Ludwig SS Snare side heads.

Fred D

Pioneer Member
So............... the other day I had My Black Beauty SS out and started messing around with it. It had been a while so I checked the heads tension with a drum dial.

The snare side head had lost some tension so I cranked it back up. Something didn't feel right.

I noticed that the head's counter hoop wasn't in contact with the drums hoop on one side. The head's counter hoop had slipped off the drum hoop. It was between the shell and the hoop. Almost like it was too small in diameter to be held in place on the drum by the drum hoop.

OK, no big deal. I usually have a few spare heads laying around. I mounted an Evans 200. All was well until I mounted the wires. When I disengaged the snares the drum sounded the same. The snares were still being pressed against the head. I turned the drum over and the gates in the hoop were pressing the wires against the head.

I thought that because the 200 is a very thin head it might have stretched too much. Off with the 200 and on with a Hazy Ambassador. Same thing, Off with the Ambassador and on with a Hazy Diplomat. Again, same thing. Now I'm, getting POed.

I dug around and found an Aquarian snare side head. That worked!!!!

Here's what's going on. The Evans and Remo heads have too deep of a collar and that places the heads counter hoop too deep on the drum. Once tension is applied the gates sit too low on the drum and press down on the wires.

There would be enough room for straps or cables, but since the SS wires extend beyond the diameter on the drum there needs to be enough room for the wires to clear the gates in the hoop. So, either use a Ludwig head or a head with a low collar on SS drums.

Anyway........ thought I'd mention so that other SS owners don't sign their drum up for flying lessons or deep sea exploration.

FWIW

:)
 
So............... the other day I had My Black Beauty SS out and started messing around with it. It had been a while so I checked the heads tension with a drum dial.

The snare side head had lost some tension so I cranked it back up. Something didn't feel right.

I noticed that the head's counter hoop wasn't in contact with the drums hoop on one side. The head's counter hoop had slipped off the drum hoop. It was between the shell and the hoop. Almost like it was too small in diameter to be held in place on the drum by the drum hoop.

OK, no big deal. I usually have a few spare heads laying around. I mounted an Evans 200. All was well until I mounted the wires. When I disengaged the snares the drum sounded the same. The snares were still being pressed against the head. I turned the drum over and the gates in the hoop were pressing the wires against the head.

I thought that because the 200 is a very thin head it might have stretched too much. Off with the 200 and on with a Hazy Ambassador. Same thing, Off with the Ambassador and on with a Hazy Diplomat. Again, same thing. Now I'm, getting POed.

I dug around and found an Aquarian snare side head. That worked!!!!

Here's what's going on. The Evans and Remo heads have too deep of a collar and that places the heads counter hoop too deep on the drum. Once tension is applied the gates sit too low on the drum and press down on the wires.

There would be enough room for straps or cables, but since the SS wires extend beyond the diameter on the drum there needs to be enough room for the wires to clear the gates in the hoop. So, either use a Ludwig head or a head with a low collar on SS drums.

Anyway........ thought I'd mention so that other SS owners don't sign their drum up for flying lessons or deep sea exploration.

FWIW

:)


Ludwig heads have a low collars yes and along with their 'Headlock' no glue/resin crimp design, I feel that all Ludwig heads are underrated... or maybe not even rated.

A great thing about 'Headlock' is you can safely buy NOS (new old stock) Ludwig heads and not have to worry about them pulling-out due to old resin that fails.
 
Ludwig snare heads are great, but if they are "used" (and then put back on), then they do stretch out too much. It's a pain, but if you want to have THAT head as a spare just in case, you're really better off buying one, keeping it in the box and carrying it with you.

Remo offers a low collar snare side head as well. It's clear film, not hazy.

It's the regular model number for an Ambassador SS, but it has a TD suffix after the model number.

To my ears, the Remo head has a beefier tone to it than the Ludwig.

The Ludwig is very crisp and clear sounding, the Remo also has the crisp, clear sound but it's gets a fatter overall tone from the drum (comparing the same snares with the same top head, wires etc..).

Just passing along what I've experienced.
 
Hi Karl.

I remember you talking about the low collar Remo heads before. Thanks for the info!

Take care
 
Back
Top