my old snare (can't remember much other than it was 6.5x14 metal), an Emperor X / Emperor Snare with a gel was perfect.

I have a new PS3 I'm thinking about throwing on it, that would be somewhat in the middle huh?
 
GretschTiger said:
I have a new PS3 I'm thinking about throwing on it, that would be somewhat in the middle huh?
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Yeah, somewhat. Still a single ply head but with the added muffling ring, it may just take away a few of those overtones you're not liking. If you have it, throw it on. Never be afraid to experiment mate. If you don't like it you can always take it off and go back to the drawing board.
 
You need an Evans Genera HD Dry batter head over the Hazy 300.
 
GretschTiger said:
Hello all. I have a 6.5x14 Gretsch Legend Brass snare. I've tried the stock heads (Genera G1 coated & Hazy 300), Emperor X / Hazy 300, Emperor X / Emperor Snare, and EC2 / Hazy 300. NOTHING sounds good on this thing yet. The G1 and Hazy 300 weren't bad, but were still pretty 'pingy'. The Emperor X and Emperor Snare were lifeless.

Anyone have any tips?
Click to expand...

I got the exact same snare about 3 months ago and it sounded really good out of the box with the stock Coated G1 over Hazy 300 heads. I put an S-Hoop on the batter side and that dried it out just enough that no ring or moon gel is needed, plus the cross-sticks sound amazing....
 
BradGunnerSGT said:
I got the exact same snare about 3 months ago and it sounded really good out of the box with the stock Coated G1 over Hazy 300 heads. I put an S-Hoop on the batter side and that dried it out just enough that no ring or moon gel is needed, plus the cross-sticks sound amazing....
Click to expand...

I've been looking for one locally lately but it looks like I'll have to order one. Anyone know if any particular site has good deals on them?
 
GretschTiger said:
I've been looking for one locally lately but it looks like I'll have to order one. Anyone know if any particular site has good deals on them?
Click to expand...

On the snare or on the S-Hoops??

Amazon or Interstate Music have the snares in various sizes (13x6, 14x6, 14x5.5), as well as eBay.

Interstate Music has the S-Hoops for $20.
 
Tried the PS3 on it and didn't go crazy about the results.

Soooooo I slipped by the drum shop today and picked up the Genera HD Dry. Wow. Made a world of difference.
 
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