Author Topic: Diy snare help.  (Read 2032 times)

Offline ironman187

Diy snare help.
« on: June 26, 2018, 06:36:10 PM »
Hey all, a few years back, I made a DIY snare out of a cheap used 14" snare. I attached a piece of wood the same diameter as the ID to the shell with angle brackets, slapped a piezo in it, cut out foam layers and a sheet metal reflector plate and stuck a second piezo to it, and stacked everything just like I did with the Hellfire meshhead mods on my other pads. The problems I'm having is that I have major cross talk where hitting the rim triggers the head piezos at almost the same volume, I can only get the rim piezo to fire if I hit where the angle brackets are attached, and the drum head just feels dead, there's virtually no bounce back. Any recommendations on a better way to configure the snare? I currently have a DM10 module, but may be selling it off to help fund a strike module.

Offline korakios

Re: Diy snare help.
« Reply #1 on: June 28, 2018, 03:45:33 AM »
Some pictures would greatly help :)

Offline ironman187

Re: Diy snare help.
« Reply #2 on: June 30, 2018, 04:11:45 AM »
Ok, so here are pictures of it's construction.

The snare.


soft foam directly under the head.


Craft foam.


Top side of the reflector plate.


Bottom side of the reflector plate.


Foam ring the reflector plate sits on.


The OSB false bottom.


The rim trigger, it's attached with double stick tape, the tape over the top of it is just for extra measure.


The underside of the false bottom.


I have both piezos wired to audio taper pots, but may just take them out entirely, I don't believe they are the cause of the poor triggering. Also, none of the pot leads are touching even though it looks like it in the picture. 


Offline korakios

Re: Diy snare help.
« Reply #3 on: June 30, 2018, 06:50:00 AM »
Great work man !
I don’t like the Mylar concept but since you followed that design I can help you :)

About the crosstalk
99% of crosstalk will be away if you ditch the base and make the reflector floating by using 2-3 stripes rubber elastic cloth (see the picture of the material since I don’t know how it’s called exactly)
If you don’t want , at least place some rubber material on the bottom of the base because the vibrations of the shell go to the base .
Then use as much little as possible foam to separate the base from the reflector .Note that using less foam keeps shell vibrations passing to reflector but may cause by the time ‘sinking’ reflector to base (the foam goes compressed/flat)

About low sensitivity of the head.
The reflector must have high mass to be vibrated easily. Also glue the piezo straight to reflector plate.
Remove the craft foam. It depends if you hit the reflector on strong strikes . If you don’t then remove it.
Note : You use very fat cable on the reflector piezo. If you don’t glue the cable to the piezo it will most certainly detach soon. Better use light cables and try avoiding touching the base (for avoiding shell vibrations pass to the piezo)

Tip: The sensitivity of a piezo must never go beyond 40-50 .It certainly means there is something ‘wrong’ with the design and leads to crosstalk,retrigger , low dynamic range issues.

I am sure more people would help :)
« Last Edit: June 30, 2018, 07:00:19 AM by korakios »

Offline ironman187

Re: Diy snare help.
« Reply #4 on: June 30, 2018, 08:27:45 AM »
Yikes, that sounds like a pretty big overhaul. Is there a better way to convert an acoustic snare to an electric? I didn't use the cone method because my understanding was there is an inherent hotspot with it.

Offline korakios

Re: Diy snare help.
« Reply #5 on: June 30, 2018, 09:09:56 AM »
The simplest approach I think is
http://www.alesisdrummer.com/index.php?topic=7136.msg48880#msg48880

Edit : I think it’s easier modding your design rather making new one ;)
« Last Edit: July 01, 2018, 07:47:36 AM by korakios »

Offline ironman187

Re: Diy snare help.
« Reply #6 on: July 01, 2018, 09:36:06 PM »
The simplest approach I think is
http://www.alesisdrummer.com/index.php?topic=7136.msg48880#msg48880

Edit : I think it’s easier modding your design rather making new one ;)

I ordered a trigger cone off ebay last night. I'm going to make a riser out of wood and soft foam and attach it close to the edge on the wood bottom plate. I'm also going to try attaching the rim piezo to a small piece of flat sheet metal, then bolt that to the rim. Hopefully that makes it trigger decently.