LM402 tuning driving me crazy

U
Sorry about your experience. Isn't the drum under warranty, though? Couldn't you just return it and ask for your money back?

/Magnus
I don’t think stores will warranty 3 month old drums. This defect was discovered way too late I think. This has caused me so much fuss that I’m just going to buy new hoops for it and be done. I’m really regretting not picking up the Yamaha Recording Custom aluminium instead.
 
U

I don’t think stores will warranty 3 month old drums. This defect was discovered way too late I think. This has caused me so much fuss that I’m just going to buy new hoops for it and be done. I’m really regretting not picking up the Yamaha Recording Custom aluminium instead.

Damn, that’s too bad.
 
U

I don’t think stores will warranty 3 month old drums. This defect was discovered way too late I think. This has caused me so much fuss that I’m just going to buy new hoops for it and be done. I’m really regretting not picking up the Yamaha Recording Custom aluminium instead.

In the EU (I live in Sweden), it would be covered by the standard consumer warranty for 2 years. I don't know where you live, but I guess it is not in the EU. I am sorry for your trouble with this drum.

/Magnus
 
Sorry man I have to tell you, it's neither Ludwig's, nor your local dealer's, it's your own fault.

If you just bought a brand new car, and after a while it started to sound weird, would you pick your hammer, screwdriver and pliers to start dismantling the vehicle in order to solve the proplem? What would you think your car dealer would do if you brought the car in the next day?

I don't know where you're from, but I am pretty sure, in a country where you can walk into a local store to buy a supra, there is such a thing as consumer protection. But as usual, one has to assert his claims before applying further damage.

By the way, have you swapped the hoops yet? Many drums are equipped with slightly warped triple flanged hoops without causing any problems. A German drum manufacturer told me once, it won't make much of a difference as long as the hoops aren't crooked like a pig's tail. Almost no hoop would sit on a surface being perfectly plain. If it's too much, they just bend it back a tiny bit.
 
Sorry man I have to tell you, it's neither Ludwig's, nor your local dealer's, it's your own fault.

If you just bought a brand new car, and after a while it started to sound weird, would you pick your hammer, screwdriver and pliers to start dismantling the vehicle in order to solve the proplem? What would you think your car dealer would do if you brought the car in the next day?

I don't know where you're from, but I am pretty sure, in a country where you can walk into a local store to buy a supra, there is such a thing as consumer protection. But as usual, one has to assert his claims before applying further damage.

By the way, have you swapped the hoops yet? Many drums are equipped with slightly warped triple flanged hoops without causing any problems. A German drum manufacturer told me once, it won't make much of a difference as long as the hoops aren't crooked like a pig's tail. Almost no hoop would sit on a surface being perfectly plain. If it's too much, they just bend it back a tiny bit.
So if Ludwig made every drum with bent hoops and sold them, it would somehow be our fault since we found out? I wouldn’t call taking off the hoop comparable to taking a car apart since hoops are expendables and are required to be removed when changing heads. When you have a problem with your car you send it to the mechanic, well where are drum mechanics? If a snare drum doesn’t sound like it’s supposed to, you try to troubleshoot the problem on your own because a snare is a pretty simple instrument. It’s not like taking apart a saxophone.

Anyway I am really confused and disoriented on what I should do with this godforsaken drum so I’m just going to leave everything and come back later.
 
Sorry, if my post was misleading, English is not my mother tongue. But you didn't get what I was saying. Of course cars and drums are totally different animals, but warranty is about the same in either case.

There was no need to take the whole drum apart without visiting the dealer. Didn't you tell us that removing the gaskets in particular led to scratches, whilst it is for sure completely uneffective to help solving your problem?

As I told you a month ago, a LM402 is an excellent, great sounding snare drum, that can be tuned easily to almost any taste. My LM402 is a 2015 model with gaskets, and it works flawless. Maybe your drum has issues mine doesn't have, but then we're talking about product defects. And what if not defects are warranties for?

Or the LM402 is just the wrong drum for your taste, but I assume you tested the drum before spending 700 bucks?

Anyway, instead of fiddling around you'd better gone to your dealer immediately. That's why I think it was in your hands to make it a way better experience right from the beginning.
 
Unless you put straight hoops on the drum and it solved the problem, it's just a theory that the hoops are the root cause of your issue.
 
If you have another set of unbent hoops, trying them would provide your answer.

If the shell/bearing edge is round and true, and the lug holes punched into the shell aren't unbelievably wacky...it has to be the hoops.
 
Fritz, I am sorry to hear about this. It really seems like you tried everything to get this drum to sound how you want.
I can only imagine how frustrating it must have been.
I feel like we've all gone through this with you. You are not alone brother!
Let us know what you decide to do next...
 
Throughout the years I have played some supras that have been in really rough shape. I'm talking about abused school drums, rehearsal studio drums, neglected garage finds...excetera. No matter what the shape of the drum, it always sounds like a supraphinic. I find it hard to believe that slightly bent hoops are the problem here. It is more likely that you are not really a fan of the sonic characteristics of a supraphonic or were expecting something different sonically then what the drum delivers.
I'm not trying to criticize you, sometimes the idea of a particular drum is more appealing to us then the actual sound of the drum. I for one, am not a huge fan of Black Beauty snares. I know how great most people think they sound, and I even own a few of them (and use them from time to time when I feel the music calls for that particular sound) but to my ears they have a slightly boxy, uninspiring sound.
 
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Should have gotten yourself a Premier 2000 or maybe a Pearl sensitone aluminum. Personally I believe both are superior to the Supra. 3,495,873 drummers bought Supra's simply because of hearing how widely used they were during the 60s/70s, and that most all recorded songs featured the Supra. Just because everyone else has a dog doesn't make them the best animal to have as a pet.
BTW, the only Ludwig snare I've played that really sounds good is a 1914 5x15 nickel on brass 6 lug Theatre model. I will NEVER part with it. It's that good.
 

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Throughout the years I have played some supras that have been in really rough shape. I'm talking about abused school drums, rehearsal studio drums, neglected garage finds...excetera. No matter what the shape of the drum, it always sounds like a supraphinic. I find it hard to believe that slightly bent hoops are the problem here. It is more likely that you are not really a fan of the sonic characteristics of a supraphonic or were expecting something different sonically then what the drum delivers.
I'm not trying to criticize you, sometimes the idea of a particular drum is more appealing to us then the actual sound of the drum. I for one, am not a huge fan of Black Beauty snares. I know how great most people think they sound, and I even own a few of them (and use them from time to time when I feel the music calls for that particular sound) but to my ears they have a slightly boxy, uninspiring sound.
There is definitely something wrong. I’ve heard supras before even in real life and they never had this sound. I just ordered Puresound custom 24 strand wires to see if anything changes. I made this decision because the overtone was DEFINITELY coming from the wires. I tried fixing it with tuning but obviously it didn’t work out. I will update soon.
 
There is definitely something wrong. I’ve heard supras before even in real life and they never had this sound. I just ordered Puresound custom 24 strand wires to see if anything changes. I made this decision because the overtone was DEFINITELY coming from the wires. I tried fixing it with tuning but obviously it didn’t work out. I will update soon.
I hope that fixes the issue you have with the drum. I find it way more likely that the issue is a minor fix like snare wires or head selection then hoops or bearing edges. Like I said before, Supras are very resilient and forgiving drums when it comes to some of those structural issues that would render other snares unplayable.
 
I hope that fixes the issue you have with the drum. I find it way more likely that the issue is a minor fix like snare wires or head selection then hoops or bearing edges. Like I said before, Supras are very resilient and forgiving drums when it comes to some of those structural issues that would render other snares unplayable.
500-700 drums shouldn’t have structural issues
 
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