Wicked,...definitely Bostonian....

I don`t drink, never did,...hope you got a smoke`n area.....

Yes please, better pics, both ends.

Exhibit A: acne-laden supra. After taking pics of drum I noticed the snares weren't centered on the head and the strainer adjustment was almost all the way up (i.e. can't tighten the snares up much more). I'll have to work on the snare cord install. I have some new Ludwig cord on the way and will experiment with different snare wires.

On the topic of tying snare cord, I went with this method this time around:

http://snaredrumz.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-properly-thread-snare-cord.html

Obviously, it didn't help. While overthinking this cord/snare clip threading I came across these:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Pearl-SN1420I-UltraSound-Tension-14-inch/dp/B003V8BE7Q/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1423496041&sr=8-6&keywords=pearl+snare+wires"]Amazon.com: Pearl SN1420I 20 Strand UltraSound Even Tension for 14-inch with Cords: Musical Instruments@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/514Gcws7NEL.@@AMEPARAM@@514Gcws7NEL[/ame]

Anybody use them?

I'll continue to tinker with tuning. I did a lot of web research and everyone has an opinion on reso head tuning - crank it, detune/crank up the lugs next to the snare wires...The internet is a great source of info, sometimes too much.

If there are any revelations I'll post pics and findings for anyone who has the same problem.

Yep tell me about it if you get it sorted, :) it's awful isnt it? Cos they are the sweetest sounding metal snares.

It looks like the cord is fed through the wire plate holes the other way than how I would do it. With generic snappy snare, you want the cord, coming from the butt or strainer, to go between the reso head and the end plate, then across to the other hole on the outer side, where you can see it.

The cord pulls the end plate slightly away from the head, but this is fine, it rather pulls the center of the wires up against the reso head, creating the crisp response you're missing.

Standard set-up - Amby batter and snare side, with those gerenic wires and cord - has worked fine for me on both 5 and 6.5 Supras. The only upgrade I use now is Canopus wires.

edit: The link you gave

http://snaredrumz.blogspot.de/2010/03/how-to-properly-thread-snare-cord.html

is a few years old, and even back then I thought Tarrani (used to post on cymbalholic) had it wrong. His way might work with some tunings, but not for sensitive response, non-choked at all volumes. Orchestral, jazz, pop player over here, and that same set-up works for all these, think Joe Morello sound.

That's kinda what I thought when I looked at it, that it would pull the clip ends down and pull the snares up in the middle.

My mission here is not to reinvent the wheel, I just want the snare to work right. I'm good with the original snappy snares and cord, or whatever it rolled out of the factory with. As frustration has mounted I started looking at whatever will make this right.

Again, the internet is a wonderful source of info, but you never know where people are coming from with regards to what works for them. Personally, I'm kind of a ham-fisted rocker, so an emperor/ambassador setup with the snares just touching (ala Bonham circa LZ II era) is my snare nirvana. The tone when I hit the drum is THE sound in my head I'm after, then the boooiinngg after it kills it. And here I am drilling down waaaay too deep on something that I never gave a second thought to.

Please, change the cord set-up and let us know about your results. Maybe call Tarrani to pull this misinforming blog entry of his.

Without having my drum with me I don't get what tarrani is saying about threading the cord, -put both ends of 1 cord through 1 eyelet?...?... But even then the cord has to be under the end plate anyway doesn't it?

Holy crap and sh*it`n bomb, JD, You should not string them like that. It`s prolly the problem. You could be pulling one side of the cord tighter than the other.

Don`t take the squeeze plate off, open it just enough to thread the cord through and around the screws with the ends faceing down before tightening the plate back up. Will never ever slip and you get even pull from the throw and even tension on the butt. leave the butt side of the wires on the edges, that way when you activate the throw it will pull it off the edges and center the wires. If you don`t the throw will pull the wire plate onto that side edges. It doesn`t matter if the throw is off, it only matters when it is activated.

I hope this makes sense, if not I`ll try to explain it better.

I don't think it matters how you attach the cord to the butt end or strainer as long as it is centered and stays put.

It's the end plates of the wires where you can influence the sound, for better or worse. Here, Tarrani simply has it backwards.

Attached file shows the view onto the snare side, it's self-explanatory I hope. Both end plates/cords should look like the checked pic on the left.

Ha, having looked at mine again the space between the edges and the snare gate is actually pretty closed up, ive got a diplomat 2mil snare head on there, but I've still tried everything before lookes like I should rehead it again and try again but finances are stretched as much as this snare head now!