I have never been a big user of wider snare wires because most drums do not have a wide enough snare bed to accept them. They can sound incredibly full and rich when used correctly, but if you put a 42 snare strand set of wires on a drum whose bed has a flat spot narrower than the wires, then the drum is going to have excessive snare wire buzz because the end plate will not let the wires sink into the curve of the head created by the bed. They don’t let the snare bed do its job. It’s as simple as that. Most people don’t realize what a snare bed does so they can be frustrated when using wider snares that give more snare sound but also more buzz. I’ve debated this online for years with other drum builders who don’t “get it”. I became aware of it when customers in my drum shop would bring in a drum that they had installed 42 or 30 or even as small as 25 strand wires on and couldn’t get rid of the sympathetic buzzing. After replacing them with a 20 strand wire set the buzz would magically disappear! Why? Because the flat spot was only wide enough to accommodate a 20 strand set, as most drums are. Most drum manufacturers and drum builders just don’t install a bed with a flat spot wide enough to allow those big snare sets to lie uniformly in the curve at the edge of the drum.
The Canopus Black Brass drum that I tested these 30 strand wires on had the perfect width bed for these wires to lie in and respond correctly. It’s nice to see a drum company that understands how this is supposed to work. It was a pleasure to play this drum and hear that big, rich and snappy snare sound coming from underneath. The snares sounded very full and there was minimal snare buzz from other instruments (there’s always going to be some buzz on any snare drum, though. You can’t argue with physics and Mother Nature). The nickel plating is very good. The end plates are very smooth with nice rounded edges on the string and strap holes which will keep them from being cut. The soldering of the wires on the end plate is very uniform. Great new product.
Not So Modern Drummer
