Supraphonic has a mind of its own...

ALotSirSwings

Active Member
I took my 1970 Supra out of the case at my gig today to discover the snare side head totally torn. The head was a snare side ambassador. Luckily, I was able to get a spare drum from a friend who lived close to the gig. It was pretty random (keep in mind I literally played the drum minutes before going to the gig and it was fine) but I have a few guesses. For one, it has been pretty hot where I am and I’m curious if the head could’ve ruptured on my commute to the gig. Another thought is that the drum is a vintage drum and modern heads could be a little too tight (and I just got a case of terrible timing)? Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
It's a strange world. 2020 a weird year. The "C" virus from you know where, Millions of acres burned on the west coast. Political unrest throughout America. Now Self splitting resonant heads. There's nothing to explain any of it, all happening in the past 6 months. It's The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock wrapped up in one big paradigm shift. I don't think I can sleep.
But wait......you cranked the reso too damned tight and some unexplainable sudden movement created a molecular fracture. DO NOT over tighten your heads again. EVER! Do it again, I'll find where you live, drag you outside and smack your hands with a ruler. You hear me?
Whew. That felt good. Now I can sleep. Nighty night.
 
I've had a snare side head randomly pop before. Considering it's the thinnest film under the greatest tension it's probably more surprising that doesn't happen more often.

I'd carefully check the bearing edges and the snare wires for any kind of nick or burr or bump just to be sure.
 
When I go to work in a new school and go check out the stuff in storage it's quite normal for a number of the snares to have broken snareside heads.

They do wear even if you don't play them and though you don't hit that head the snares are certainy constantly scratching it. Although I've never really thought about it, I fully expect cheaper snare wires to have sharper edges.
 
Just out of curiosity, how often would you estimate you have to replace one?
I’m different in that I probably change out batters faster than anybody else. But I carry extras on gigs because “you never know”. And usually when something breaks, stores are already closed and there aren’t any drummers to borrow from. So I rely on myself. Usually I’ll have an extra snare and another bass drum pedal, and hi hat clutch. If anything else breaks I can deal with it.
 
It's a strange world. 2020 a weird year. The "C" virus from you know where, Millions of acres burned on the west coast. Political unrest throughout America. Now Self splitting resonant heads. There's nothing to explain any of it, all happening in the past 6 months. It's The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock wrapped up in one big paradigm shift. I don't think I can sleep.
But wait......you cranked the reso too damned tight and some unexplainable sudden movement created a molecular fracture. DO NOT over tighten your heads again. EVER! Do it again, I'll find where you live, drag you outside and smack your hands with a ruler. You hear me?
Whew. That felt good. Now I can sleep. Nighty night.
Lol. The reso was actually super loose :(
 
I always take an extra snare drum and bass drum pedal to gigs because they are the most likely things to malfunction that cannot be fixed with duct tape. Peace and goodwill.
 
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