You're comparing apples to oranges here......COB drums sound different from the later supraphonics which are made out of aluminum. Apples to oranges man......

To clarify...

The shell is not COB, just the hoops. Alloy shell. I am wanting to know if brass hoops choke or darken the sound of an alloy shell.

The two drums I am comparing are serials 44000 and 87000. Both made in 1964.

Yes. Brass has a naturally darker and mellower sound than zinc, steel, or those other metals young kids are using these days. That's why people like 'em. It adds a slightly woody character to something that has no wood. Mind you, it's slight...but it is noticeable.

Beyond this, have you double-checked the way the snares lay on the head? Sometimes the screw holes can be "off" a bit and cause the snares to lay a bit uneven. You have to make the adjustments manually when you mount the snares. That's something to check. You also might want to check the bed itself. Make sure nothing "odd" is going on there.

It's interesting that you've tried new steel hoops and it didn't make a difference. That will usually cause a snare to pop a bit more.

I find it unusual that an alloy Luddy snare that old has not started pitting or flaking at all. That is very strange. Are you absolutely sure that snare is not COB? It's sometimes difficult to determine. Have you scraped a lug hole?

Can you be specific about head choice and snare choice? That might give us a bit more to go on when we narrow down the suggestions.

Sometimes brand of wires makes a difference too....generic ones are usually a bad idea. Puresound or factory Ludwig are best.....

Switch your rims off of the other 64 and see what you get. Then take the snare off of the other, etc...you get the idea. Try to isolate the problem by interchanging parts.

Cya,

Mike

Thank you all.

I shall get round to swapping hoops between my older 64 and this 'strangely mint'-shelled brass hooper. It does have pin hole pitting, but virtually imperceptible.

Here is my part variations to date:

batter heads - coated CS dot, ambassador, vintage A

snare side - rmv snare side (built like ludwig head with crimped, not glued, hoops)

snares - factory (bent and bad), pearl D type snares, gibraltar generic (look exactly like current Ludwig factory snares to me)

hoops - swapped hoops from a 2007 Premier Modern Classic Brass Snare (heavy chrome over steel; not die cast). These were even heavier than the brass ones on the 64, so I wasn't entirely surprised that they choked it more.

One other thing I've noticed is that my problem supra is also the 'buzziest' snare. I often use one moon gel, but would need two for this one to control the buzz for recording purposes.

I'm pretty certain the shell is standard alloy. Even with the brass hoops, it doesn't weigh near the 10lbs that COBs are known for. It doesn't have crimped snare beds, nor a seam.

Thanks again for your responses.

Here's a "way out there" suggestion.

Could it be a steel snare shell retrofited with Supra hardware?

They actually made snares like this in the B/O era but keystone, I'm not sure.

Then again, the badge could have been swapped. I assume you've tried the magnet test.

Not likely but a remote possibility.

Are you serious? That's the first I've heard of that!

If I use a small low-grade fridge magnet, it just barely sticks to both my 64 supras, but not strongly attracted like on my steel hooped drums, or the lugs. A larger magnet will fall right off.

I have noticed that the badges are slightly different. The later 87000 badge has an ® next to it. Was that a feature of later 64 supras?

Here's a pic of a B/O steel from our very own archives. It is an 8 lug drum though....so I guess that's out the window for sure. Although the pic does look 10 luggish.....I don't know....I could be totally wrong but that's what it says.

[IMG]http://www.vintagedrumguide.com/images/snare_ludwig/ludwig_70_suprafonic_large.jpg[/IMG]