Nothing. This is normal on these. That is a seriously thin head and if you follow the video by Bob Gatzen on tuning snares to a tee...it will sound great and there will be no or minimal buzz. Did you lacquer the inside of this shell?

The only other thing is to widen the snare bed.

The Mylar head needs to stretch out a bit in order to conform to the snare bed. It'll happen over time, given some tension.

Or if you're so inclined, you can use a heat gun like the guys at Grover Pro Percussion do in the video below, just after the 8:00 mark.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvy7iS4K0Os[/ame]

No lacquer yet. But I intend to follow your advice to do so. I ordered some attack heads for the res sides of this old kit 10 days ago and I just got a e mail telling me the order was canceled. Just my luck. I have been looking at batter side heads and i`m just lost. I am going to order a eq1 coated for batter side base drum and was thinking about ec2 coated for batter side toms. what do you think? I have finished the deep cleaning thing (OMG) cant wait to lacquer put some heads on and hear what they sound like. Thank you very much for your help. Tommy

I am using an uncoated opaque EQ1. As for the snare batter head, use an Aquarian Z-100. These are both a great head and also only about 10 bucks. It is a single ply and almost every music store has them on promo special. Getting the rest sorted out is going to be the deal. The snare beds are very narrow. Are you comfortable sanding them out and making it less dramatic? If so, take some 80 grit and start working out from the middle to make them wider. This will make the head wrinkle less and will lessen the possibility of buzz.

Thanks, I will give it a try.

If you would like, I can put together a short video on how to recut snare beds with sandpaper. It sounds so hard, but it is really not that difficult. The key is keeping it even and starting in the proper place. On this bed, you would wnt to start at the apex of the top edge and decrease it's angle then start working out.

Who did you order the heads from? If it was zZounds, try American. One of them is going to sell you heads. Or try my buddy Matt at www.drumfactorydirect.com email him then call him. He runs a one man show, best I can tell. His prices are great. If I can find it, I will get the model number of the bass head I am using. As for the sound tho, this is where head selection is going to make a difference. These old thin shells do not have a huge range, and the chance of getting a high jazz tuning is unlikely.

Oh, one other thing...since the snare is a 6 lugger, you will not be able to get really high and tight, hence the thin res head. This snare will have limits, but using the Z-100 if you can get one, is the way to help this prblem. Not that the snare will ever have a fantastic sound, but if you take the necessary steps, it will sound good.

Thanks again for all your help. I would love to see a video fixing the snare beds. I ordered a EQ1 clear batter for the bass, remo emperor coated for snare batter, could not find a Z-100 anywhere I looked, I believe I ordered EC2`s coated fot the toms and attack clear for the res on the bass and toms. Why do you lacquer the inside of these shells ? Change the sound ? less ring ?

It "strengthens" the shell, closing the grain and makes the interior of the shell more sound reflective. As you have noticed, the grain is wide and open and likely rather brittle. The lacquer does seveal things. It seems to add something more like remoisturizing the wood, although that is not really what it does. It rather britghens the sound as these are notoriuos for the low tone they have. All the big boys lacquered some of the mahogany shells back in the day to help relieve this low tone somewhat. That is not to say all WFL mahog shells are like this, but you find them occasionally from some eras. Rogers also lacquered the wood Dynas in a "fruitwood lacquer", this would be the colorant added to the paint to give it a richer color.

Personally, I don't like the sound of Remo heads on these drums, but that's just me. As for the Z-100, I can pick them up for 9.50, including tax plus shipping. I have pretty much switched most of my snares to this head. I am that impressed with it. If you want one, let know and I will pop one off, just pay for it. If, after you try it and want a stack of them, let me know, I think I can get more at a break. It is a single ply, so they won't last like others, but if you are a hard hitter, then you won't like any of the singles anyway.