Stave?

I know plys are different pieces of wood glued together. This may sound stupid but what is a stave shell? how does the actual shell differ from a ply shell?
Thanks, James

Hi there - where in WNY are you? I grew up in Jamestown, near Buffalo.

Anyhow, stave is a shell construction method that has been used in hand drums for a very long time. I had a stave kit and still have the snare...they sound great and have their own pros and cons compared to ply or other methods. Search the forums and you'll find a ton of info on them. Unix is a member here who builds stave drum snares and kits:

www.unixdrums.com
 
Hi there - where in WNY are you? I grew up in Jamestown, near Buffalo.

Anyhow, stave is a shell construction method that has been used in hand drums for a very long time. I had a stave kit and still have the snare...they sound great and have their own pros and cons compared to ply or other methods. Search the forums and you'll find a ton of info on them. Unix is a member here who builds stave drum snares and kits:

www.unixdrums.com

Thanks, I'm from Orchard Park, outside Buffalo a little ways away from Jamestown
What I am wondering is how the shell construction is different any help on that would be greatly appreciated
 
What I am wondering is how the shell construction is different any help on that would be greatly appreciated

To make a long story short, stave is method of building a drum out of vertical blocks of wood, glued side-by-side and then lathed into a smooth, round shape. If you look here:

http://www.unixdrums.com/gallery.htm

...you can see examples. The theory behind stave is; they're more sensitive, loud, and produce a better tone since there is 99% less glue in the shell and the vertically aligned wood transfers sound through the shell more efficiently.

Here are some videos:

http://video.google.com/videosearch...sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#
 
Alright thanks a ton guys I was confused on what made them different but im pretty sure I get it now
What are any advantages of ply?

Plywood is superior to natural whole wood and stave in many ways. Plywood is much easier for drum makers to work with, so you can get drums at lower cost. Plywood is also much more durable than stave or solid-shell construction, being very resistant to warping, splitting and cracking. Solid shell drums are especially vulnerable to splitting, cracking and warping, while stave drums are less so. Plywood is lighter as well, compared to stave or solid-shell.

Plywood is a wood composite material, like particle board. Remo made Acousticon shells on this principle and they sound great.

My drums are made of natural whole wood. Each shell is exactly like it was inside the living tree. I live with the trade offs.
 
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