Snare tension tip

[Whitfield]

Thanks to Drumboo and Gene Okamoto, I've been able to fix a very annoying problem with my Export snare. I wanted to share the tip.

As I would play, the tension on my snare would gradually loosen. (I'm not talking about the tension rods, mind you, but the tension the strainer puts on the snare wires themselves.) After 2 or 3 songs, I would have to retighten the strainer. If you're having this problem, unscrew the strainer altogether and insert a spring. The trick is finding the right spring. The photo below shows what I'm talking about, but the spring is way too big...

C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\Spring.jpg

The diameter shouldn't be much bigger than the strainer tension screw. It needs to be long enough to put some tension on the strainer, but not so long that it strips the screw. If the tension screw starts turning hard and you still can't hear the snare wires, STOP and try a different screw.

Anyway, it worked great.

[Whitfield]

Oops! I inserted the pic wrong.

[Pyrotechnic]

Hmm, looks very similar to my Ludwig P85 strainer, except it came from the factory WITH a spring, and mine doesn't have that problem, my dads snare, a 60's slingerland sound king with a slingerland zoomatic strainer has that problem, not sure why though.

[Gene Okamoto]

The spring "thing" has been around for years because it's inexpensive and works effectively.

The SR-017 strainer that we use on many of our professional series snare drums comes standard with a spring.

[saidsaba]

Originally posted by Whitfield
Oops! I inserted the pic wrong.

about that pic, can you turn around the strainer and take a pic, i want to see the mechanism of the handle because mine is broken
thanks
said

[jipps]

I thought I was the only one. That strainer is such a pain in the *** it's so annoying. It's come to the point where I subconciously tighten it in every break/pause/rest I get.

[Whitfield]

Sorry, saidsaba, but I don't have a digital camera. Gene posted the pic in a different thread where he pointed me towards the spring solution in the first place. I posted here as a "tip" to help people find it easier.

[Nez]

Originally posted by Gene Okamoto
The spring "thing" has been around for years because it's inexpensive and works effectively.

The SR-017 strainer that we use on many of our professional series snare drums comes standard with a spring.

In that case, could you start adding it the Export snares? Pretty please....?!

[DRUMBOO]

glad we could help

[sbrob]

That's why the snare is one of the most important investments "upgrades" in the kit!