8
by etch_Archive
Every drum is different of course but I've had good results by tuning my snare drum pretty low.The drum: early 70's Krupa COB Slingerland 8 lug snare drum with Zoomatic strainer.Snares: Puresound.Heads: Ambassador on the snare side and Emperor or Ambassador on the batter.When I first acquired the drum the strainer didn't work exactly as it should. There's a spring mod I read about and I took that route. It seems fine if a bit dodgy, but it just doesn't bother me personally. I don't know how much that affects the sound but I'm sure it does. This drum worked great with the Puresound snares which I like a lot. Most of the time I have an Emperor as the head but sometimes an Ambassador. With both single and double ply heads, it seems that the drum prefers a lower tuning. With the drum pitched up, it loses a lot of the snare tone and sound and starts to ping. I tried a ring (too damping) but didn't like that. I had a little success with the different gel and pad tweaks but ultimately just took 'em off. What really worked was just tuning it down some.The snare side head I pitch up evenly all around until it's tough to crank. The batter head, I drop it down pretty low; rebound is probably not as good but it really sounds great. No pinging, easy to get into tune, and an even, fat sound with a lot of snare sound in the tone.