Yamaha 12" Manu Katche Junior Snare Drum

[double bass man]

Years ago I bought S/H a Yamaha 5 1/2"deep 12" snare drum to get into jazz style. Put it away for a number of years and recently got back to snare drumming--jazz style. The heads are the original Yamaha heads. I have been doing some research on heads and the snare wires. Is the snare drum I have worth spending money on upgrading to the following heads---would the upgrading get me a decent jazz sound?

a)The batter head---Remo Fiberskin 'Diplomat' head
b)The Snare head---A transparent extra thin head? Which make?
c) Regarding the snare wires---Which one to get for a 'jazzy' sound?

I am a newbe to the drum world--hence questions. Your advice most welcome. In time I hope to get a 14" snare drum.

Many thanks.

 

[makinao]

if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

There are two schools of thought about "jazz" drum heads. The first is to replicate "dark and warm" sounding animal heads with synthetic fiberskyn/calftone/modern vintage heads. The other is to go the all-around single-ply 10-mil coated ambassador/g1/texture coated route. Its your choice. I'm guessing the stock Yamaha heads is the latter. If it isn't worn out to the point that brushes don't make a sound anymore, just keep it.

For snare side heads, any 3-mil clear or hazy head will do. That means ambassador snare/300/classic clear snare side. Again I think this is the stock Yamaha snare-side head. So unless you need extra sensitivity, and can't put up with shorter life of a 2-mil head, a 3-mil snare head will do just fine.

Stock snares will probably do also. No need to change unless they're broken, bent, or missing strands.

 

[double bass man]

Many thanks makinao for your reply. Great advice. I will keep what I have
'as is'. Where I am currently at on the snare I should think upgrading what I have would not make a lot of difference at the moment in time. When it is time to move on I will move on to a better snare.