Snare Beds redux (-MIKE- or whomever)
Pete Pemberton
change out heads, tune etc. The kit was a Pacific with the satin stain
finish. Heavy thickish shells, decent bearing edges, self tapping
rods?, some were very hard to turn but not stripped, pain in the tush.
Anyway, had trouble with the snare then inspected the snare bed, and
yes, there was no snare bed. So the dad is a contractor/woodworker so I
am sure he won't have any trouble creating on in the wood shell. I am
recommending a wood rasp to get the bulk out, maybe a small plane, then
sandpaper. Dad wasn't home so I will talk to him about this Monday.
Thoughts? Router? Teeth?
PP
John Riolo
Steve Turner
> http://www.amdrumparts.com/images/snare_beds.jpg
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-MIKE-
There probably is a snare bed, but it's so shallow to be virtually
non-existent.
That's DW for you. I've never heard a DW that didn't buzz when someone
in the next room farted.
Rasps or files are ok, but tedious and can chip out the inner/outer
plies. I've done the router thing and it's great, but you have to be a
bit experienced or it's very easy to destroy an edge, real quick. :-)
I actually find sanding is quick and easy to control. A belt sander
works great, because it's super fast and most of those belts are about
the width of a snare bed without the tapers, or ramps.
3/16-1/4" is plenty deep. If the bearing edges are 45 chamfers, then
measuring the depth of the bed is as easy as measuring the width of the
flat spot you are sanding. If the flat spot is 1/4" wide, then it's a
1/4" deep.
100-120 grit will take out the bulk is no time. If he's good with a belt
sander, it can be used to form the ramps on each side of the bed, also.
No hard and fast rules there. 30 degree angle from bed to edge is fine.
Hand sanding with 120 will work to round over the bed, just to take off
any sharpness, and make it all uniform. Then move up in grit until it
matches the rest of the edge... or more likely, until it's smoother than
the rest.
Other than the fact that snares sound better with a snare bed, don't let
all the theory, hyperbole, and opinions get in your way. A couple years
ago, I took a raw shell, slapped the hardware on it, left both bearing
edges *flat*, belt sanded a quick-n-dirty snare bed (also flat), threw
some heads on it..... it sounded great. not kidding.
--
-MIKE-
"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
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Fish
Steve Turner
On my last snare drum project
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/sets/72157604599305593/) I didn't
want the snare beds to be something without any real sense of purpose,
so I set about discovering what *my* ideal notion of a snare bed should be.
I've never been too keen on snare beds with "stark" designs: steep
ramps, deep rounded depressions, heavy crimps, or whatever. I can't
stand having to place undo tension in that area just to get the heads to
conform to the bed, or even *heating* the heads to get them to shrink
into place (ack!). That seems totally ridiculous to me, and for what
purpose? All you really need to do is to get the snares to lie
consistently flat on the head all the way across, without lifting and
buzzing in one area or choking in another. In most cases, the snare
wires are soldered at each end to a *flat* plate that is invariably
positioned *in* the snare bed; how often is that bed too narrow or
ridiculously proportioned such that the plate (and some length of the
snare wires) can't possibly lie flat against the head?
The snare drum whose bed design always seemed to make sense to me was
that of the Ludwig Supraphonic (mid-sixties models onward). How could I
go wrong replicating the bed design of such a fantastic drum? Funny
thing is though, a cursory inspection of a Supraphonic might lead you to
believe the things don't even *have* snare beds, and indeed, they really
don't. The beds are really just two additional flat surfaces at a very
slight angle. They're only about 1/8" deep (if that), and they "start"
(almost imperceptibly) at the points halfway between the lugs on either
side of the throwoff/butt and the next two lugs on either side of those.
The entire "bed" surface is totally flat, with no visible depressions
or "ramps". In fact, if you set the shell on a totally flat surface and
press downward, the shell will "rock" over onto the snare bed surface
and lie completely flat on the table surface with no gaps.
With this style of snare bed you can have snare wires of almost any
width and never have to worry about them mating properly with the head.
The shape formed by the bottom head yields a surface similar to what
would be achieved by stretching the snare wires around the surface of a
very large cylinder. To me this makes much more sense than any other
bed design.
-MIKE-
> I've never been too keen on snare beds with "stark" designs: steep
> ramps, deep rounded depressions, heavy crimps, or whatever. I can't
> stand having to place undo tension in that area just to get the heads to
> conform to the bed, or even *heating* the heads to get them to shrink
> into place (ack!). That seems totally ridiculous to me, and for what
> purpose?
>
The reason I tend to make a discernible (stark) snare bed is because
after making several dozen, I found that the snares I play that I made
that way have every little sympathetic buzz. The snares I play on house
kits or on another dudes kits (opening band) that have a barely
noticeable bed, always seem to buzz and buzz at every little sound.
(seems way too civil in here, compared to that other joint we hang in) :-)
Pete Pemberton
> Steve Turner wrote:
>> I've never been too keen on snare beds with "stark" designs: steep
>> ramps, deep rounded depressions, heavy crimps, or whatever. I can't
>> stand having to place undo tension in that area just to get the heads
>> to conform to the bed, or even *heating* the heads to get them to
>> shrink into place (ack!). That seems totally ridiculous to me, and for
>> what purpose?
>
> The reason I tend to make a discernible (stark) snare bed is because
> after making several dozen, I found that the snares I play that I made
> that way have every little sympathetic buzz. The snares I play on house
> kits or on another dudes kits (opening band) that have a barely
> noticeable bed, always seem to buzz and buzz at every little sound.
>
> (seems way too civil in here, compared to that other joint we hang in) :-)
Sounds like I need to get the ddrum snare out and perform some surgery
on it. Forgot about the sympathetic vibe angle re: snare beds. Can I
get a duh? When I use my 10" (which I haven't been because of this) and
when I hit it, sounds like IT has snare wires on it! ha
pp