Gettting a good snare sound from main drum

[StillStikn]

Hi...Purchased a GP Cocktail kit some months ago and have been modifying it ever since. I installed a snare fan under the main drum head using a Gibraltar internal tone control as I've seen in a few posts. To me it doesn't sound anything like a snare...sounds more like a tom tom with a rattle. I have the snare fan angled up so it does push pretty firmly into the head. The snares just don't seem to add enough "Snare" to the drum though to make it worthwhile. I've heard Cocktail Angst and John's main drum kit sounds awesome. My snares are about 6"-7" inches long....maybe too long? Or maybe my Tom head is too loose.

Any thoughts?

Bob

[Dinkus]

I'd try 2 things for sure. Shorten the length of the snare fan to 4 inches. Do not over tighten the fan, this causes the tips to float off the head and just buzz and rattle. Then crank that head up. If you think it's tight enough, then tighten it somemore

Dinkus

[jmettam]

I'd try 2 things for sure. Shorten the length of the snare fan to 4 inches. Do not over tighten the fan, this causes the tips to float off the head and just buzz and rattle. Then crank that head up. If you think it's tight enough, then tighten it somemore

What size is your drum? Mine is a 14" the smaller diameter the tighter the snare sound will be that's for sure. I think that Dinkus has a larger drum and he gets amazing snare tones from his.

On tuning and snare length, I'm with Dinkus! Just be sure to take your time triming off bits of the snares. I have cut them too short before, and then there is no going back! Fortunately if you used a regular snare, you have a couple of tries....

Definitely crank that top head! I really tighten mine as high as I dare. I also use a diplomat head which gives even more room to go and it's a bit thinner so the snares interact a bit more. Also try muffling the hell out of the bottom head, start there and get a good snare sound, then start working on the kick. An easy test is rest the drum on a carpet without the legs and play the snare head. That can give you an idea of what the top head is doing. Then lift it up and play again to see how much the bottom head is affecting the sound.

Hope this helps,

- John

[StillStikn]

Thanks much for the input guys. I'll shorten up and tighten up and hopefully that'll do it. Only issue would be that I'd hate tp lose the deep floor tom sound but I guess compromises are necessary. Thanks again...
Take care,

Bob