14 X 8 Cast Brass Snare Heads

geoff-7877

New Member
HI people!

this is my first post here. been playing for 34 years and recently started a new heavy band. My preferred snare sound has always been higher tension, thick pop. Think Abe Cunningham. I played a piccolo like everyone else in the 90s and then transitioned to a 12X7 and then fell in love with 13X7 drums. I had a Remo Falam marching head on the piccolo, which is totally ridiculous but I was in my 20s and started using Evans coated G1s on the 12X7. Started to move back towards thicker heads on the 13X7 with and emperor X.

I had an opportunity to get a 14X8 3mm cast brass shell and built the drum out with super beefy tube lugs and die cast hoops. I also started off with an emperor X on this drum which did not work. i pretty much maxed out on tension and the pitch was way too low for my liking. im an Evans guy but have tried several options from Remo as well, but all on the thicker, “heavy hitter” options.

Clearly the 14X8 monster is going to have a much different tuning range then the previously mentioned drums, but what I have discovered is how these thicker 2 ply heads have such a lower tone to them, which seems to be kind of the opposite from a lot of the applications that I’ve heard them in. I did have an ambassador snare side with an Evans Hybrid coated but no body. Changed to the Evans heavyweight and it was a great improvement. Changed the snare side to an Evans 500 and although it gave me more of that thick pop, the drum gained an undesirable St Anger ring And still somewhat limited in higher pitch tunings. Switched to the heavyweight dry which somehow made the ring worse! I muffled the crap out of it and achieved a good sound but it became boxy.

I do play really hard but have never had issues with breaking heads. I had a new coated ambassador laying around and decided to try it out. Undesirable ring almost completely went away while maintaining the core sound from the drum. Thinking of throwing either a G1 or UV1 coated on there to see how it behaves. My 12X7 came with an ambassador and the G1 to my ears was a massive improvement. There are SO many head options at $20 plus each, makes wild experimentation very expensive so I thought going back to basics might give a better direction.

Anyway, sorry for the long post. Just curious if anyone else with a drum similar to mine has experienced anything similar. The drum sounds great but I think that I can get more out of it. And if you made it through the novel, thank you.

Geoff
 
On every snare I own, I use a Remo Ambassador and a Snareweight M80.

If I can't make a snare sound decent with that combo, I need to get rid of the snare drum.

List of snare's I've tried this on with great success:

Pearl Masters MCX 14 x 5.5
Pork Pie USA Custom Maple 13 x 5
Pork Pie USA Custom Maple 13 x 6(7?)
Pork Pie USA Custom Cherry/Wallnut 14 x 6.5
Legend Phosphor Bronze 14 x 6.5
68/69 Slingerland Maple with re-rings 14 x 5
Ludwig Black Beauty 14 x 8
Reverie Maple 14 x 8

Snares it didn't work on? Two Tama Rockstar Steel Shell snares. They both sound pretty darn bad no matter what. Ugh.
 
I'm with Porky above ^^^^^

Coated Ambassadors all the way :)
 
I just put the ambassador on last practice so didn’t spend a ton of time with it. I’ll get a better feel this weekend

and Pork Pie Guy, the drum sounds really good, but I know that I can get more out of it. And I used to be a pork pie guy. Had a drum endorsement with Bill years ago in my touring days. Fantastic drums. Never really cared for my PP 14 X 7 maple syrup bough. Sold it after a couple of years.
 
I just put the ambassador on last practice so didn’t spend a ton of time with it. I’ll get a better feel this weekend

and Pork Pie Guy, the drum sounds really good, but I know that I can get more out of it. And I used to be a pork pie guy. Had a drum endorsement with Bill years ago in my touring days. Fantastic drums. Never really cared for my PP 14 X 7 maple syrup bough. Sold it after a couple of years.

That's really cool. I'm actually considering selling my beloved PP USA kit. I'm a Ludwig convert.

Can you send me a PM and let me know who you toured with?
 
Evans ebony coated hydraulic. The oil keeps the overtones in check & when tuned low, it's a nice 70's thud.
 
Evans ebony coated hydraulic. The oil keeps the overtones in check & when tuned low, it's a nice 70's thud.
Actually trying to get less low end. I have heard that about the hydraulics though. So many heads! Just thought it was funny that the heavyweight “dry” had more ring than the standard heavyweigh.

thanks for your input
 
Maybe try a Remo Vintage Ambassador- it’s 2 ply but 10.5 mil? I think you should try backing off high tuning till ring disappears-despite lower tuning i bet it will open up a bit brighter and focused .
 
Maybe try a Remo Vintage Ambassador- it’s 2 ply but 10.5 mil? I think you should try backing off high tuning till ring disappears-despite lower tuning i bet it will open up a bit brighter and focused .
I'll give the tuning tip a shot. it seems to be the combo between the evans 500 snare side the heavyweight dry. Like I mentioned, the coated ambassador seemed to help with the ring a great deal so more experimentation to come. I will say that this drum really came to life when I went to the heavier snare side. Just need to find the right combo. And it should go without mentioning that I am a self proclaimed pain in the a@# with this stuff but all in an effort to get the best sound possible.
 
On my 14" x 6.5" cast bronze I use a single ply coated head with a power dot under. Like a Remo CS but a special black one Aquarian makes for me. The tuning range with that single play head is incredible and I've been able to crack it real high for that pop, or super low for the more "bang" sound. Anyway you slice it I think cast bronze or brass drums are gonna sound good.
 
On every snare I own, I use a Remo Ambassador and a Snareweight M80.

If I can't make a snare sound decent with that combo, I need to get rid of the snare drum.

List of snare's I've tried this on with great success:

Pearl Masters MCX 14 x 5.5
Pork Pie USA Custom Maple 13 x 5
Pork Pie USA Custom Maple 13 x 6(7?)
Pork Pie USA Custom Cherry/Wallnut 14 x 6.5
Legend Phosphor Bronze 14 x 6.5
68/69 Slingerland Maple with re-rings 14 x 5
Ludwig Black Beauty 14 x 8
Reverie Maple 14 x 8

Snares it didn't work on? Two Tama Rockstar Steel Shell snares. They both sound pretty darn bad no matter what. Ugh.
Was wondering what your tuning was like on the Pearl MCX (?). I switched to a Remo CS to fatten up the sound, but had limited success. The shell is a bit thiker than most I've owned. Mid to lower tunings seem to be difficult to achieve with, or, without gels, or, tape. Even switched to Fat Tones for rims.
 
If you have a 500 weight snare side I'd be willing to bet as much as a dollar that if you replace it with a 3 mil head, and put on a coated ambassador up top, with maybe a tiny piece of moongel...you will find the tone you seek.
 
I always default to Remo Vintage A or Ludwig Heavy over Ludwig X-Thin or Evans 300. Gives the best balance between focus and response, warmth and clarity.
For a bit overtone control, I often use some Snareweight or Moongel. They still let the fundamental of the drum cut through.

Some metal drums have a lower fundamental IME, which gives a nice fat 'crack' underlying the lively head overtones. A cast drum might have a higher fundamental though, giving a more focused undertone more similar to maple.
 
I would try a coated Remo CS reverse dot batter with an Ambassador snare side.
I like a tight reso tuning. HOWEVER, if I want to fatten up the body of the drum I will loosen the snare side head up a bit. I do this on my DW 8x14 Collectors BNOB snares as well as my Gretsch Swamp Dawg.
I'll tune the batter to Middle C or B and tune the bottom head to E or F above middle C. Fatter sound without having to loosen up the batters too much.
 
On every snare I own, I use a Remo Ambassador and a Snareweight M80.
If I can't make a snare sound decent with that combo, I need to get rid of the snare drum.
This.
I went with my beloved Evans Hydraulic line & used the coated ebony on my 14x6 mahogany Gretsch & it's perfect.
Gives me the good low end thud in lower tunings & a snap at the higher end like no other.

Thick? Yes...but the oil keeps the overtones & ring in check. I'll use a Big Fat Snare Drum if I really need to calm it down.
 
Back
Top