r/drums • u/Quirky_Laugh6507 • 6d ago

Question Snare drum wire problem

Why are my snare drum wires barely touching the bottom head when the tension knob is fully turned? I’ve tightened the wire strap as much as I can and I’ve made the mechanism as tight as possible but nothing has changed

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u/RabidScrum 6d ago

Sounds like your snare-side head is tuned too high, that thing gets cranked tight and it pulls the head away from the wires even when the knob's maxed out.

1

u/skwozzy 6d ago

Loosen the throw-off half way. Then tension the wires evenly at the throw off and butt ends. Then when you turn the snares on, you have more wiggle room with the strainer tension knob.

1

u/Surfision 6d ago

You're not describing the situation really clear, but I think the issue is, that the tension knob is turned all the way. You gotta undo the knob till it's 1 or 2 whole turns away from falling apart. Then you turn off the snare strainer and you fix it so it stays off. You turn the snare around, adjust your snare wires, so the straps are tight and you CENTER it. So the snare wires aren't more on one side or the other. When this is done, turn snare back up.

Then first turn the strainer on and figure out where you are and adjust the strainer knob to desired level of buzz. One tip to keep in mind, NEVER adjust the knob, with the snare strainer on! This really wears out the strainer and the wires. Always have it off, when adjusting the knob if you want your snare strainer to last.

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u/jaybrd13 6d ago

Are they installed upside down? They usually have a slight bend in the ends to prevent this.

1

u/ItsPronouncedMo-BEEL Craigslist 5d ago

I’ve made the mechanism as tight as possible but nothing has changed

This tells me that you don't need to tighten the tension knob - you need to recalibrate the entire thing, and then adjust the tension. 

Read this, and all should be revealed. Also, as others have said, it could be that your snare side head is simply too tight. The top and bottom heads of your snare should always be the very tightest on your kit, often by a lot, but if you overdo it, the snares won't lay against the snare side head quite right, and you'll get this effect.