Looks like you got a nice one, congrats!
When I got mine, it sounded good, but was off.
You folks know what I mean by "off".
With Ludwig Heads on board, with not a mark on them, I did a tune, both by 40+ years of experience, and a drum dial. No deal, the drum sounded very lackluster.
Well, I have enough heads on hand, both new and used, that makes the local music shop look like Goodwill, so I began a changeout.
I wasn't sure if Remo Diplomats, or Diplomat M-5's would be the right choice for this snare. So, from what was on the drum, I opted to try two new Remo Ambassador Heads, top and bottom. A coated on top, and a clear on the bottom.
Tuned about 85-85 with the Drum Dial, then further tuned, and then further de-tuned by ear. Still no Cigar.
Had a set of Puresound Snares laying around, which I once bought for a dead mint 1960 Supra 5x14 I owed also at the time. Simple to swap, and try, and simple to revert back to bone stock.
A big AhHa!
Looking at the quality, and similarities, comparing the original old 60's snare wires to what came on this LM-402, the stock LM-402's Wires looked cheaply made, and inferior by comparison. Like they came from China.
The Puresounds really transformed this NOS LM-402 I have. Quite a noticeable difference.
Heads will no doubt offer some similar changes IMO, some might be better, and some worse.
But, these LM-402's, might be thought of as a cheap somewhat inferior type of snare, considering its an Aluminum Shell, versus the older which are Brass, they can really sing, given some patience, and some experimentation.
After the swap of heads, and wires, the drum just makes you drool with smiles of great sound, wet, deep, killer, with a sound that you can recognize from a 100 different recordings, mostly Bonham, and Led.
One reason, why although I'm a Slingy TDR-Spitfire, a Gladstone, a Rogers Dyna , a Craviotto, a Luddy Super-Sensitive kind of guy, it is quite hard to part with this particular LM-402 I have on ice.
Mark
