My bottom head keeps breaking

M

mikemancan

Member
So i have a pearl refrence series snare drum. It is a 13' which is very tight. Its also 20ply, this has been making more trouble than worth. Im using a very large strand of snares by puresound. I've tryed the evans g1, but they keep breaking from the snare and the tension. Anyone know of any good bottom snare heads that give my both great tone, as well as structure? I dont want to do the whole put a remo pinstripe on there and sacrifice sound.
 
If you're talking about the bottom head on the snare where the snares go across, they actually need a special extra thin head. A G1 is 10 mils thick, your standard snare side head is only 3, like the Evans 300, Remo Hazy Ambassador, or Aquarian Classic Snare Side. I have a feeling that you might be having to crank up your thick snare side head way up high to get any response. Watch Bob Gatzen's tuning videos on YouTube to make sure you're tuning correctly. Also, make sure the bearing edge isn't damaged. That's the part where the head touches the shell. It should be flat, except for a a slight dip where the wires go across called a snare bed.
 
Personally, I think you're already sacricing sound quality with a G1 as a snare reso. Way too thick for a snare side IMHO. I know it's been done before, but usually by guys who are chasing a specific sound. Unless you really dig that 'cardboard box' effect, get a dedicated snare side reso.

Any of the 3mil offerings already mentioned are a far better choice. A Remo Snare Side Ambassador (not to be confused with a regular Ambassador), the Evans Hazy 300 and the Aquarian CSS are designed specifically to be a snare reso. Being thinner, you won't need to crank the bejesus out of it in order to get a nice tight tension.
 
Make sure there are no rough spots where the snares wire are soldered to the end pieces, as well as checking that bearing edge. I've seen some pretty rough joints on aftermarket snares, and you might need to sand or file them to keep them from gouging the head.

Just something to check. And like others said, go with a thinner head intended for the snare side.
 
Thank yall so much for the advise. I made a slight mistake, the evans im using on the bottom is the hazy head. It was too thin and broke under the tension.The problem i think is 2 things: one, the snare is 13in so there are less lugs and they are spread futher apart, thus a higher tension has to be used. Also where the snares lay flat on both sides are not as tight as the rest of the head, due to the fact that the lugs are so off set. The 2nd problem is the snares themselfs are ridiculously thick. The evans head i had on there was an amazing tone for the snare it last me about 3 weeks then where the snares themself lay flat in a cornor of the brass part punctured a hole then it all broke from there. Heres a video of the snare before it broke,

http://www.youtube.com/mikemancan#p/u/9/WlgFLuJ1Erw

this is te tone i really wanted.
 
Dude, fewer lugs does not equal higher tension; more lugs=higher tension. Check the integrity of your shell, the hoop, and the quality of the snares you're using. Something is cutting the head or the tuning across the head is completely uneven which is causing stress and blowing out the head.

Honestly, I have not seen a blown out reso snare head since I was like 12 years old and didn't know how to tune a drum and I caused it.
 
Yeah, double-check the snares to make sure they dont have a rough, pointy spot, and hat they're perfectly centered. And the number of lugs doesn't really have anything to do with the tension in the head. You'll have more tension in each individual lug, but the hoop spreadsbthat evenly across the head.

There are heavier snare side heads, emperor/500 weight. Wonder if that'd help, or make things worse.
 
JohnPloughman said:
Just how many turns of the screw above finger tight are we talking about here? Your tension may be your real problem.
Click to expand...

Great question.

I crank all my snare reso's pretty damned tight and have never had one break.

As others have said, definitely check the bearing edges and the snares to ensure there are no sharp bits protruding that may be the cause. But over tightening is certainly a possibility.
 
Last edited:
I really don't think tension alone is the culprit. I was in drum corp before these newfangled kevlar heads, and we used to crank both the batter and snare side heads literally as tight as you can turn a drum key by hand, and didn't break heads.
 
This

IDDrummer said:
I really don't think tension alone is the culprit. I was in drum corp before these newfangled kevlar heads, and we used to crank both the batter and snare side heads literally as tight as you can turn a drum key by hand, and didn't break heads.
Click to expand...



I don't think it's tension that's causing it.
 
Which Puresound wires are you using? I had the 14" 20 strand 'Blasters' that were sharp on the end and was tore a hole the reso head. You can file/sand down the ends on the backside of the wires so they won't tear the head. Or get a new set of wires.

I no longer use Puresound for this reason. The Tama wires sound just as good and are less expensive.
 
Check the snare wires like others have said. Also, Evans does make a Hazy 500 that is thicker than the Hazy 300. Good luck.
 
Feel like trying to break a hazy head due to tuning up, because that sounds crazy to me.
Must be something small and sharp that pops the head like a balloon.
 
Kind of a check to make sure it's plugged in suggestion but make sure your snare vent holes are not clogged or blocked somehow. Sounds like the air has no place to go when you hit it so it's popping the reso which still has to be ridiculously tightened to pop the reso head.?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top