Topic: What Kind of snare wires do you use?

[Todd Norris]

I have a set of 24 strand Puresounds that sound great, a couple sets of adjustable Fat Cats - that sound great, and a Gibralter 40 strand, that - you guessed it - sound great.  I liked the sound of these wires over the factory wires in every case. 

I tried them out on each snare and messed with the set up and tuning to find the sound I wanted.  I found that some wires seemed to sound better on some drums than others to reach my desired sound, but I couldn't explain why. 

Just to reiterate that I really like the Fat Cat adjustable wires.   

[Mark Counts]

24 strand Pure Sound wires on my snares, I likes...

[NY Frank]

It's funny, my initial answer was "The cheapest ones I can find if the drum doesn't already have them." I'm pretty sure that's still my answer though. 

I always get compliments on my snare drum sound no matter what drum I use, and most of my are pieces of crap in terms of materials and workmanship. I think the deciding factor is that I know how to tune.

This may be sac-religious to some, but to me a snare drum is a choked off rattling noise maker and a $50 pawn shop snare is generally as good as any $1000 snare. With a coated ambassador top (preferably well used) & a tuning key I'm good to go.
 

Now that's my kind of answer.       

[Chris Whitten]

Gt to admit (ala Bill) my snare collection has both cheap Japanese made snare wires, as well as boutique brands like Puresound.
I'm happy with the sound (and get compliments) whichever wire set is onboard.
In the end, it's probably worth while installing the best quality snare wires you can afford, but the small improvement in performance (IMHO) should not justify any over anxious obsession on wire choice.

[Tim van de Ven]

I use whatever came with the drum; my Pearl Ultracast has the factory snares on it (and it sounds great) my Premier 2000 has Premier snares on it (it also sounds great) and my Yamaha SCAN snare drum (came with the kit) has Yamaha the factory snares, too. Having said all of that, I did like a 42 strand set that I had put on a snare that I no longer use.

Like BIll said, I find it to be that the deciding factor is my ability to tune a drum.

[Mark Counts]

In the end, it's probably worth while installing the best quality snare wires you can afford, but the small improvement in performance (IMHO) should not justify any over anxious obsession on wire choice.

I have to completely agree with this. On my favorite snare, it was bought with Pure Sound Wires on it. I like what I hear, so I will stick with it. My favorite snare before that had the original Stock Tama Star Classic wires on it. It sounded fine too. I have never tried the 42 strand wires that Mr. A and many others on here are sold on. Maybe I should try it?

[Paicey]

I side with drumnDad on the FatCats. Ive got them on all of my snaredrums. I also side with Bart on the difference wires make. Maybe not to an audience but to you behind the kit.