Strap or string

fess

fess

Senior Member
Some new snares come with straps (fabric or plastic) or string to tighten the snare wires. Why would you use anything except a strap. I would expect the strap would be stronger, easier to adjust and less apt to slip or break. It would also be less likely to damage the drum head as it spreads the load across the surface more
 
String. The throwoff on two of my snares won't accept anything but string. I've never noticed any difference between the two, honestly.
 
I predominately use string to attach snare wires. I don’t care for straps or grosgrain ribbon. It’s on a case-by-case basis for me. If a snare doesn’t need to new wires and it has straps, I won’t change it for no reason. But if a snare isn’t giving me the response I want, I will switch wires and mount those wires with string if it doesn’t already have them.

I’m used to string. I won’t try to convince anyone that it sounds better. (Too subjective.) I don’t even have any snares that require string to mount wires anymore. (I got out of the vintage drum game years ago and only use modern drums now.) I just like string more. Not better or worse, just different.
 
Between my snares ..... about half have strap and half have string. Never thought to change out any, for the "other". Both types work. And I've never had a string break, so that's not a worry for me.
 
String. I can guarantee the wires will be centered with the string. I cannot do so with a strap. This is the only reason.

I also wont swap a strap for a string just because, but if I change the wires the strap goes too.
 
Neither...I use ribbon these days. Cheap, super flexible and looks cool too. It may be in my head, but I think snare wires sound a little less harsh with ribbon, which I like.
 
I go to New Zealand and harvest the rare middlemist flower when it is in season once every five years. I then carefully dry the stems, weave them, and use them for my snare strings.

Just kidding. I use plastic straps.
 
Strap/ribbon for me, because I absolutely 100% CAN center the snare wires with it. It's easy. Also, I've never had a strap break, but had a cord break once. On my one snare with a strainer that doesn't allow a strap, I use cord in conjunction with snare wires like this (not my wires, but a found pic) that have those small "channels" for the cord, so as to not lift the solder plate up off the reso head:
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fess said:
Some new snares come with straps (fabric or plastic) or string to tighten the snare wires. Why would you use anything except a strap. I would expect the strap would be stronger, easier to adjust and less apt to slip or break. It would also be less likely to damage the drum head as it spreads the load across the surface more
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Never plastic
Ludwig really needs to stop putting those shitty plastic ones on 900$ snares
 
I'm a snare cord guy. I've only owned snares with strainers that required cord. I remember when they started coming out with straps and thought I was missing out on something. When they change things up I always think it's for the better. Not always true!
The only thing I can think of is that straps make for faster/easier replacement.
 
timmdrum said:
Strap/ribbon for me, because I absolutely 100% CAN center the snare wires with it. It's easy.
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I should clarify. I can get the strap centered in the mechanisms just fine. However, if the slot in the wires is wider than the strap, it allows for lateral movement. I cannot accept that. A string will not do this. It will always return to center because it pulls from 2 points instead of 1.

I suppose if the strings arent spread as far apart as possible it makes it more difficult.
 
String. I prefer the way it sounds compared to plastic strap. I bought a roll of Ludwig orange cord off eBay years ago.

I think there was a thread about this a while ago. I may be wrong.
 
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topper-hardy said:
I have great experiences with the Canopus straps.
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I use this as well and think it is great.

I have had the Ludwig plastics fail in the least opportune time. This was just a acro, are they really putting them on their high-end stuff?

The strings get stiff and brittle over time I find, I've had them snap
 
The strap. It’s strong, it’s attractive, it fits…..it’s too long
 

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Snare cord but mostly because the plastic slips on my old throw off. And hey snare cord looks cooler. Just sayin'.
 
Straps or grosgrain ribbon for me. Under high tension over time, strings can dig into the bearing edge and leave indentations. Straps won't do that since they spread the tension over a greater area.
 
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