Supraphonic Throw Off Options

B

Bob Giunco

Member
I have a Supra with a P-85 throwoff. The drum is great; the throwoff sucks. Gets jammed all the time, flimsy.

Can anyone recommend a good throwoff that will not require drilling new holes. (As far as I know right now, the P-86 is my only other option). Thanks!
 
There was a guy making adapters for the supra and a trick throw off, Not sure he is still in business


I believe the Ludwig p86 has the same hole pattern, you might double check on that
 
The easiest upgrade from the P-85 is the P-86. Same holes, simple replacement. The P-86 works and looks great (to me).
 
I'd stay away from the R-4.I know two guys who bought them and they were sorry they did,and just bolted on the P-86 and couldn't be happier,unless they were NOS P-83's.

Same hole pattern for the strainer,but not the newer P-33 butt ,which for the life of me,I can't understand.

Steve B
 
The Ludwig P-85 lever bends too easily. The older P-83 strainer contained a much sturdier lever mechanism, and did not have as many issues. My original Supra Phonic snare drum from 1966 has the P-83. There has not been a single problem with it. Simply amazing due to the fact that the drum has been with me for over 46 years with many opportunities for me to screw it up when I was just 10 years old. Yes, it still gets played on a regular basis. That's quality.
 
You could get an adapter plate and put almost any kind of strainer on it. Just another option.
 
I have the P-86 on all my newer bought Ludwig snares, and I changed over the older snares starting around when it came out. I haven't had any issues with the 10 I have.

Easy change because of the same hole pattern, and it's a stock part, so you wouldn't have any issues if you were to sell the drum in the future.
 
tamadrm said:
I'd stay away from the R-4.I know two guys who bought them and they were sorry they did,and just bolted on the P-86 and couldn't be happier,unless they were NOS P-83's.

Same hole pattern for the strainer,but not the newer P-33 butt ,which for the life of me,I can't understand.

Steve B
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I have the R4L on a COB Supra. It didn't line up perfectly, which was a bummer. I did manage to get it to fit pretty well by shaving down a screw head, instead of drilling on the shell, which is good. Still bummed it wasn't a perfect fit, though.

Other than that, it's super nice. Did the two guys you know have similar installation issues or do they just not like it at all? I think it's really nice!
 
Both said the thing just didn't work right.Its was slow, sticky.wouldn't hold adjustment and just stuck out way too far.They both felt also that it's way over engineered in contrast to the rugged simplicity of the P-83 or the P-86.

Steve B
 
I own snares with P85 ; P86 and R4L and my favourite by far is the P86. I have never ahd any issues with my P85 strainers but, prefer the P86 for it's elegant design, smooth action and easy snare adjustment.

Oddly enough the Dunnett R4L is the strainer I have had the most issue with. If ai did not have it adjusted so the strainer lever drops away from the drum on a 90 degree angle the snares would loosen up on their own. I prefer the snare lever to drop parallel to the shell and this would cause issues with this drum.
 
Why does Ludwig hang onto the p85? Does anyone have one that does not stick? Why not bring back the p83? Is rap just a fad?
So many questions.
 
mrmike said:
Why does Ludwig hang onto the p85? Does anyone have one that does not stick? Why not bring back the p83? Is rap just a fad?
So many questions.
Click to expand...

I have never had a problem with the P-85.Admittedly the quality from the earlier models to the current ones is not the same,but it still seems to work fine when not abused and maintained properly.

I still have one on my early 70's LM 402 and it works just fine,so to those who say the're crap,I say crap usually dosen't last that long.

Steve B
 
tamadrm said:
I have never had a problem with the P-85.Admittedly the quality from the earlier models to the current ones is not the same,but it still seems to work fine when not abused and maintained properly.

I still have one on my early 70's LM 402 and it works just fine,so to those who say the're crap,I say crap usually dosen't last that long.

Steve B
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It has been a while since I have owned a Ludwig snare. I was checking out a few Ludwigs at a store a few months back, and thinking, what the...? This was a Ludwig 402 Supraphonic and also a BB that I noticed had issues when using the lever. You had to help it lock into place by using two fingers to grab the bottom of the lever while using your palm to pull the lever to a locked position. These are by no means cheap drums either. They sound great but the I would have to say that the P85 is a turn off for me. It would be one of the first things I would replace if I picked one of those sweet snares up.
 
Road Bull said:
You had to help it lock into place by using two fingers to grab the bottom of the lever while using your palm to pull the lever to a locked position.
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It's not that it breaks or is flimsy, it's that you can not just lift the lever. Both of my newer p85's are like this but not my old p83 or my p86.
 
I have a P85 on my Ludwig Standard and I have no issues with it.

I was over at Donn Bennett's the other day and just went down the line of Ludwig snares he had there. I found two out of ten with P85s I would trade out (not working smoothly). The others worked just fine. I think there might be certain runs of P85s that aren't smooth... I don't think it can be an abuse issue, because I know some guys who have them straight from the shop who report binding.

Whatever... I'm happy mine works.
 
Road Bull said:
It has been a while since I have owned a Ludwig snare. I was checking out a few Ludwigs at a store a few months back, and thinking, what the...? This was a Ludwig 402 Supraphonic and also a BB that I noticed had issues when using the lever. You had to help it lock into place by using two fingers to grab the bottom of the lever while using your palm to pull the lever to a locked position. These are by no means cheap drums either. They sound great but the I would have to say that the P85 is a turn off for me. It would be one of the first things I would replace if I picked one of those sweet snares up.
Click to expand...

I agree. Those snares are way too expensive to have such a crappy throw off. Typical Ludwig..
 
Bob Giunco said:
I agree. Those snares are way too expensive to have such a crappy throw off. Typical Ludwig..
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Ludwig is making a fortune off of their snares. What is the cost of making a Supra? Any Research & Development money was paid off about 50 years ago & they don't really advertise it. It is a piece of bent aluminum, a few pieces of medal & a couple of Remo heads they get on the cheap. AND then they charge us $525 & we pay it cause we love the way it sounds.

They could at least put a nice throw-off on it. I just bought a TAMA SLP & at half the price, it has a GREAT throw-off & a strainer that can easily be pulled off if you need to change the res head. But we want our drums made in the USA.

If we don't demand a better throw-off they won't give us one. Why should they?
 
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