Tama/Precision Snare drum tuning issues..

RockNGrohl

RockNGrohl

Senior Member
I recently took a Tama silver star snare drum and put a new shell on it. I didn't like the dryness of the birch wood shell it came with. So I had Precision Drum Company make me a new one out of a maple Keller shell. They took a lug and my strainer/butt plate and cut all the holes and the snare beds. I then assembled it at home with all my hardware. But now I can't for the life of me get the snares adjusted on the drum right. No matter how tight (even at the their tightest) the snare wires always sound "off" or choked. It's like the snares always sound disengaged. Is this a head issue? I'm using the stock bottom head that came with the drum, and it sounded fine with the old shell. Or is it the bearing edges? I assume they were cut correctly as Precision Drum Company did them. They look normal and fine to me. Is it the Tama strainer? No matter how I tighten up the plastic snare straps they never engage. With snare cord and ribbon it was the same way, yet they are up right against the head with no dip. I've tuned and worked on many snare drums and i'm stumped! Hmm.. any answers? Tips?
 
Have you tried different snare wires? Maybe the ones you are using are defective somehow? I always recommend grosgrain ribbon. Sometimes, the snare cord or plastic straps are too rigid to conform to the snare bed, resulting in the snare wires being eternally too loose.

Double check the snare beds by laying the shell on a countertop and shining a light from above. There should be a tiny gap where each snare bed is.
 
The snares are also the stock ones that came with the drum. I've also always used plastic straps. But I can check the snare beds. I have a feeling that may truly be the culprit. The only thing changed was the new shell with those snare beds. I re-used everything else and the snare worked fine before. If they seem fine I can try new snares or a new head. It's just weird that I only changed to the new maple shell form Precision and now the snare aren't working right. I should really just take off the bottom head and check it on my marble kitchen countertops and just see what's up and compare to how the beds were cut on the old one. The more I think about it seems like a snare bed issue as the snare wires aren't contacting with the bottom head. Maybe I could get a thinner bottom head as well. The stock one feels thicker that Remo ones I usually use too.
 
Is the new shell the same depth as the original one?

If they did the drilling layout and they weren't doing lines of coke that day, they should clearly have aligned the strainers with the snare beds so I would be surprised if there was an issue there with alignment.

do you have the snare wires on upside down where the snare wires may just be floating above the head vs. laying on the head?
 
I'll take a deeper look but they are installed right side up and look to be laying on the head. But one of these days off i'll take it apart and really try and see and what's going on with it. I really just took the hardware off the old shell, waited for the new one to be drilled, then when I received it in the mail, re-installed the hardware back the same way and tuned it up with my Drum Dial tuner. then played it and whoa! What is going on? something is up..
 
I second the snare bed comment.
 
Did you reuse the original reso-side head?

They're very thin, and they'll conform to the new snare bed's shape, but it can affect the sound. I've experienced this when trying to economize and swapping reso heads.

I'd start with a new reso, if you haven't done that
 
You might have to use the same wires mounted with cord instead of straps.
Crazy true story: I once installed Puresound Super 30 wires on my short-lived Black Beauty with Grossgrain and the wires didn't respond at all! Crazy! I then used cord and the snares came alive.
 
Thanks for input guys! uI suspected it was simply the bottom head. I did change the bottom head to a Remo Hazy snare side reso. The culprit ended up being the resonant snare head after all. When I took it off and it went slack I saw all the marks and a small dent or two I didn't see when it was stretched all out. The head change did the trick. I also used a new batter side Remo Emperor head. And after re-using the plastic straps I did decide to change to cords just because I like the look. And now the snare sounds great! When I removed the old head I really inspected the snare beds and they were cut fine and the strainer/butt lined up just right. It has a nice woody sound now with a bit of ring. It just may be my new go-to snare, i'll take it out to a local open mic tomorrow and see how I like it. Shout out to Drum Center of Portsmouth for the new heads and Precision Drum Company for the new maple shell.
 
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