Snare Beds

Coldhardsteel

Gold Member
I have recently changed the heads on my snare drum- from stock and Remo Renaissance Emp. to Ambassador snare side and Coated Emp. -and besides the fact that it made me realize I can't tune snares to save my life, the change brought to my attention the old stock reso.

Taking it off the drum, the head had crinkles starting at the 'fold' in the head, mainly at two spots; that is, where the snare beds were located. I don't have that much experience with wooden snares, so I wondered about whether all snares are constructed in the way that mine is. The snare beds are not flush with the rest of the bearing edge. They seem to have been carved slightly deeper, and that causes an uneven tension on the snare-side head.

Is this a flaw that I should be wary of? Should I jump for a newer snare that has a flsuh snare beds when I get the chance?

Help would be lovely, and I apologize if there was already a thread on this.
 
A snare bed is a recess cut in the bearing edge that allows for the snare wires to make better contact with the drumhead. If there is no snare bed then the snare wires won't be able to put much pressure on the head itself and will usually rattle on annoyingly.

The depth of the snare bed is a design choice of the drum maker, and a deeper bed will typically result in a drier snare sound. If you have a deep snare bed, you will need to tune the bottom head to a higher pitch to get the wrinkling out of the bottom head.

A drum with a shallower snare bed will be a bit more lively and will also have an increased range of tuning as you won;t have to tighten the bottom head as much to get an even tuning.

To eliminate the need for a snare bed, I have devised 'The Anti-Gravity Snare Wire Set', which I might elaborate upon in a new thread someday... Perhaps soon!
 
No flaw mate....that's exactly what a snare bed is. The slight depression is there so that the snare wires sit flush.

Alright. However, when a head is tensioned correctly, the surface the wires rest on is flat anyway, so I suppose I just can't see the need for a snare bed.
 
Not all snare drums have snare beds.
I actually prefer my snare drums that do not have beds.
It is personal choice.
 
Alright. However, when a head is tensioned correctly, the surface the wires rest on is flat anyway, so I suppose I just can't see the need for a snare bed.

I'd be lying if I said I'd never wondered about this before myself. I have a few metal snares that have no noticeable snare bed, and yet my wooden snares have one (except for one one...which actually doesn't count, as it is a free floater where: a) the wires extend past the baring edge - negating the need for a bed and b) the shell can be changed anyway).

I'm very much with you on this one......I know what a snare bed is, I know why it's there and how it functions.....but I don't understand why some do and some don't. Hopefully someone with half a clue will come along and solve it for us mate. :)
 
Not true, not at all. My DW Craviatto solid-shell blah blah doesn't have snare beds and it doesn't "rattle on annoyingly."

I can't be bothered to check my other snare drums. The point, as Bob said, is that some have them and some don't.

I'd be willing to bet that if you put your craviotto shell onto a flat surface and shine a light in the middle of it you would see that there is a wide shallow bed....

Nearly all snare drums have a snare bed.

...and yes, it is true. If there is no snare bed cut into a shell, the snare wires will tend to rattle on longer than desired and they will suffer greater sympathetic buzzing. When you fabricate drums from raw wood to accommodate modern drumheads, you will find this out.
 
The main thing that I notice is that my two wood and one metal snare drums that don't have beds are easier to tune the bottom head.
I also feel that they are slightly more responsive than my drums with beds.
Two of my bed-less snares are inexpensive drums that I really like to play.
The other is my maple Black Panther. Moderate priced drum.

My bed-less drums do not have any rattling or buzzing problems.
 
I'd be willing to bet that if you put your craviotto shell onto a flat surface and shine a light in the middle of it you would see that there is a wide shallow bed....

Nearly all snare drums have a snare bed.

...and yes, it is true. If there is no snare bed cut into a shell, the snare wires will tend to rattle on longer than desired and they will suffer greater sympathetic buzzing. When you fabricate drums from raw wood to accommodate modern drumheads, you will find this out.

You know what? You're right. I looked at it under a light and there are two slightly shaved-down areas where the tapes cross the edges.

That's why I deleted the post you've quoted. Boy, is my face red!
 
Alright. However, when a head is tensioned correctly, the surface the wires rest on is flat anyway,.

This is incorrect. The head most certainly dips in where the snare bed is. This is why you found those wrinkles that stimulated the creation of this thread.
 
Snare beds aren't as mandatory as they used to be. Mose snares these days meet up with the strainer by way of some kind of strap. These are really thin, and help the snares sit evenly on the head.

Back in the day, the snares were held on with some kind of cord. Round and relatively thicker. Thus snare beds were needed to compensate for that.

There's nothing bad at all about them, so long as they were cut right. If you have to really jack up the tension on the lugs around those areas to make the wrinkles gone, or if you just can't ever make them go away at all, there may be something wrong with your head or the snare bed. If there snare bed is messed up, it can usually be corrected. Just not by me. By someone that's not afraid to do some sanding or whatever on someone's snare drum.
 
You know what? You're right. I looked at it under a light and there are two slightly shaved-down areas where the tapes cross the edges.

That's why I deleted the post you've quoted. Boy, is my face red!

Its all good my brother. Many have questioned me.
 
So do my metal Luddies have them?.....can't say I've ever shone a light through the bottom, but as I alluded to earlier, they are not noticeable on my Supra, BB or Bronze shells (at least from memory...I'm not actually looking at them as I type)?

What say you, Crazy?
 
So do my metal Luddies have them?.....can't say I've ever shone a light through the bottom, but as I alluded to earlier, they are not noticeable on my Supra, BB or Bronze shells (at least from memory...I'm not actually looking at them as I type)?

What say you, Crazy?


If you have a LUDWIG metal snare, the snare bed is so gradual its almost impossible to see, its there though.
 
So do my metal Luddies have them?.....can't say I've ever shone a light through the bottom, but as I alluded to earlier, they are not noticeable on my Supra, BB or Bronze shells (at least from memory...I'm not actually looking at them as I type)?

What say you, Crazy?

They have them PFoG. In a rolled shell, you can see that the flange is slightly lower in the snare bed area. The Acrolite I used to have had them too.
 
If you have a LUDWIG metal snare, the snare bed is so gradual its almost impossible to see, its there though.

They have them PFoG. In a rolled shell, you can see that the flange is slightly lower in the snare bed area. The Acrolite I used to have had them too.

Thank you kindly men.....I'll have to pay more attention and employ the torch method, next time I have all these snares together in the same room.

PS. Ta for that lot Bob....I'm looking forward to scouring all this when I get home tonight.
 
I began buying new drums a few years ago after not buying any for over twenty years.
That is when I first noticed the lack of beds in some of my drums.
I liked the drums, so I didn't give it much thought.
I just figured that they had become obsolete in some drums for cost cutting or the fact that they were not needed for that drum.

No matter how one feels about beds it appears that we have choice to buy drums that have them or not.
We can always install them in our drums that do not have them if we want to.
 
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