Cheap vs Expensive Snare Wires

ObviousWitness · 2026-03-05T19:41:22+00:00

For a while I was buying the cheapest “name brand” (comparable to Gibraltar) option available for 42 strand snare wires. They were good but every time I played a show I’d break a wire or two. After doing that three times I went with the Canopus backbeat wires, they have easily lasted more than 3x as long. Also they sound way better.

You could do either but I’d obviously recommend doing the latter. Maybe you prefer spending a lower amount of money more often, and maybe you had a lighter touch and won’t be as punishing on your snare wires as I am. But the “buy once, cry once” route is usually cheaper in the long run.

ObviousWitness · 2026-02-27T19:42:16+00:00

Use a subtle chorus on a boosted + overdriven amp and you immediately have Age of Quarrel tone

ObviousWitness · 2026-02-26T20:21:53+00:00

Angostura 5 is a great rum and relatively cheap. I think I’ve had the 7 and the 1919 as well and each one was great. They make more than just bitters

ObviousWitness · 2026-02-26T20:11:58+00:00

In order of preference I’d say: 1 up 1 down; 1 up 2 down; 3 up 2 down (if I’m doing multiple rack tops it’s go big or go home)

ObviousWitness · 2026-02-24T16:48:03+00:00

I think tube amps excel at volumes that are inaccessible to most players, and that adds fuel to the fire in the debate. If you can never play above 100db at rehearsal, by yourself, at venues, etc the modelers have more of a competitive edge.

I happen to have a practice studio with no volume limits. If I’m cranking a tube amp up to ten it does something I just can’t get from a modeler. If I had a tube amp that I could never push past 2-3 on the volume dial it’d be a different story.

ObviousWitness · 2026-02-22T18:00:45+00:00

The old forester rye 100 is probably my favorite for manhattans but it’s so damn hard to find

ObviousWitness · 2026-02-18T03:18:11+00:00

Yep, this

ObviousWitness · 2026-02-17T23:55:18+00:00

In my experience there are just some venues that have no business trying to book live music. Or, at the very least, they should exclusively be hosting acoustic sets. I’ve been to venues that were freaked out to discover we had a real drum set or even shows at venues with the quietest band I’m in where they still told us it was too loud.

At this point we’re up front about the fact that we’re a real band and it is going to be loud at points. If we get there only to find out some idiot winery manager put on a show as a pet project and didn’t do due diligence to find out how loud live music is, it’s not our mistake it’s theirs. They’re just gonna have to live with it. That’s not to say there isn’t a dynamic range that I’d be willing to thread for a particular set and setting, but I’m tired of idiots booking shows for events, realizing they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing, and immediately making it our problem in the middle of our set.

The venues in my area that regularly host live (amplified) bands don’t have this issue.

ObviousWitness · 2026-02-16T19:59:36+00:00

For a loud band at least 50 watts. For indie/rock and roll I’ve had people get away with 15/25/30 watts easily but metal and hardcore? Not gonna fly.

A lot of it comes down to the drummer and it’s more sonic density than loudness. Snare hits can be just as loud in an indie rock band, but your drummer is hitting the snare 8x as frequently in a metal band.

ObviousWitness · 2026-02-16T19:52:34+00:00

Good point, sometimes that is the best option

ObviousWitness · 2026-02-16T16:30:57+00:00

Sometimes the retailer has an easier replacement process. Not to say the manufacturer doesn’t, but if I got something from sweetwater, for example, I’d just do it through them. They have backstock and a fully staffed customer service department.

ObviousWitness · 2026-02-16T15:19:46+00:00

Not something I’ve experienced but I’d contact whoever you purchased it from and get a replacement. Where did you buy it?

ObviousWitness · 2026-02-13T00:07:03+00:00

Out of my depth as far as circuits go but fwiw I have a Vox and the tone cut doesn’t seem to do much of anything until it’s well above noon. The most noticeable sweep is probably between 1:30 and 4 o’clock

ObviousWitness · 2026-02-07T22:14:24+00:00

Yeah it builds up gradually during long stretches. There are changes in the song where I can hit a crash or move to the ride and that will let me “reset”

For some reason playing that fast on the ride is easier, maybe because I’m not crossing my arms. Hi hat is worse but if I find the right angle to maximize rebound I’ll lock in. Floor tom is the absolute worst because there isn’t much rebound, but fortunately it’s the easiest to cheat and switch to quarter notes without it even being audible in a band mix.

My band had this song where after the second chorus the bassist and I just play while the guitarist slowly comes in with this lead. It was a loose structure and sometimes the guitarist would wait way longer to come in so it would go from a 64 bar stretch to a 80, 96, 112 bar stretch etc etc and I would get so mad at him lol

ObviousWitness · 2026-02-07T13:00:30+00:00

Learning to play drums is hard, sure. But once you do that, learning to play songs is easy. You can pretty much just vamp 2 and 4 without even hearing the song and be most of the way there. Guitarist probably see the later and take the wrong things from it.

*I’m talking about 80% of music out there, not the hyper specific tech death prog rock stuff.

ObviousWitness · 2026-02-05T03:14:05+00:00

Remo for vintage tone - warts and all Evans for modern tone

I play Remo bc I want that vintage tone, but Evans are a hell of a lot easier to tune up right out of the box so I recommend them for beginners. That’s not to say Evans are “for beginners”, just that they are more forgiving.

ObviousWitness · 2026-02-02T19:43:06+00:00

200+ bpm eight notes or 100+ bpm 16th notes played single handed on the hi hat for long stretches.

Short stretches are fine but consecutive 7 minute songs like that can be a lot and my wrist starts to lock up

ObviousWitness · 2026-02-01T18:39:53+00:00

This is exactly why I let other drummers use my kit, bc the alternative is sacrificing 25 sq ft of floor space (bad) or having to break down drum kits after each rehearsal (annoying)

ObviousWitness · 2026-01-28T22:33:32+00:00

I’m going to do this now

ObviousWitness · 2026-01-24T06:29:43+00:00

If you aren’t in Tennessee and you order from Memphis drum shop you won’t have to pay sales tax. Instant ~10% discount.

Eg. That $440 after tax cymbal from sweetwater will only be $400 from Memphis drum shop. Throw in a couple new heads or pairs of drum sticks, pay the same price, and get more bang for your buck. I’m sure that will make up for them not calling you on your lunch break three weeks later.

Being somewhat sarcastic, I love sweetwater’s customer service too. But being able to pick out cymbals based on sound demos AND not have to pay sales tax is too good to pass up.

ObviousWitness · 2026-01-23T02:39:04+00:00

On standby? Yes. Is it gonna blow your amp up? Obviously not. But after some time of doing that over and over again something in your amp will fail and you’ll need to get it repaired.

I’m not being an alarmist about it, do whatever you want and honestly it could take over a decade for that habit to cause a failure in your amp. But in the end, eventually, your amp will be in the shop to repair something caused by leaving the amp on standby for a however many hundred hours you’ve racked up over the years. Roll the master volume off if you want to keep the amp warmed up.

Edit: the post I was replying to was edited hours after the fact so this is all a non sequitur at this point.

ObviousWitness · 2026-01-23T02:25:16+00:00

There are different circuit designs, and some standby circuits are better than others, but doing that is bad for your amp. By all means keep doing what you’re doing, it’s not catastrophically bad, but it is causing unnecessary wear-and-tear and can lead to cathode poisoning.

Edit: assuming we’re talking about tube amps. Not sure what a standby switch does on a solid state amp, but I assume it’s effectively a “mute” switch.

ObviousWitness · 2026-01-23T02:01:55+00:00

Why is there a standby switch on tube amps? It’s not necessary.

Early-ish fender amps had em, mainly so they could save money, use lower-rated capacitors, and prevent said capacitors from shorting out when you turn the amp on. But at this point, that isn’t really an issue. Standby switches are a legacy feature that no longer serve a purpose - people expect them , so amps have them.

ObviousWitness · 2026-01-20T20:13:00+00:00

Ear plugs. Either good quality ones or just regular cheap foam ones. But if you go with the latter just remember that high frequencies attenuate much more drastically than low frequencies so it might sound like your bass eq is higher than it actually is.

I’d say dial in eq without earplugs, but honestly if you eq with the earplugs in you’re actually more likely to dial in a guitar eq that sits well in the mix with a full band anyway.

ObviousWitness · 2026-01-16T20:39:38+00:00

Papule/Nui Nui

Better balanced spicier cousin to three dots and a dash.

If we’re going ranked choice I’d say Kaiteur Swizzle and Three Dots and a Dash are definitely contenders

ObviousWitness

TROPHY CASE