Tama Snappy wires - problematic?

bermuda

Drummerworld Pro Drummer - Administrator
Staff member
I installed a set of 20-strand Tama Snappy wires on my snare, and they're atrocious. Yes, I know they're cheap wires, but I routinely use cheap wires (Gibraltar, Cannon etc) and never have a problem. The Tama wires won't lay flat. No amount of tightening the throw has any effect, they just rattle. No crispness, no snappiness.

Anyone else have this problem, or did I get a bad set of wires?

Bermuda
 

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If all wires are not laying flat in the same manner, I'd say that the geometry of the end-plates is either poorly designed, or not a good match for your type of snare bed.

It sounds like your set is bowing under tension, so they’re not laying properly? Maybe those would work OK for a deep bed. Some sets will do the opposite; the wires will have good contact in the center of the head, but not out toward the end-plates.

End-plate design: The most under-appreciated part of snare wires.
 
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Best thing I did for my Starphonic Bubinga was shedding those snare wires. I had the same issue with h them laying flat, tons of snare buzz and no attack.
 
Various Tama snare wires are on five of my seven snares and I’ve never had an issue.
 
These are on my Black Beauty, and the beds are wide and should be sufficiently deep to allow good contact. Ludwig, Gibraltar, Cannon, PDP etc all have similarly cheap wires that work perfectly. The reason I ended up with the Tama is because they looked nice and were only $10. I figured I'd splurge a little for the same expense.

Anyway, I did one show with them last night, and I can't live with them. And the way the end plates are, I don't think I can use cord (instead of the supplied straps) to help push the wires into the head. They're getting replaced today with $9 Gibraltars.

Bermuda
 
I remember my Taye brass came with these cheap wires that actually sounded fantastic, honestly better than the Puresounds i have on there now. Much more of a natural, throaty kind of sound. On my Tamas, I honestly never tried the stock wires... but my experience with the Tayes has me wanting to try cheaper wires more!
 
These are on my Black Beauty, and the beds are wide and should be sufficiently deep to allow good contact. Ludwig, Gibraltar, Cannon, PDP etc all have similarly cheap wires that work perfectly. The reason I ended up with the Tama is because they looked nice and were only $10. I figured I'd splurge a little for the same expense.

Anyway, I did one show with them last night, and I can't live with them. And the way the end plates are, I don't think I can use cord (instead of the supplied straps) to help push the wires into the head. They're getting replaced today with $9 Gibraltars.

Bermuda

What happened to the wires that originally came with the drum?
 
I installed a set of 20-strand Tama Snappy wires on my snare, and they're atrocious. Yes, I know they're cheap wires, but I routinely use cheap wires (Gibraltar, Cannon etc) and never have a problem. The Tama wires won't lay flat. No amount of tightening the throw has any effect, they just rattle. No crispness, no snappiness.

Anyone else have this problem, or did I get a bad set of wires?

Bermuda



I always hated TAMA SNAPPY and STARCLASSIC wires for being too noisy, tho Vukun from ORIOLLO loaded his early Phantoms (not sure if he/they still do) with STARCLASSIC's and they sounded great last time I played one.

The TAMA wires are sensitive to how you strap them up, if you do it wrong they'll float horribly.
 

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