bishopdante wrote: A really nice money-is-no-object snare drum costing a few thousand dollars or pounds, from DW, or whoever else

for the record the throw on my old DW maple snare (not a super expensive model but whatever) was dog shit. I had to keep the throw taped shut (I'm not much of a 'snare off' user anyway) to keep it from gradually loosening.

But I've learned that upgrading the mechanism is not much different than upgrading the tuning machines on a Squier or whatever. Espeically as most of us are into bang-for-the-buck or really old snares, or both.

I was complaining to FM dontfeartheringo about almost this exact issue with my '70s Acrolite, and he pretty immediately directed me to the INDe strainer. That's still sitting in the to-do pile, but that's how I intend to go about solving it.

bishopdante wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 8:47 am The trick CNC aluminium strainer seems to be the best bit of engineering I've seen, but they cost as much as a cheap snare drum.

I have a Trick that came on a Black Beauty copy, it's great. Sweetwater has 'em listed at $84: obviously more than some generic thing that can be had for $15 but it fuckin' works.

I have a Trick on a stave snare that I built. It’s a nice bit of engineering and reliable but I could definitely live with something simpler!

The Trick has always looked like the best but I hate snare throws that stick out that far, especially getting side-eye after the ATLAS lugs cracked my Vistalite kick (my favorite snare is my Vista). You will need a square case for this I think to be safe and hopefully it has enough clearance in one of the corners.

That INDe one looks cool (and company is now literally 15 minutes from my house which is double-cool) but that arm looks like it might be die-cast instead of steel. I'm always a little leery of die-cast metal for being a little fragile/brittle after some troubles I had w/ those clamp-on DW kick legs & original Camco round lugs (as well as a heart-breaking accident w/ the handle of an old cast-iron pan). It takes surprisingly little to snap or crack something like this. The newer Ludwig throw looks to be the same but I haven't had either up-close in my hands to inspect.

Garth... what are you doing to the metal things in your life? This is some Keith Moon level destruction you're describing.

I have an iNDe strainer on three of my Ludwig drums. I have zero complaints, but I haven't put an explosive charge in any of those drums.

I have a DW Mag Throw on another snare. It's fine. Was it more useful than the iNDe? No, especially not for the price difference.

I'm also building a Gretsch snare using the reissue MicroSensitive. We'll see how that goes. I like the fact that it has a safety release on it. I also like the "big round thing on a small square thing" design element, like the Leica pocket cameras. It's going to look really nice on the 6.5 black lacquer Gretsch snare I'm building.

dontfeartheringo wrote: Mon Sep 27, 2021 2:13 pm Garth... what are you doing to the metal things in your life? This is some Keith Moon level destruction you're describing.

I have an iNDe strainer on three of my Ludwig drums. I have zero complaints, but I haven't put an explosive charge in any of those drums.

I have a DW Mag Throw on another snare. It's fine. Was it more useful than the iNDe? No, especially not for the price difference.

I'm also building a Gretsch snare using the reissue MicroSensitive. We'll see how that goes. I like the fact that it has a safety release on it. I also like the "big round thing on a small square thing" design element, like the Leica pocket cameras. It's going to look really nice on the 6.5 black lacquer Gretsch snare I'm building.

Ooh that's really cool. My RB drum is pretty much unplayable because the old strainer sucks. And it's not even broken!

dontfeartheringo wrote: Garth... what are you doing to the metal things in your life? This is some Keith Moon level destruction you're describing.

Combo of being an oaf + not thinking things through. The kick was me not thinking things through: ATLAS hardware just doesn't belong on acryilc shells. They are heavy and stick out quite far so combine that w/ the relatively thin and brittle shells, a knock in the right place is all it took to crack the kick. For those DW legs, I just over-torqued them. They really don't need to be, but I've had too many things like cymbal stands collapse on me using shitty older hardware that I just habitually used to crank things down too far. Most drum hardware now is way better design and doesn't need to be cranked. Lesson learned.

dontfeartheringo wrote: Gretch snare throw off

that butt plate is the money right there and circles us back to the OP. Being able to adjust the tension on both sides will really save their owners a lot of headaches getting the snares centered.

twelvepoint wrote: Mon Sep 27, 2021 3:43 pm
Ooh that's really cool. My RB drum is pretty much unplayable because the old strainer sucks. And it's not even broken!

Yeah, they're often terrible. The RBs can sound great, though. A lot depends on whether Frank or Jimmy (not their real names) was cutting bearing edges that day. However, no one gets too mad if you retouch Gretsch bearing edges. Everyone knows they're, ah.... unpredictable.

Garth wrote: Mon Sep 27, 2021 3:49 pm

dontfeartheringo wrote: Garth... what are you doing to the metal things in your life? This is some Keith Moon level destruction you're describing.

Combo of being an oaf + not thinking things through. The kick was me not thinking things through: ATLAS hardware just doesn't belong on acryilc shells. They are heavy and stick out quite far so combine that w/ the relatively thin and brittle shells, a knock in the right place is all it took to crack the kick. For those DW legs, I just over-torqued them. They really don't need to be, but I've had too many things like cymbal stands collapse on me using shitty older hardware that I just habitually used to crank things down too far. Most drum hardware now is way better design and doesn't need to be cranked. Lesson learned.

dontfeartheringo wrote: Gretch snare throw off

that butt plate is the money right there and circles us back to the OP. Being able to adjust the tension on both sides will really save their owners a lot of headaches getting the snares centered.

I am NOT A FAN of the Atlas Ludwig stuff. Sticks out too far, as you noted, and also made my rack tom sound like it was full of mashed turnips.

WRT over-torquing: Man, I had to break myself of the "monkey-tight" habit after ruining enough stuff. She's no good, the monkey-tight.

I'll post photos and observations once I get this snare built up. It's slow going, buying parts on a nonprofit salary.

bishopdante wrote: Mon Sep 27, 2021 4:54 pm

Garth wrote: Mon Sep 27, 2021 9:08 am The Trick has always looked like the best but I hate snare throws that stick out that far

I keep the throw mechanism on the far side of the drum away from me. Easiest place to reach the thing, surely?

Oh, it's not so much the placement while playing. I don't think that'd be an issue. I mean when transporting it. I'd be very afraid it has the same "heavy and sticks out too far" issues that those ATLAS lugs have to put it in a case safely.