DIY snare drum

[Datastream]

I bought a e-drum kit and i wanted to get a real snare for the snare drum. any direction on how to go about this? I wan to keep the original size of about 13" or larger for the snare. I know i can just buy a cheap snare but where to go from there? I just bought a Black Panther snare and im NOT gutting that. lol love that sound it puts out

Thoughts?

[ghostman]

I built a 13" e-snare.  A friend had an extra drum shell that he used for an electric floor tom, and he gave it to me.  BUT, if I were in your position, I would:
check out used resources (craigslist, music stores, etc) and buy a cheap snare you wouldn't mind gutting.  Near me is a used music store with a wall of snares, and I saw a few for less than $50.  You can also convert a acoustic tom drum - they come in any size!  And are sometimes cheaper than snares.  Ebay isn't a bad option, either.

[Datastream]

Thanks for the info. I talked to some guys at my LMS and they said they may be able to find me a "cheaper" snare or just the shell, I will find out. How about the Piezo's? Mounting them etc. Does it matter if its the cone ones from ebay or is there a better way to get the response i want? I plan on using a real snare drum head and can i dampen the noise with foam on the inside similar to the Alesis shell. I want to use the current drum from the USB Pro kit for a Tom and get the snare going. Any other input would be helpful thanks a Million.

- Luke

[ghostman]

Some guy sells piezo's & foam cones on ebay, you can search for it.

Piezos can be bought at Radio Shack, or online with a simple search.

Foam cones / cylinders can be made from those 3M sandinblocks (remove the sandpaper, and cut it to size.  I used a nerf bullet, it's a 2" bright green ball, cut in half.  more of a dome than a cone, but seems to work for me.

[Datastream]

awesome, thank you very much Ghostman. Say, can i put a regular drum head on my snare or will it be too loud? I plan on putting a mesh head on teh bottom unless its not needed.

- Luke

[manapa99]

a regular drum head would make it pretty loud, it would be like a regular drum just muffled a bit. I have home made mesh heads on a to e set that i made from screen following directions from a few different sites.

you can also purchase them, i would certainly recommend the mesh heads over the regular head, as for the bottom you can do pretty much anything you want, some leave them bare, cover the edge with a trim like a sliced hose, or you can use drum heads, real or mesh, but the mesh if you're buying them can get expensive!!

hope it turns out well!

[ghostman]

Billy Blast sells pretty good mesh heads from what I've seen reviewed - and they are inexpensive.  I made my own, as well.

For a snare, you probably have both sets of lugs, I have a bottom head on my e-snare - both mesh.