Please help my snare drum

I have a wonderful dw broken glass 6x14 snare. The drum is just over 2 years now, but has a problem. I keep breaking the bottom snare head. I have replaced the hoops, thinking they could have been out of round. I replaced the brass rings on the drum with one from my 7x14. I tried Remo, Evans, and Aquarian heads in various weights. I've used Puresound, Truesound and snappy wires. I had the bottom head tuned loose and medium tension, same with the wires. Without fail, during the first set almost every weekend, I break the bottom head. I have had the throw off at 9 o'clock and had it at 6 o'clock. The snare wires are dead center on the drum. I keep the drum in a padded hard shell case when not in use. I am at a loss, never had this problem with my 7x4 edge or my 6x14 10+6 snare. Any ideas?
Thanks.

Where is the head breaking, at the bearing edge or somewhere else?

I had a friend who played really really hard, and over-tightened his snare-side head. He broke about one a week until he started using diplomat clear batter heads on the snare side. His snare was never as sensitive, but he never played it quietly, so that worked for him. Snare heads are usually really thin, so if you really crank them up, and play your snare hard, they won't last very long...

Don't know if this is of any help, but it's all I've got without any further details about how YOUR heads are breaking--where and to what extent.

caddywumpus said:

I had a friend who played really really hard, and over-tightened his snare-side head. He broke about one a week until he started using diplomat clear batter heads on the snare side.

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Actually I'm surprised that a Diplomat, not a thicker head was substituted. I don't know what's thicker than an Ambassador snare side, but the Diplomat is most definitely thinner, excuse me for stating the obvious

larryace said:

Actually I'm surprised that a Diplomat, not a thicker head was substituted. I don't know what's thicker than an Ambassador snare side, but the Diplomat is most definitely thinner, excuse me for stating the obvious

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I wasn't referring to a "Diplomat Snare" head, which is 2 mils, but a "Diplomat", which is 7 mils. He was using an "Ambassador Snare", which is 3 mils, so he actually more than doubled the thickness of his snare-side head. I tried to specify in my original post by saying "Diplomat clear batter head".

Oh Whoops, my bad. You did say that. Now I get it, good solution!

larryace said:

Oh Whoops, my bad. You did say that. Now I get it, good solution!

Click to expand...

I don't think it's a good solution for me, because I don't hit every note as if the snare just insulted me. When I tapped on the drum quietly, there was NO snare response. Only when I played somewhat hard did the snares become a part of the sound. I would re-tune the bottom head quite a bit looser. He was trying to get a tight sound while walloping the drum (which usually makes the drum ring). He also had no regard for the drum's natural dynamic range, so it sounded choked anyways. Makes me shudder just thinking about his snare sound, but I guess if it worked, I should be happy for him...

This thread has been interesting! I have had misaligned snares that have cut a small hole in my bottom head near the edge of the drum and I have played the snare drum with the tiny hole for years after I fixed the snare strand problem. I have hit my batter head until it dented and I have never broken a bottom head. The only time that I ever broke a snare head (BOTTOM or TOP) prematurely was when I was a newbie and I over torqued it! According to the original post, that is not the case here. I have been playing since 1971 and I have never seen this problem. Caddy's post made some sense to me. If the bottom head keeps breaking, Thicken It! The other interesting thing is that Strutt has other snare drums and they don't break heads. The problem is unique to this drum. Perhaps there are strange harmonic frequencies in this particular drum that cause this problem. Lets call in the Myth Busters! They will find the reason for this anomaly!

I'm the sort that would drop it at the nearest reputable drum shop (in this case, Palatine, Illinois' Drum Pad) and have them deal with it, and go, "call me when it's done." That's becuase I'm lazy and don't care to fiddle with anything--wanna play!

Maybe some of the solder on the snare wires has a peak in it that's puncturing the head. Maybe there is a foreign object on the bearing edge. I'd look at the underside of the snare wires, where they are soldered to the plate. Where is it breaking?

My first thoughts are the snare side head is too thin for your playing style and the head is too tight. But you stated that you have tried various weights....interesting. Loosen up the bottom head just a bit, use a medium weight head and see what happens.