Non wire snares???

[n4vgm]

I'm thinking of moding a 12" tom into a small single head snare for a "micro kit". I've seen the way others have added snares from below. Has anyone tried other materials for snares? Plastic strips???

Just wondering,

Bob

[jmettam]

I tried making my own gut-style snares on a regular snare drum using fishing cable once. It worked moderately well.

Are you talking about putting in a fan made out of plastic or running it from edge to edge?

- John

[n4vgm]

I'm thinking fan from the underside of the batter head. I have a 12" tom that I'm thinking of spliting in two to get a small snare. If I told you what the rest of the idea was you'd laugh (in a good way).

The idea of plastic strips came to mind. My problem is I have to finish some other projects first - I just like to mull things over before starting.

[jmettam]

It sounds like a cool idea. My only concern would be that there be enough stiffness in the plastic the get a good fast snare sound. With metal wires they don't have too much flexibility so when you hit the drum they don't come off the head too much and they snap back very quickly. Softer plastic might give it a mushy sound.

Let us know how your experiments work out!

- John

[matthew medeiros]

On the thought of plastice snares, have you thought of using a setup similar to a Ludwig Super Sensitive? or is that too much expense. And to comment on John's gut snares experiment, I've had friends of mine use gut cello strings to restore old snare drums with gut snares but this can get expensive also, you might have to buy a complete set of strings to get the diameter you want!! I can ask my friend which string works best if you want, let me know.

[n4vgm]

Thanks but I don't think the gut strings are the way to go for what I'm doing and dirt cheap is my current mode!

Bob

[jim kooser]

Never tried these on a cocktail drum, but I use heavy gauge low E guitar strings on the cajons I build. I buy 'em in bulk from a local guitar store, bloody cheep and they work really well. I'm not sure how you'd apply the proper tension on a cocktail set-up; I use inexpensive mandolin tuners on the cajons.

[n4vgm]

Now there's an idea! I play guitar and I need to change strings anyway so I'll save the 6th string. With two guitars that should be enough to work with. As far as attaching them I bet I can glue them onto a piece of something and then screw that on the inside of the shell with the string sections curving uo and touching the bottom of the head.

Thanks!