Back Beat Snare Wire 30

Brad Schlueter / writer, reviewer or product tester

Usually, if a drummer wants to alter the sound of a drum, he’ll change the heads. That can make a dramatic difference to the way a drum sounds. However, many drummers have favorite heads and resist swapping them for those with a different sound and feel.

Upgrading the wires under your drum is another effective, if often overlooked method, to improve the sound of your snare. The more wires in contact with the bottom head the drier the drum will be. If you have a very lively or thick metal snare that has too much ring, one way to help tame it is with a wider set of snare wires. The number of wires beneath a snare can also affect the drum tone a bit.

Enter the Back Beat 30 and 42 Snare Wires (models CPSS-BB14 SNP30 and CPSS-BB14 SNPW). These chromed snare wire sets are similar to each other but differ in the number of coiled wires that contact the bottom head. The 42-strand model is about 4” wide compared to the 30-strand model that is an inch narrower.

As you’d expect, the wider wires had a drier sound than the narrower set. So if you have a drum that sounds too lively with standard 20-strand wires, either of these models can help dampen the decay.

I tried these on a couple of different drums. One of my metal snares has a raucous, lively character and long decay was noticeably improved with these wires. I slightly preferred the 30-strand model on my drum, but if yours is livelier than mine, the 42-strand model might work better. However, I liked how the 42-strand model helped dry up some of my drum’s rim shots. It seemed that the brightness of my drum was slightly attenuated, bringing out more of the midrange, making for a fuller and more balanced tone. Best of all, my drum’s seemed to become more sensitive with these wires.

Also, I noticed that if you like your wires to be a little on the loose side, more wires can give a smoother, denser rattle/decay. This can be effective on a power ballad.

I also received sets of the Vintage Wires (CPSL-14NP, CPSL-14DR) and Back Beat Wires) CPSS-14NP, CPSS-14DR) to try out. Frankly, I liked all of these wires on my snares. I put each set on the same drum and all these wires improved the sound over the stock wires that had been on the drum. My drum seemed brighter and crisper with the Canopus wires. If I had to pick one or two for my drum, I’d choose the chrome vintage or chrome backbeat model, since they were a touch brighter than the natural wires in each series. If your drum doesn’t need brightening, the natural finish wires might be a better choice.

When I loosened these wires some, they had a slightly coarser decay than the wider wires mentioned earlier, but were still quite nice.

Not So Modern Drummer

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.

http://www.notsomoderndrummer.com/not-so-modern-drummer/2015/11/2/review-of-canopus-back-beat-30-snare-wires