This may not apply to others who own them, but I've had two Dunnett snares, one wood and one metal. The metal one I purchased from Ron and it was like a 1/4" out of round. Impossible to tune. I complained and we settled on a wood monoply. I tried to like it but never did and sold it on ebay. I noticed about six months or so after I sold the wood one that it was being re-sold, so maybe it wasn't just me.

My Rogers Luxor 1960s wmp snare was a lifeless drum that I got rid of without much hesitation. I think it was their lower end drum at the time and probably for good reason..?

wow...you brought back memories of my very first Kent drum set. Although I loved them - the snare was horrible. Lousy strainer, crappy heads and cheap lightweight hardware all combined together to make one of the worst snare drums I've ever owned. I could never get a decent sound out of it no matter how hard I tried.

I have all SONOR snares and the drums are just fine. Kinda wish someone would come up with a internal damper that don`t hit back and can hold on to the felts.

Hit back? You mean disrupt the stick bounce should you hit on it? Or is that an internal damper with an attitude?

Some dampers I think have an attitude. But ya, the bounce, and phonics have the same damper as the supra with the barrel nut spring, that seems to bounce down and come back up with a note I didn`t hit.

All of them!!

UNTIL I got a drum dial tuner, and found the sound I was missing. Now I know all you purists and professionals will think it's me, but I was always able to tune evenly - just never happy with the sound. I play for my own enjoyment, but even those times when i had others tune a snare for me - I can truly say I was never over the moon with the results. Now, I've got my 60's Acro cranked to 90 on the batter, 80 on the reso, and I love it! Yes, that's the extreme - Supra's and Classic Maple less tight, but it's the ability to set a repeatable, measurable level and know what/where that setting is that I found works best for me. As I am a hobbyist - my lifelong issue with snare tuning was simply that I didn't know they needed to be cranked up that much!

I love your honesty. I have been using the tama tension watch for over 15 years now, I caught all kinds of flak back in the day, It rolled off me like water on a ducks back. I've been playing many decades, I saw it as a very useful tool especially during live playing, now they have become common place drum dials and such devices.

I tune my axe with dial, wouldn`t even try with out it because it`s a huge difference, but not my drums. Probably why I`m not so big on soft playing.

Deep sound= loser heads

Inside= medium tight.

Outside= crank `em.....

With the snare, I find if you hit it hard, it will make only two sounds, a wood or metal sound.....

Ludwig 400/402 in COB/Bronze/Alloy. I've had several of each but ultimately the sound is not for me... CryBaby