Customer Reviews

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I have several of these Black Swamp cable snares both wrap around and standard style. I'm convinced the wrap around style gets the cleanest and most most responsive snare sound possible. It's far superior to any snappy wire snare I've ever used. And I've tried almost every high quality snare wire. I have the coated blue cable and the stainless steel wraparound models and coated blue cable and blue/stainless combo standard style models. Obviously these are pricier than snappy wire snares but they're still a lot less expensive than buying more snare drums to try to find a certain sound. (I'm guilty of that too!). Treat yourself to the stainless for stainless for more sensitive playing or blue coated for more powerful playing.

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Very pricey compared to any other snares on the market, but with its narrow strands, it sure makes a snare drum pop. Not much snare sound (very narrow and thin strands), but that drum pops.

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Great snare wires

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Excellent snare wires

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The Classic Gold wires are the second set of coated stainless steel wrap-around snares that I've purchased. The first set was a W14C (the standard coated blue), which I used on an original-build field snare. The coated cable really does replicate the sound of gut snares for the vintage field drum sound I was after. I subsequently cannibalized those snares for use on a 5 1/2 x 14" kit snare that was giving me a sympathetic snare buzz tuning nightmare. It immediately corrected the problem caused by the curly wires. And I dig the sound that my vintage Rogers Powertone is putting out. I decided to go with the gold to replace the missing snares on my field drum, which had been reduced to "tenor" status via the "donation." I did so for aesthetic reasons because the gold more closely resembles vintage gut. The gold has 12 strands versus the 16 strands on the blue, but I noticed no perceptible reduction in sound output.

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Black swamp wraparound cable snares sound awesome. Not for every situation but if you want that big fat snare drum sound, cable snares do the job!!

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I'm using the wrap arounds on all my snares. This is basically the Hinger snare wire from the 80's. I mainly use the gold but I have drums set up with the blue and the stainless/blue. I like the wrap arounds for the sensitivity and the fact that they don't cut into the bottom head like the stock(non Black Swamp) steel snare wire. With proper tuning they greatly reduce the sympathetic vibrations with the toms. I believe it says on the Black Swamp website that you can't use the wrap arounds with snare beds. I have without any problems, also I have used them without the beds. Pricey compared to stock snare wires but I have never broken one and I am a hard hitter! So if your snare wires are dangling or the bottom skin is ripping, the price may well be worth it!

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Looking to turn an older drum with traditional hardware into a concert drum. I chose the Wrap-Around Coated Cable / Stainless Steel, so that I'd get maximal contact with the resonant head. Response is very dry (not quite as buzzy as wire snares), but has fantastic dynamic range.

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I purchased a set of gold coated Black Swamp wrap around snares to install on my late 60's Roger Dynasinic 10 X 14 marching snare drum and what a difference the snares made! What a great sounding drum now. It now sounds like an old school snare drum with gut snares. If you're looking for that gut sound, I highly recommend this product. Steve Weiss was easy to deal with, even when the snares took an unexpected detour from Pennsylvania to California en route to the deep south. USPS fault!

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I experimented with the blue coated cable snare on several drums. This cable snare will give any snare drum a cleaner snare response while allowing the drum's tone to resonate freely. I tried it on a Pearl Omnicast, Ahead Bell Brass and my 51 year old Ludwig Supraphonic (bought new for 6th grade band!) and it turned each of these drums into my idea of a perfect snare drum.

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An excellent product that is virtually universal in retrofit applications. They provide maximum tone and sensitivity to any drum with outstanding performance and quality.

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I installed the Standard Stainless Steel model on a 5" Black Beauty with Diplomat weight heads and die cast hoops, in search of fast response and dark(ish) tone. I got exactly what I was looking for! Love it! I am mostly playing jazz but this configuration still has more than enough bite for backbeat playing. Well worth the investment. With that out of the way, the included mounting cords are stiff metal with a thin outer layer of fabric, not unlike the infamous "blue cords". I have seen photos of drums with nasty cuts on their edges caused by this type of cord under high tension, so I instead used basic nylon cords.

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You can occasionally get a better price from some website that wants to drop ship from the manufacturer in 2 to 5 months. I buy from Steve Weiss Music because they have the item on hand and you will have it in a week generally. These replacement snares are excellent and were just what I wanted. NO fuss no muss. Steve Weiss Music.

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I wanted to convert a 10 lug wood drum into a concert snare. I took a fine file and some sand paper and deepened the snare bed to about 1/8" deep, put Diplomat weight heads on the drum, and added these cable snares. Voila! A beautiful sounding concert snare! These work great, but be sure that your butt plate and strainer are high enough to allow the wrap around. If you don't want to go through all this, get the comperable Black Swamp standard snare, which are basicly the same sound wise. Yes, they cost a bit more, but they last forever under normal use. Great product!

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I have bought several of these over time. Each time I put them on, I love the change in sound. What you get is more of a traditional, old-school, gut snare kind of sound. Think old civil war parade drum. More drum shell sound comes through, and less of the metallic coiled buzzy snare wires sound. Sympathetic buzzing is reduced, too. I love 'em. I prefer the stainless steel cable to the coated cable.

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I have bought these and completely converted several snare drums into quality concert sounding instruments... however.... this product used to be around $30 ... and now it is over $ 50? It was quite surprise when I looked to purchase this product again and it has almost doubled in price!

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This BS snares change the sound of my snare drum, I'm using the snares on a Pearl Sensitone steel shell, 14x6 1/2 and they really make my snare a concert snare drum... It's dryer, less buzzy when snare's are on...perfect... They also changed the sound of my sonor snare drum...I didin't like it, I think it's because this snares works best with metal shells as my Sonor is a Beech shell, 14x 5 1/5.... I bought the standard blue coated/steel snare...

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I have a Yamaha Brass Snare Drum that I used for my rock band, I threw the Black Swamps on it and now its a totally different creature. Beautiful snare response allows for great sensitivity and articulation. It went from a loud and proud rock snare drum to a sensitive delicate beautiful concert snare drum sound. I'm in love with the capabilities of this product.

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I like the sound, dry and dark. They do reduce sympathetic snare buzz. I do not like that you cannot attach to strainer with straps. It should be possible to create a slot to fit a strap through to ease adjustment.

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