Stock snares

Larry

Larry

"Uncle Larry"
It seems that stock snares get a bad rap around here. I have 2 stock snares that sound just fine to me. A 5" Yamaha Indonesia made Stage Custom and a snare that came with my Sonor Players kit.

Both 5 x 14.

I sold my Yamaha Stage Custom drums like 5 years ago, but the snare was on loan. I just got it back a few weeks ago and man, what a little ballbuster this drum is!

I'm doing a superfluous gear sell off so I'm getting a bunch of drums ready for sale. Heading, tuning them and stuff. I was going to sell the Yamaha for 50, but I think I'm keeping it now. I like it too much I was going to sell the Sonor snare, but that is from a kit that is a limited run and it's probably best I keep the snare. I was going to sell it for 50 bucks too, so it's no big deal if I keep it.

I have such a hard time parting with stuff, but I figured out that I can sell about 5 grand worth of shelved drum stuff and then sell off 3 Honda push lawnmowers I have for another large and change, and I'll have enough to buy this bitchin new Guru walnut set with the radical edges on it, for like next to nothing out of pocket, yeah. Not even including selling my DW's and BB's, I'm keeping those. I've accumulated too much gear for one guy. Better quality over quantity at this point.

Oh sorry about that, yeah, stock snares. Anybody in love with their po' pitiful stock snare?

It's OK you can say it.
 
Other than my very first starter set, I've never taken delivery of a stock snare with a kit. But the Mapex kit that I play at church has a very passable 6.5" deep steel snare.

Just like any other drum, any snare can sound pretty decent with the right heads, tuning, and loving care.
 
The matching 5.5 x 14 snare that came with my Club Custom kit is great, I didn't expect to like it as much as I do, so used to writing off stock snares, but it's a keeper.
 
All of the stock snares that I've tried have all been completely unoffensive and usable. (Export, Rockstar, Stage Custom, Etc). Even the snare on my Ludwig-Accent budget kit could be made to sound reasonable.

That said, no stock snare I've played has matched the tuning range, sensitivity, or sonic complexity of my Black Beauty.

I think it's less of a negative view of stock snares, and more of a testament to the quality of some of the custom snares out there.
 
Snares don't have to be expensive to sound great. For instance:

- My new-for-1975 (or '76 ???) Ludwig Classic kit came with a Supraphonic. Not expensive then, but sounded great.

- My older Stage Custom kit came with a 6.5X14 Yamaha "Steel" snare that remains one of my favorites. I bought a 5.5X14 recently to take it's place. One of the best snares of all time.

- Years ago I purchased a Pearl set that came with a 6.5X14 Sensitone that I loved. Since then, the Sensitones have remained one of my favorites.

- The Pacific CX maple series kit that I now play came with a 5.5X14 maple snare that is an inexpensive, dependable, nice-sounding little workhorse of a snare drum. Wide tuning range, and sounds fine at all tuning tensions.

GeeDeeEmm
 
KamaK said:
I think it's less of a negative view of stock snares, and more of a testament to the quality of some of the custom snares out there.
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This. The Premier Cabria kit I sold before I left the island had a very passable snare. The Mapex Meridian Maple I just picked up has a perfectly serviceable snare.

There's just nothing ... special ... about them.
 
gdmoore28 said:
Snares don't have to be expensive to sound great. For instance:

- My new-for-1975 (or '76 ???) Ludwig Classic kit came with a Supraphonic. Not expensive then, but sounded great.

- My older Stage Custom kit came with a 6.5X14 Yamaha "Steel" snare that remains one of my favorites. I bought a 5.5X14 recently to take it's place. One of the best snares of all time.

- Years ago I purchased a Pearl set that came with a 6.5X14 Sensitone that I loved. Since then, the Sensitones have remained one of my favorites.

- The Pacific CX maple series kit that I now play came with a 5.5X14 maple snare that is an inexpensive, dependable, nice-sounding little workhorse of a snare drum. Wide tuning range, and sounds fine at all tuning tensions.

GeeDeeEmm
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This. It seems that there are stock snares and then stock snares - and some of them are much better known than the others!

For example, it seems like any stock snare that came with any of the Sonor kits produced pre-90s is both amazing and highly collectable these days. Especially the ferro-manganese - I just got one, and I now understand the hype!
 
Here here! For the 6.5X14 Yamaha "Steel" snare.

I out bid NO ONE for an older (new in the box) on eBay. Never played, lonely, shiny, with original packaging. Some kid probably got it for Christmas and stuck it under the bed never to see the light of day.

Price paid delivered: $35

I call that a bargin...
 
The stock snare that came with my Catalina Maple kit is very nice and well rounded. The worst stock snare I ever came across was the one that came with a Mapex Horizon Big City. Most of the snares I've seen stock with the kit have been OK after some tweaking
 
GeoB said:
Here here! For the 6.5X14 Yamaha "Steel" snare.

I out bid NO ONE for an older (new in the box) on eBay. Never played, lonely, shiny, with original packaging. Some kid probably got it for Christmas and stuck it under the bed never to see the light of day.

Price paid delivered: $35

I call that a bargin...
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Home Run!!!!! I never come across bargains like this, but I will tell you that any time a Yamaha Steel or Pearl Sensitone of any size comes my way for a bargain, it will be mine. Just imagine what can be done with a few Steels or Sensitones on hand: add cast hoops to one; add wood hoops to another; different heads, different snares, and on and on. These little snares change personality pretty dramatically with these kind of changes. Just grab the one you need for the night!

GeeDeeEmm
 
Super Phil said:
The stock snare that came with my Taye Studio Maple kit is fantastic! I ordered my kit with a Taye 14x6 nickel over brass snare because I knew I liked that snare, but it also came with the stock 14x5 maple snare, and I was blown away by how good it sounded. I use it for smaller acoustic shows. Love it!
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I have one of those same snares and it sounds fine.
 
gdmoore28 said:
Home Run!!!!! I never come across bargains like this, but I will tell you that any time a Yamaha Steel or Pearl Sensitone of any size comes my way for a bargain, it will be mine. Just imagine what can be done with a few Steels or Sensitones on hand: add cast hoops to one; add wood hoops to another; different heads, different snares, and on and on. These little snares change personality pretty dramatically with these kind of changes. Just grab the one you need for the night!

GeeDeeEmm
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I just put a set of puresound custom pro 20 strand wires on my catalina maple snare. This is the first time i ever bought and replaced snare wires. I believe i put them on right, i tuned the head to a medium tension and have the snare wires fairly loose. Was wondering if some of you would let me know what you think it sounds like. I like the way my drums sound, but i still think it is good to see what other drummers think. I allso have a ludwig Black Magic 14x8 that seems to have come with pretty good wires. I put a evans black coated hydraulic head on it, tuned low, any comments or suggestions on the sound would be very welcome, my playing is just for fun so it is not fancy.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYwFpVctnOQ&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh7BxYyVMfI
 
STXBob said:
.... There's just nothing ... special ... about them.
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That's ^^^^ the thing.

I've got a couple of Stage Custom snares that sound really good.
IMO, they could be used anywhere, for anything.
But... there's nothing special about them.

Compared to much pricier snares that get talked up a lot, they're almost invisible.
One good thing about that though, is that it helps keep the prices the prices down - LOL
 
Back in the 80's, Pearl used include their steel free floater with most of it's sets.
Now that was a great stock snare.
 
I can get an okay sound out of the crappy little Sonor bop snare that came with the set, and I can even get used to it, but the second I put a nice snare between my legs I forget all about the plain one.
 
The stock snare on my 1975 Pearl Thunderking was a #4514 14x5.5 10-lug steel snare. Its the only snare I've ever owned, and has been both on the road and in the studio. I've played everything on it from rock to jazz to pop to orchestral to avant-garde to choral accompaniment, etc. A few years ago I changed all the lugs (some had become irreparable) with lighter generic ones, added 42-strand snares, and removed the internal muffler, all which made the sound brighter and livelier. It's old, beat up, and rusty so it looks like crap now. And I've thought about either getting something newer/bigger/smaller, or changing the hoops. But it has never let me down and is part of my "sound". So aside from cleaning it every now and then, I'm set.

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I once owned a Mapex Pro M kit. Despite the chincy hardware, the shells sounded great, except for the snare. Definitely the weak link in that kit. Sounded horrible, with a plastic strainer that made the P-8* seem efficient and high-tech.

Perhaps I have very discriminating tastes in snares but it's been my experience that snares thrown in with shell packs are the weak link in drum kits from intermediate/semi-pro kits on down. These days you can get great sounding, and well-made intermediate-level kits. Better made than the top of the line kits from 30 years ago IMO. The snares in such kits, however, are not commensurate with the toms and kicks in terms of sound and playability. Move up to the pro level and that's a different story. I have four pro-level kits and each matching snare sounds great.
 
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Destroyer772 said:
I just put a set of puresound custom pro 20 strand wires on my catalina maple snare. This is the first time i ever bought and replaced snare wires. I believe i put them on right, i tuned the head to a medium tension and have the snare wires fairly loose. Was wondering if some of you would let me know what you think it sounds like. I like the way my drums sound, but i still think it is good to see what other drummers think. I allso have a ludwig Black Magic 14x8 that seems to have come with pretty good wires. I put a evans black coated hydraulic head on it, tuned low, any comments or suggestions on the sound would be very welcome, my playing is just for fun so it is not fancy.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYwFpVctnOQ&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh7BxYyVMfI
Click to expand...

If you like a low tuning, then you have them set up exactly the way you should. But who wants two snares that sound almost exactly alike? For variety's sake, I think I'd set up one of them with an opposite emphasis. My candidate would be the Black Magic. Toss on a coated Ambassador batter, a clear Diplomat resonant, and 14 guage steel snares. Tune that sucker up tight and high on the batter and medium tension on the resonant with snares tightened to taste, but not enough to choke it. Now you have two snares that span the range from low and funky to high and ringy. The Black Magic should sound great set up like this.

GeeDeeEmm
 
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