Wooden hoops?

I used the PDP wood hoops on my Sonor 3003 snare, the rim shots where nice and warm. I'm a bit of a heavy hitter and they held up with no problems. No issues on quality as well. I used them for about a year before I sold the kit, so for a years worth of use, under heavy hitting they did very well.

Wood hoops on snare drum are more than an accesory... they involve tone in the equation...metal hoops, be it flanged or Die Cast, provide support, they are a structural piece to hold a head in place, wood hoops DO THAT plus provide tone.

As well as the noted aspects, another thing to keep in mind is that PROPERLY EVEN TUNING is a MOST... wood hoops won't break easily... but they will BEND or warp if the drum has uneven tension...

Rimshots are a lot ore musical... the outer edge of the head will have a less ringy, more focused sound, wich is great for short rimshots... PLAYING on the rims is phenomenal... you get this high pitched WOODY almost clave like sound when the sticks hit the hoop.

Another thing... if your sticks are very chipped, they might chip the hoop... sort of an abrasive effect... and if you use Ahead sticks, FORGET about it!

As far as brands... in all fairness I believe Yamaha make the best... another cool product they have is the GROOVE WEDGE wich is a PARTIAL wood hoop you attach to a drum... I LOVE IT, I use it on a 5"x10" snare drum and it beefs up the sound quite nicely.

aydee said:

I agree. There is a tonal difference. The rim shot/taps sound very different too.

But , the way they seem to be marketed, it does seem like the flavor of the month.

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Damn it Aydee, you've ruined my sense of elite cool now. Anyone want to buy an Anton Fig signature job, 800 quid ono.....

I bought a pair of wooden hoops fro my maple Yamaha snare and couldn't believe the difference it has made. The whole rum is much more resonant, louder and the cross-stick and rim-shots are huge. I would characterise the difference as bringing the whole drum to life. It sounded fine before but now it is far superior and I don't have to hit as hard to get the full tone and volume out of the drum. I play a lot of cross-stick in my main band and the sound is way better than before and, yes, you do notice it on recordings. I played a gig recently and noticed two of the audience staring at the drum for most of the night. At the end, they came up and said it was the best snare drum they'd ever heard and 'what were those strange looking wooden hoops' (you tend to get that comment a lot). I'm now looking at fitting wooden hoops to all my toms. The only negatives would be to echo the comment about the possible risk of damage if you rim shot the drum a lot over the tension rod holes - make sure the area where you rim shot the most is between the holes. The second issue concerns possible de-tuning of the tension rods. This may be because the tension rods are particularly free on my drum but I was getting a problem with the rods de-tuning too easily. I bought the Rhythm Tech Index Tension rods to cure the problem but then discovered that they only fully work on metal hoops. However, by keeping the top part of the rod and using them like a regular rod, I found that the part of the rod that is machined to lock against the ball bearings actually provides more friction on the hoop and it works. Not an ideal solution but it works. I'll get around to something better one of these days. To wrap up - the publicity over these hoops is not just hype. To my ears (and others) they make an enormous difference. Highly recommended.

David, get some TightScrews for your detuning problems.

What would wooden hopes do to my Pork Pie BOB? I have Evans genera Dry on the batter, and Glass 500 on the reso... I want a fatter sound over all. The thirty strand PureSound snare wires I just bought has helped bring me closer to that, would the wood hoops do so too?

I only have toms with wooden hoops, beech custom yammys in 8,10,12,14,16,& an extra 13 that I don't use much and a woody drums kit with 12 and 15, all my drums sound great, big and warm. I play heavy rock, hard, loud and aggressive and there's never s problem. My kits are considered loud by most who hear them, and very full. You never need to worry about any weakness with the Yamaha hoops or the deep hoops used on my woody drums.

I have wood hoops on a few snares, the Weckl maple 14x5 is a stunner as is the Akira jimbo.
I was thinking recently what it might sound like to put metal hoops on but really can't be bothered. If it ain't broke........

pxavier said:

What would wooden hopes do to my Pork Pie BOB? I have Evans genera Dry on the batter, and Glass 500 on the reso... I want a fatter sound over all. The thirty strand PureSound snare wires I just bought has helped bring me closer to that, would the wood hoops do so too?

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Yes. If you're tuning low, tuning it high will not get any fatness. Remember with fatness comes a drop in volume at certain frequencys. It will lose cut, but then snares are often marketed as "cutting through walls of marshalls" etc when in reality they all sound the same to most people when they are cranked up.