Puresound 221 Snare Wires Reviews 
5 / 5 based on 1 reviewsI bought these Puresound 221 snare wires through Musician's Friend for about $24.00. I bought them hoping they would help me kill the snare's buzzing, and also because I hoped they would give me a nice deep snare sound. I play mostly rock/blues, like classic rock.
I have an older Tama Rockstar set that I recently purchased, and I have liked everything about the set except the snare, because I had to rig it up with pipe cleaners between the snares and the resonant head to kill the snare buzz. Nothing else seemed to work, and believe me, I tried everything, different head tunings, little slips of tissue paper under the snares, etc. The pipe cleaners worked, but they killed some of the snare action. They also only worked for a while, until the snares bit through the fuzzy stuff.
Anyway, I bought a Remo Renaissance resonant snare head ('cause I heard they kill snare buzz) and a set of 221 wires to try and fix this drum. I just got them today. I decided to try the 221 wires on my old resonant head (Aquarian Classic Clear) before switching everything out, just to see the difference. WHAT A DIFFERENCE. With just the new 221 wires, my snare immediately sounded deeper and fuller, and the wires themselves were more responsive. And the snare buzz -- is GONE.
It's like I got a new drum for $24.00. I was concerned that these wires wouldn't sound great, because they only have 8 wires, but I get more sound out of them than with the 20 strand snares that were on the drum. I don't know what brand the old snares are -- they were like new, though...they weren't messed up. They just BUZZED.
I'm not a pro, but I can tell a good snare sound from a bad one, and these Puresound 221s brought a smile to my face. I believe they brought out the potential in my snare, which is basically a good drum, Rockstar 14" x 6.5".
The best thing is, they do what they're supposed to do. You don't have to tighten them up and choke the drum to get a non-buzzing sound from them. They WORK. I am absolutely satisfied with them.
They don't sound crazily different than regular snare wires, just deeper, fuller, and to me, more sensitive. More like a marching snare sound, sort of. I wish I could describe this better -- all I can say for sure is, my snare drum now sounds more like a snare drum and less like a squeaky, temperamental constant headache.
What I don't like about them? Nothing -- I like everything about these snare wires.
I'd never bought Puresound wires before, and I was pleased with their quality -- it's just like they say, hand-soldered to close tolerances. I examined them closely before putting them on the drum, and I could find no flaw, the wires were exactly the same length, the soldering was done perfectly, and I think I could feel the thin coating they put on these wires. They look and feel professional. Funny how they've only got 8 wires, but they put out more sound than 20 regular wires.
I'm writing this review because I couldn't find any review of these wires anywhere, and that frustrated me. Speaking as a semi-pro (I'm not a pro drummer, but I can basically tune a drum properly), I think these 221 wires are like a cheap tune-up for a temperamental snare drum. I am pleased beyond words that just by installing these wires, I fixed my snare buzz problem AND have a better-sounding snare. Not way different, but deeper and better and definitely more responsive.
follydan rated this unit
on
2004-06-09.
