Hey there my friend. Looks like fatigue. The string holes in the plates at the end of a set of snares exert quite a bit of abrasion on snare cord. We bend snare cord 90 degrees through a very thin and therefore sharp piece of metal. Any snare cord will eventually become abraded at that point and therefore needs to be inspected and replaced from time to time. It looks like you were using Ludwig string and that is a good choice, but it will eventually fail. No need to risk a show over the cost of some new string.

On another note, I am a huge believer in spares. IMO every drum riser should have a spare snare drum (with the snare strainer off please) and a spare kick pedal. Spare sticks are a given. Since most of us own quite a few drums, there is no reason not to. Now that might be a little extreme if you are playing a drum and piano jazz duo, but I am not aware of any situations where an audience or band members are enthusiastic about a break for equipment repairs.

Back to nylon straps for sure! Next time, in between sets, look for a set of blinds in any window and help yourself to a piece of the pull cord. It's the same stuff they use on snare drums.

God bless backline equipment! It saves me from lugging extra anything to gigs! If something breaks down, I can always cannibalize the backline kit.

John

Here is the missing piece of the puzzle, that cord is less than one month old.

I just replaced the cord on that snare, and used it for 2 gigs before this happened????????????????

Has to be either; a faulty piece of cord, or the holes in the snares are sharp around the edges. Maybe a little filing around the holes to round them out a bit if they are rough. (?) Weird, I've never seen that kind of -fast- deterioration on a snare cord before.

John

That is very odd. That is also why I am replacing any of my 83's and 85's with P86's. I just received a half dozen of them and will install next week. Grosgrain ribbon straps for all my snares from now on. I am completely done with string!

All it takes is a moderately rough snare cord hole and you will have a problem. Purdie is right that this may require some filing of the holes in question.

I would take a drill bit slightly larger than those holes, and push/turn it BY HAND to knock off any edges on it. This would be fairly easy to do!

toodles

Drumhack Sumo DudeClapping Happy2guitar2guitar3

Dan, it looks like the wear was happening at the holes on the snares. I think that using your suggestion or even some emory cloth on the holes will smooth the edges and eliminate the cutting action. I've never seen that kind of wear on what is a new cord before, has to be that the holes are sharp/rough somehow.

John

In an emergency, you'll need the snare more than your shoelace, right?