Best Snare Heads

I also used to think the Genera Dry was just so awesome.. then I discovered it's not.

What I mean by that is, If you have a problem snare, and you just cant find a head to make it sound good, then buy a genera dry. This head will make the cheapest drum sound good. Why you ask? Because it absolutely destroys all natural overtones from any and all drums it touches.

While that can be good thing, depending on the situation you're playing in, I quickly realized that the reason one buys 7 snares (in my case) is so we have a variety.. I've got 3mm cast steel. 1mm steel, birch, birch with copper pins embed into the batter bearing edge, maple, and aluminum. Each of those different types of snares produce its' own distinct and absolutely gorgeous overtone.

What heads do I have on mine.. 3 Evans G2s, 3 Evans Power Center Reverse Dots, and 1 Evans G1. I crank all my batter heads to the sound I want out of them when playing live. And they all sound fantastic.

*Jumps off soapbox* And now I have 3 Genera Dry heads in my closet collecting dust.

Peace, Defender
 
I also used to think the Genera Dry was just so awesome.. then I discovered it's not.

What I mean by that is, If you have a problem snare, and you just cant find a head to make it sound good, then buy a genera dry. This head will make the cheapest drum sound good. Why you ask? Because it absolutely destroys all natural overtones from any and all drums it touches.

While that can be good thing, depending on the situation you're playing in, I quickly realized that the reason one buys 7 snares (in my case) is so we have a variety.. I've got 3mm cast steel. 1mm steel, birch, birch with copper pins embed into the batter bearing edge, maple, and aluminum. Each of those different types of snares produce its' own distinct and absolutely gorgeous overtone.

What heads do I have on mine.. 3 Evans G2s, 3 Evans Power Center Reverse Dots, and 1 Evans G1. I crank all my batter heads to the sound I want out of them when playing live. And they all sound fantastic.

*Jumps off soapbox* And now I have 3 Genera Dry heads in my closet collecting dust.

Peace, Defender

I agree with you. However I have found a perfect drum head for my brass snare. I buy a Genera Dry and then I remove the control ring with small scissors. So what I'm left with is a 10 mil coated head with the tiny holes drilled in it. It cuts out just a little bit of the overtones. Just right to my ear.

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Hey guys, I was wondering what you think the best sounding snare heads are.

I have used remo coated ambassadors, as well as powerstroke p3 heads, but I would like to hear what other heads there are that sound good, especially from other brands.

It's all personal preference.. i recently switched to aquaian response 2's and have never been happier :)
 
In general I like a coated emperor on a metal drum, and a coated ambassador on a wood shell drum.
For me, these heads give a nice tone with enough of the ring and character of the shell so that I can get the range of tones I like depending on how I hit it.
 
I also used to think the Genera Dry was just so awesome.. then I discovered it's not.

What I mean by that is, If you have a problem snare, and you just cant find a head to make it sound good, then buy a genera dry. This head will make the cheapest drum sound good. Why you ask? Because it absolutely destroys all natural overtones from any and all drums it touches.

While that can be good thing, depending on the situation you're playing in, I quickly realized that the reason one buys 7 snares (in my case) is so we have a variety.. I've got 3mm cast steel. 1mm steel, birch, birch with copper pins embed into the batter bearing edge, maple, and aluminum. Each of those different types of snares produce its' own distinct and absolutely gorgeous overtone.

What heads do I have on mine.. 3 Evans G2s, 3 Evans Power Center Reverse Dots, and 1 Evans G1. I crank all my batter heads to the sound I want out of them when playing live. And they all sound fantastic.

*Jumps off soapbox* And now I have 3 Genera Dry heads in my closet collecting dust.

Peace, Defender

Sounds like you have a JR Robinson nail drum. Fantastic snare, what head are you using on that one?

I have coated amb, haven't tried anything else yet, I just got it a few months back, only two gigs so far
 
On wood drums I use coated g1's if unmiced or genera's in the studio. The muffle ring in the genera leaves just enough ring for the Mic and sounds more natural than a moon gel. I have been using a fiberskin diplomat on my acrolite. I am still looking for a head I like on my steel 13" piccolo. I use an hd dry on it currently
 
Sounds like you have a JR Robinson nail drum. Fantastic snare, what head are you using on that one?

I have coated amb, haven't tried anything else yet, I just got it a few months back, only two gigs so far

Yes, it is a JR Robinson.. I picked it up on CL for $80, but had to put about $30 into it to fix it, including swapping out the bent-to-hell top diecast hoop for an S-Hoop.. It's the drum with the G1 on it..
 
Yes, it is a JR Robinson.. I picked it up on CL for $80, but had to put about $30 into it to fix it, including swapping out the bent-to-hell top diecast hoop for an S-Hoop.. It's the drum with the G1 on it..
Does that really work? Seems cool, but a little gimmicky to me.
I'm curious about how that would affect the sound.
 
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