That may be the Frankenstein drum of all Frankenstein drums I have ever seen in quite some time! Rogers you say? heh heh Seriously, though...I guess you would probably just have to experiment with different combinations of things to determine what sounds best to you, but in terms of physics, the wider snare set will mute the bottom head more. Personally, I don't play with wide snare sets because of this fact. To me, muting the "resonant" head is somewhat counter-productive to resonance! However, that drum is a metal drum (of some kind) and it may be a heavy one, so maybe a wider snare set would cast out some of the excessive amounts of overtones that some metal drums can produce. In general, I like thin snare sets like the old Leedy/Ludwig 12 strand sets or a good 16 strand set. 20 would be about max for me...but again, something like that drum in the picture...the "Rogers" drum Storm Trooper ... might benefit from a wide set.

Believe it or not, that is a Rogers snare from the Brook Mays era. I've seen actual photo's of it in catalogs. :) It is a brass shell snare 14x6.5. Surprisingly, there really aren't many overtones now. Although this isn't a "true" vintage snare drum, I have heard this snare is rare and I thought the same as you when I saw it in the store and some great people here had said some of the Mays era stuff was actually pretty good so I decided to give it a shot! It's probably one of the weirdest looking and yet best sounding snares I've owned. Very interesting input you have there. I've never heard that wider snares muffle the drum down. Makes sense I suppose. Maybe I'm going the wrong way ..... should I be going to less strands instead? Hmmmm .......

Really, Will a smaller set of wires make it more sensitive? How about a thinner snare head? I have a Slingerland 1966 six lug, 5 1/2 x 14 and want to make it as sensitve as can be. Right now it has a twenty strand strainer, Ambassador snare and a coated Powrstroke 3 and its not very sensitive.

Ok the verdict is in. I went and bought a 42 strand set of wires, to see if O-Lugs physics was right, and put it on the drum ....... NO DIFFERENCE AT ALL!!! I then tried it on a maple 14x5.5 snare ..... NO DIFFERENCE AT ALL there either. So I turned to the tried and true 14x8 maple snare and the 14x6.5 hand hammered brass ..... care to take a guess as to the outcome???? Yep ... NO DIFFERENCE IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM. So, I will say that 42 strand wire sets have no effect at all over a 20 strand other than a mean looking set of snares which say GROVER across them!!! This was something I wondered for years about and now I got to try it. Has anyone else found this to be true as well? I thought that there would have been some sort of noticable difference but was really amazed at how they basically do nothing. I suppose if you jumped from your throne and gave it a good WHACK there may be something there I missed, but in terms of playing my normal style and volume ..... not worth the money nor effort. Needless to say, the 20 strand is back on the FrankenRogers (so lovingly named now ... thank you O-Lugs) LOL and the 42 strand may find it's way to ... oh lets say a 14"x10" deep snare I'm building ..... maybe the 42 strand was designed for idiots like me who have an extra 14 matching tom kicking around that would look really cool as a snare drum?????????? Ya know ... I even went to the extent of changing both batter and snare side heads????? Just to try to find a difference somewhere. The heads made a difference, but change the wires back ... and oh gosh .... same sound as with the 42's on there. LMAO Yes Sir

lucky .... Dump the Powerstroke 3 as that head is really designed for modern rock, with little to no overtones, and heavier hitting. I'm sure someone here can give you a great combo of heads which will work good on your snare Lucky. I personally use either an Aquarian Texture coated (nice coated single ply with a great open sound) or Focus X (no overtones) on the batter side and an Aquarian Classic Clear Snare side on the bottom. :) ( I've changed the head on the FrankenRogers to a Texture Coated)

If its of any concern to you, Bonham actually played with a 42.

Interesting! I had no idea that was actually a REAL Rogers drum! DUH!. I thought it was a home-assembled drum that someone stuck a Rogers script onto! LOL!

Also interesting about finding no appreciable difference. Was there any difference in the response at all? I presume that the idea behind a wider snare set is to put more "buzz" into the snare sound. But maybe the differences between a 20 strand and a 42 strand wire set have a different degree of "muting" when applied to different drums. The one 42 strand wires set drum that I played was an old Gretsch and the muting factor on it was very apparent. Maybe it's a difference between using them on a wood drum and using them on a metal drum.

I have found that the best FEEL happens when there is less constriction of movement on the bottom head. But it really these "little" details of what sounds/feels best that have to be worked out by the person playing the drum.

You're right about head selection, too. That has a drastic effect on the sound. It's dialing the whole thing into focus, i.e., snare wires, heads, rims, shell type and weight. It all matters, but maybe in some cases it matters less than others.Falling Do

O_Lugs ... I found no difference in response at all!! This has really got me stumped. I was expecting possibly, the 42 to be a tad bit more sensitive seeing as how there are more wires, but to my surprise (and disbelief) I found no change in the "feel" of the drums I put it it on. (compared to 20 strand) Does anyone have any idea what the purpose of 42 strand wires are really for? Do they shine in a certain depth drum? Maybe with a certain shell material? I'm curious now. :) LONG LIVE MY FRANKENROGERS!! Hee Hee

I had a 42 strand set on a Gretsch snare back in the 90's, and that drum sounded great set up that way....sorry to disagree with the opinion of many on the forum about the sound of Gretsch snare drums. I never had it set up any other way though, so I have no idea if different snares would have made any difference.