What snare wires will fit vintage Superstar?

criz p. critter

Silver Member
I'm looking to replace the snare wires on my 8x14 80s Tama Superstar. As most of you probably know, the wires are longer than the width of the drum (15" to be exact) and hang out past the edges, supported by rollers. I figured a set of 15" Puresound wires would work, but when I went to put them on, I discovered that 15" Puresound wires are actually 14" long.

I never thought about this before, but it makes perfect sense. When the wires are called 15", that means they are for a 15" snare, not that the length is 15". The ends of the wires have to fit inside of the 15" diameter edges of the drum (1/2" inch on each side) so the actual length of the wires is 14".

I did a little research and found some posts that said Pearl Free Floating snare wires should work. Thing is, I'm not familiar with the Free Floater, and don't know if the snares are 15". And I can't find any info on the actual length anywhere. From the pictures of Free Floaters I've seen, it doesn't look like the snares hang out as far as on the Superstare

SO... my question is, what snare wires are available that would fit my Superstar correctly? What wires are exactly 15" long? Does anyone have any experience with this? Any other choices besides Pearl? I was hoping to get a 24 strand set. Thanks!
 
Just bumping my thread, cuz it's been a week and NO REPLYS.

Doesn't anyone on this forum have a old Superstar snare? What do you do for replacement wires, just put on a shorter set? Anyone got a line on someplace to get the old original Tama Snappy Snares for this?
 
I'm looking to replace the snare wires on my 8x14 80s Tama Superstar. As most of you probably know, the wires are longer than the width of the drum (15" to be exact) and hang out past the edges, supported by rollers. I figured a set of 15" Puresound wires would work, but when I went to put them on, I discovered that 15" Puresound wires are actually 14" long.

I never thought about this before, but it makes perfect sense. When the wires are called 15", that means they are for a 15" snare, not that the length is 15". The ends of the wires have to fit inside of the 15" diameter edges of the drum (1/2" inch on each side) so the actual length of the wires is 14".

I did a little research and found some posts that said Pearl Free Floating snare wires should work. Thing is, I'm not familiar with the Free Floater, and don't know if the snares are 15". And I can't find any info on the actual length anywhere. From the pictures of Free Floaters I've seen, it doesn't look like the snares hang out as far as on the Superstare

SO... my question is, what snare wires are available that would fit my Superstar correctly? What wires are exactly 15" long? Does anyone have any experience with this? Any other choices besides Pearl? I was hoping to get a 24 strand set. Thanks!

Am sort of the same boat as you since I also have an 8x14 Tama snare drum (Artstar model in my case) that came with a 1983 Superstar super-mahogany kit I bought in that year--way back then I foolishly took off the original snare wires to try others and they somehow managed to disappear (perhaps happened when my son left home to be on his own and while taken the Tama set in tow with him)!

Anyhow, a few months ago I brought the deep Tama snare back to my home and worked on the throw-off which wasn't working properly. After figuring out what the problem was, giving it a good cleaning plus lubing decided to keep it (my son has enough snare drums in his collection that doesn't need it), and since he already had installed a brand new Aquarian Focus-X batter head I went ahead and purchased an Attack medium weight resonant head and a set of 15" generic set snare wires (the latter were installed with grosgrain ribbon rather than nylon strips).
Now, while 15" wires helped somewhat they aren't long enough to satisfy the original design intent (something akin Tama's King Beat snares, which had the parallel strainer mechanism--oh how I wish I'd have purchase one of them back then!--except without the added cost and complexity of such throw-off system).

But have figured out a way to "fix" the problem, something which came to be after recently purchasing a set of Gibraltar 10/10 split snare wires for a '66 Ludwig KB super-sensitive snare drum, which wound up been not only the wrong set for it (the end metal tabs were too wide to fit the earlier version of the SS mechanism) but too long as well!
Couldn't return them because I had my son cut and reshape the end tabs, which was done before discovering they were of the wrong length as well.
So had to purchase a correct set of Puresound snare wires to address this issue.
Anyway, while recently checking a thread posted in the Vintage Forum at Drum Forum Org. where the poster explained the DIY method he performed in order to replace the snare wires on a vintage Premier snare drum he owns by using a similar set of split wires as the Gibraltars I bought, the light went on in my head: man, I can do the very same thing to replace the longer version of the missing Tama snare wires!

Placing the split Gibraltar on the bottom side of the 8" Tama snare drum and measuring them have figured that if I desolder the wires (20 individual strands with an effective length of 16"!) and resolder them on two standard metal end tabs (will have to be canibalized from another snare wires set) that the correct length can be achieved since 16 inches seems to be what it takes to accomplish the task.
Meantime have also discovered that Gibraltar makes a set of 16" snare wires, which runs around $10 bucks; I ordered a set last night from Sam Ash.
If these doesn't work then I'll perform the DIY modifications necessary to get the Gibraltar split wires set to work, but have the sneaking feeling that they will.
Either way, am determined to get the Artstar beauty (still looks like new!)...an snare drum whose sound is as great as its looks...configured as it was originally designed. You might want to consider doing the same with your Tama drum...

-elcid
 
Did they work?...
-elcid

Yep! Works like a charm! At first I thought they might actually be TOO long, cuz they almost touch the rollers. But they don't, so it works perfectly.

I saw those Gibraltar wires, too, at the local drum store. Almost bought them, cuz they are 20 strand, and I initially wanted to go for 24 strands, since that would've sounded awesome on the 8x14. But I ended up with the Puresounds, even though they are 16 strand, because I like the Puresound quality.

You're in So Cal too? Even been to Chad Sexton's Drum City in North Hollywood? That's my go-to store, where I found both snare wires IN STOCK.
 
Yep! Works like a charm! At first I thought they might actually be TOO long, cuz they almost touch the rollers. But they don't, so it works perfectly.

I saw those Gibraltar wires, too, at the local drum store. Almost bought them, cuz they are 20 strand, and I initially wanted to go for 24 strands, since that would've sounded awesome on the 8x14. But I ended up with the Puresounds, even though they are 16 strand, because I like the Puresound quality.

You're in So Cal too? Even been to Chad Sexton's Drum City in North Hollywood? That's my go-to store, where I found both snare wires IN STOCK.

That's good to know because if my "cures" don't work most likely will go the Puresound route (although their prices makes me cringe!).

So they don't make the Pearl type extended snare wires with more than 16 strands?
That's the reason I've been thinking about to retrofitting the '66 Ludwig SS snare with a 70s strainer system so I can get more than the 12-wires Puresound set I just installed has; then I can use the Gibraltar 10/10 split wires set, which is about $15 cheaper than a compatible 16-wire made by Puresound.
However, have to say that the 12-wire Puresound set is working quite well with this snare drum, so will have to carefully consider the whole retrofit idea.

Yep, I live in sunny So. Cal. (San Bernardino county), and I believe Drum City was the store where I purchased the '83 Superstar kit in that year...and as I faintly recall it was a real cool place to shop for drums and other related stuff!...

-elcid
 
That's good to know because if my "cures" don't work most likely will go the Puresound route (although their prices makes me cringe!).

Yeah, you're not alone there. The Puresound wires set me back $39. OUCH. But then how often will I need to replace them? Besides, think of it as a money vs time thing: How long does it take to desolder and resolder all those wires? An hour or two? You could be out working and making the money to buy the Puresounds!. Not to mention you have to cannibalize two sets of wires to make a third?

Btw, soldering the wires sounds kinda problematic to me. How do you make sure each wire is tensioned exactly the same?

So they don't make the Pearl type extended snare wires with more than 16 strands?
That's the reason I've been thinking about to retrofitting the '66 Ludwig SS snare with a 70s strainer system so I can get more than the 12-wires Puresound set I just installed has; then I can use the Gibraltar 10/10 split wires set, which is about $15 cheaper than a compatible 16-wire made by Puresound.
However, have to say that the 12-wire Puresound set is working quite well with this snare drum, so will have to carefully consider the whole retrofit idea.

The Puresound wires only come in 16 strand, unfortunately. I guess it's cuz the original Pearl wires might have been 16 strand, and they are trying to match them (?) Besides, looking at the Superstar, I see that a 24 strand wouldn't work anyway. It would be too wide to fit through the holes in the bottom rim.

Yep, I live in sunny So. Cal. (San Bernardino county), and I believe Drum City was the store where I purchased the '83 Superstar kit in that year...and as I faintly recall it was a real cool place to shop for drums and other related stuff!...

Ah ha! You're showing your age! Drum City back in 1983 was a different shop entirely. That one was in Hollywood on Santa Monica Blvd. I used to buy a lot of stuff there myself. Unfortunately went out of business 10+ years ago. The building is still there but all closed up. That place was really junky and cluttered, but you could find some real treasures there.

Chad Sexton's is pretty new, just a couple of years I think, and located north of there, over the pass in the hills and into the SF Valley. North Hollywood to be exact. Great shop with a friendly and knowledgeable staff.

The only other "real" drumstore in the area that I know of is Professional Drum in Hollywood. They've been there a million years.
 
Yep! Works like a charm! At first I thought they might actually be TOO long, cuz they almost touch the rollers. But they don't, so it works perfectly.

Hey, I also got a set of them Pearl extended Free Float snare wires for the '83 Tama drum and work much better than the 16" Gibraltar set I bought before remembering about the former! Are cheaper too and better made as well...

-elcid
 
Ah ha! You're showing your age! Drum City back in 1983 was a different shop entirely. That one was in Hollywood on Santa Monica Blvd. I used to buy a lot of stuff there myself. Unfortunately went out of business 10+ years ago. The building is still there but all closed up. That place was really junky and cluttered, but you could find some real treasures there.

The only other "real" drumstore in the area that I know of is Professional Drum in Hollywood. They've been there a million years.

Oh, man...I didn't know they closed the old place; too bad...it was fun shopping there.
But might check the PD store one of these days...

-elcid
 
will these work? They are not available locally so I would like to know before I buy online. Thanks
 
I just bought a new set of Tama's Snappy Snare wires. They look exactly like the ones that came on my Mastercraft steel snare i got in the '80's, except the straps are no longer the same color, and they say Starclassic on them.
Wow, resurrecting one of my ancient posts...

I don't think any of those wires would work for the strainer we're talking about here. They're all 14" long. The Puresound I bought are 15.75" long. Like others have said, any wires that fit the Pearl Free Floating snare will work, cuz it's the same concept.

See the pic below. Here's an example of the strainer we're talking about, using 14" wires. See the white strap? It's routed just like a conventional snare setup. It should be going outside and around that silver roller. To work correctly, the ends of the wires have to stick through the holes in the rim, off the edges of the head. Only the wires, not the ends, are in contact with the head.
 

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Wow, resurrecting one of my ancient posts...

I don't think any of those wires would work for the strainer we're talking about here. They're all 14" long. The Puresound I bought are 15.75" long. Like others have said, any wires that fit the Pearl Free Floating snare will work, cuz it's the same concept.

See the pic below. Here's an example of the strainer we're talking about, using 14" wires. See the white strap? It's routed just like a conventional snare setup. It should be going outside and around that silver roller. To work correctly, the ends of the wires have to stick through the holes in the rim, off the edges of the head. Only the wires, not the ends, are in contact with the head.
That looks like the exact same snare drum I have that I'm now looking for a strainer for as well!
 
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