Drummers who prefer 8 lug snare drums

I will play a snare that sounds good and is easy to tune and keep in tune. I feel like those qualities don't hinge on number of lugs but more on quality of construction overall.
 
As you lessen the amount of lugs, the “sweet spot” in the middle of the batter head gets larger. Contrast a matching snare with 12-lugs, and the spot where the drum sounds it’s fullest on the head is much smaller. Thanks to marketing, we are taught that bass drums and snare drums with 10-lugs per head are more “pro”.
 
I like 8 lug snares just for the look of them.

I like the look of them on 20” kicks, too.
 
I prefer 8 lugs because I can tune lower with less chance of any of the rods getting too loose. More tension distributed per rod.

I understand the idea of a more “open” sound vs focus from 10 lugs, but I am not yet convinced that is verifiably true. Might just be expectation bias.

People compare eg Acros to Supras, but the chrome plating might make the difference instead. Or maybe it’s both cumulatively.
 
The snares I have in my collection, I have because I love the way they sound and feel. The number of lugs is just one of those factors.

My two Dunnetts, my one George Way, my Radio King... they all have eight lugs, and I wouldn't change that for the world.

My Ludwigs, DWs, Sonors... they have ten, and I wouldn't change them either.

An 8-lug Black Beauty is more open and toneful than a 10 lugger, but the 10 lugger is more defined and simply has "that" sound.
 
I find 8-lug snares easier to tune evenly all the way around the head. I always strive for perfectly even tension all the way around, yet with 10-lug snares there always seem to be 2 lugs (usually directly across from each other) that just won’t get in tune. Eventually when the head fully seats after a few days, I can get it perfectly tuned. But I’ve never had this problem on my 8-lug snares.
 
I like the ease of tuning of the 8-luggers too, but ultimately it depends on the price to get the same sound for me. Also on vintage 8-lug drums with bent hoops, there's a chance that, at some tuning ranges, two pairs of the lugs have to be tuned way up with the other two pairs all the way loose, in order to get uniform tension across the head. I've got that happening on both of my vintage 8-luggers, but they sound just fine tuned rightly so I'm just leaving them as is.
 
I only have 1 8 lugger and it's my Acrolite Prototype. It's perfect if I want a a bit of dirt in my snare sound at high or low tunings. really comes to life when recording.
 
To the tone question, what about 8 high mass lugs vs 10 low mass lugs? That is, if we compare apples to apples as we should, then judging 8 vs 10 makes sense; but not everyone reading a discussion like this will have “apples”.
 
Last edited:
pocket player said:
What qualities make you prefer 8 lug snares ? Feel ? , Sound ? Tuning ?

Thanks
Click to expand...

It's just so happens that my favorite snares that I've owned... happened to be less than 10 lugs. That would be: Tama SLP Fat Spruce, '61 Ludwig Acrolite, and early 60s Ludwig Pioneer. That last one only had 6 lugs, it had limited tuning range but it also sounded amazingly open.

Somehow, I've always struggled more with keeping 10 luggers in tune (mostly that one lug when rim shotting). Prevailing theory is that more lugs = less tension on each.
 
SnickSound said:
It's just so happens that my favorite snares that I've owned... happened to be less than 10 lugs. That would be: Tama SLP Fat Spruce, '61 Ludwig Acrolite, and early 60s Ludwig Pioneer. That last one only had 6 lugs, it had limited tuning range but it also sounded amazingly open.

Somehow, I've always struggled more with keeping 10 luggers in tune (mostly that one lug when rim shotting). Prevailing theory is that more lugs = less tension on each.
Click to expand...
good info, thanks for your feed back Snick . I do notice the 8 luggers hold their tunning longer than 10 luggers and sound good
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top