Canopus snare wires

Larry

Larry

"Uncle Larry"
I'm interested in hearing others take on the Canopus snare wires

I have the 16 strand Vintage wires. They sound different to me than any other wires. I can't quite put my finger on what it is that sounds different. I have them on all 6 snares I play. I like them. The only descriptor I can come up with is that they seem to me to be very expressive. It seems like I get totally different sounds from them at different tensions. Meaning they sound like different wires at different tensions to me, as opposed to a set of wires that sound like the same wires only under different tensions.

Feel free to expand on describing the sound of these wires, I'm failing.

This formally concludes the original post.
 
Larry, great topic. After listening to this video it sounds to me like they speak with more "presence" if that makes sense.
In this video they're they're using a Ludwig drum and snare wires vs different Canopus wires to demonstrate their sound characterictics...

 
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I bought a set of the Vic Firth "snappy" 20-strand snare wires made by Canopus and they sound great on my 14x5 Black Beauty. Highly recommended.
 
I've been using the Vintage Series snare wires on some of my snares. As a general rule I prefer the Vintage NP (non-plated) wires on wood shells and the Vintage Chrome Plated wires on metal shells. You could use either series on any type shell, but that's where I've currently landed. I don't have any vintage snares from the 20's/30's/40's but I have a hunch that the Vintage NP wires would sound great on them. My initial impression of the Canopus snare wires is that they offer more articulation, crisper and a fuller presence than all the other brand snare wires I've used. The Vintage Chrome Plated wires--to my ear--are just a tad brighter than the Vintage wires. They have a bit more top end and midrange than the Vintage NP wires. Some studio drummers say they tend to prefer the Vintage Chrome Plated wires for recording due to their brightness. Same for live touring. The Vintage NP wires have more body in spades but aren't quite as crisp as the Vintage Chrome Plated wires. One studio drummer I read somewhere said the non-plated wires have "more meat." Depending on what brand and strand wires you are using now switching to Canopus Vintage Series may make your snares sound more sensitive. If you have an overly ringing snare drum you might consider trying the Canopus Backbeat snare wires in 30-strand or 42-stand to dry out and toning down the decay a bit and the 42-strand helping to dry out rim shots. I have no hands-on experience with the Backbeat wires, that's just what I've heard. Reader's Digest paraphrase: if you prefer brightness consider trying the Vintage Chrome Plated wires, if you want more body definitely go with the Vintage Non-Plated wires.

Sometime in the future when I'm feeling rebellious I may void my Canopus warranty by clipping off the middle wires of a Vintage NP series down to 12-strands and experiment with it on some different shells. I'm a huge fan of 12-stand wires so the results may be biased.
 
I have either the Vintage 20's and Backbeat 30's on all of my 5 snares. I think VOS has described them perfectly.
 
I'm not a huge fan. I bought two back beat wires and one vintage. Tried them on several snares and didn't care for them. I have a back beat on a Kiplinger that's on the stand currently and I like it on that drum. Mine are 20 strand plated BTW.

I'm a metal snare player and like some ring/ping. I set the wires so the ring and wires decay at the same time, It makes for a longer note. I'm mostly a back beat player and don't need much articulation.

YMMV
 
Fred D said:
I'm not a huge fan. I bought two back beat wires and one vintage. Tried them on several snares and didn't care for them. I have a back beat on a Kiplinger that's on the stand currently and I like it on that drum. Mine are 20 strand plated BTW.
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Excellent point by Fred D. Some drummers will like Canopus wires and others won't care for them at all. If you are a die hard Ludwig Black Beauty fan and you love the sound with its stock snare wires, you likely are not going to become a Canopus fan. But if you have the means and the resources to gradually experiment with Canopus wires one series at a time, you just might find that you like them on a particular snare drum, but not all of your snare drums.
 
I'm yet to try any Canopus wires, but am keen to.
I've heard nothing but good things about their quality and sound.

Seeing as I strongly dislike Pure sound (rubbish) wires anything (to me) is better. 😜
 
Vintage Old School said:
If you have an overly ringing snare drum you might consider trying the Canopus Backbeat snare wires in 30-strand or 42-stand to dry out and toning down the decay a bit and the 42-strand helping to dry out rim shots. I have no hands-on experience with the Backbeat wires, that's just what I've heard.
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My Canopus BB V1 14x6.5 comes with 30 strand backbeat and would say that it is the perfect match for that drum. It's their version of a 1.2mm Black Beauty but they did a few things different, the bearing edge flange is shorter but notably its a 8 lug shell on a small brass lug, so generally think it gets a lower fundamental than a regular black beauty and long note so it makes sense to have that particular strand for a really nice balance of tone and sensitivity w/ warm overtones. I wouldn't necessarily put it on a regular Black Beauty expecting the same results.

And I have vintage 20 on the The Maple 5.5 that it comes with, again I think it is the perfect match. But this a combination of several factors, as they are matching the wires to the design from the start. But I also have the VF-Canopus Snappy 26 on my thick Eames 14x7 and surprise I can get such a great response, the wire work very well here as well.
 
I love them, have them on probably 10 of my snares

Someone posted about Puresounds. I have a few pair of them from when they first started out as an independent that are really good. But something happened when they got bought by Evans or D'addario . I don't know what it is.
 
jaymandude said:
Someone posted about Puresounds. I have a few pair of them from when they first started out as an independent that are really good. But something happened when they got bought by Evans or D'addario . I don't know what it is.
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Same here. My only good experiences with Puresound and Evans and Pro*Mark were prior to their acquisition by D'Addario.
 
I have the vintage NP wires on 6 snares, 16 strand.

I want to get some 20 strand wires because sometimes I really crave just the wettest sloppiest, messiest medium low tuning...for drumming akin to 2nd line drumming. The opposite of a cracking snare, a low mush with really looooose wires. Anyway, the 16 strands didn't do that particular sound sloppy enough for me. Tight they are plenty of snare spank. Love em. But for me, the 20 strand does slop better, so I will outfit one of my snares with them for when I'm jones-ing for a snare of low character.

That speaks more to the number of strands than Canopus wires I guess, but I've been playing them for awhile now and that's the only bad thing I can say about (probably any) 16 strand wire set. 12 wires were not enough. (A prayer for all the wire sets I've cannabalized)
 
I love them
 
I use it and like it. Good thing it doesn't wear, or it would be quite an investment changing it once in a while...
I prefer the plated wire to the unplated one - as I always do. I like the extra sensitivity and top-end "snap".
I'd also like more wires, 20 to 16, for more "snap". You simply NEED 42 wires on a Gretsch!
 
Iristone said:
I use it and like it. Good thing it doesn't wear, or it would be quite an investment changing it once in a while...
I prefer the plated wire to the unplated one - as I always do. I like the extra sensitivity and top-end "snap".
I'd also like more wires, 20 to 16, for more "snap". You simply NEED 42 wires on a Gretsch!
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Why do you need 42 strand wires on a Gretsch? I assume you're talking about the steel or brass models?
 
Not until I switched wires on my superphonic back in the day from a non plated Ludwig wire set with the clear plastic wire ends to a coated wire set did I think whoa..wait a minute..i want that uncoated sound back. Seemed softer and fuller. (Softer) not whimpier. I wish Fatcat made uncoated wires so I'm going to get the Canopus uncoated. Just that little touch (uncoated) has got me excited again.
 
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I’m a huge fan of the Canopus Vintage 20-strand, I have them on several drums. Plus the Vic Firth branded ones of the same model, which I think they stopped doing. I can imagine them not being hard or bright sounding enough for a metal player, but they are perfect for the mellower sound I prefer. Still crispy and responsive, but tonally warmer and not loud.
 
Bozozoid said:
Not until I switched wires on my superphonic back in the day from a non plated Ludwig wire set with the clear plastic wire ends to a coated wire set did I think whoa..wait a minute..i want that uncoated sound back. Seemed softer and fuller. (Softer) not whimper. I wish Fatcat made uncoated wires so I'm going to get the Canopus uncoated. Just that little touch (uncoated) has got me excited again.
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I just ordered some Canopus Vintage 20 strand (uncoated) wires so I can experiment with them. :)
 
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