Strainer with large hole spacing?

[purity]

I have a premier hi-fi snare and while it's a great drum, the strainer isn't the best at holding tension. I'd like to replace it with something new but the hole spacing is ~2.875 in and I can't find anything that would fit. Does anyone know of a strainer that would fit this size? Drilling is an option too, but I'd prefer to avoid that if possible. Thanks.

 

[1988fxlr]

A Ludwig p-85 is 2 1/2” hole to hole. If you can’t find anything that works exactly, i think with a little bending and reaming of the holes on the strainer you could make it work without drilling the shell. They’re only about $25 to find out

 

[JazzDrumGuy]

I may have a few generics strainers that have large hole spacing. I'll check and let you know.

 

[purity]

Thanks for the input and I appreciate the thought JazzDrumGuy. That's a good point about the P85. It looks like the flange is large enough that the holes could be drilled out as needed.

 

[JazzDrumGuy]

I checked. It is big and bulky but not that large in terms of hole spacing. Maybe 2" and no way to extend. Sorry about that.

I agree on bending a P85 with some bottle nose pliers.

 

[Woody85]

The Worldmax S9 throw off might work. It has 2 11/16" spacing.

 

[Geardaddy]

It might be possible to get your original strainer to hold tension better. I believe some of the Premier strainers had a spring that went over the tensioning rod to "lock" it in position. Another option would be to use a rubber grommet to help hold tension on the strainer or to wrap some teflon tape on the threads of the tensioning rod.

 

[drumgadget]

If it were me, I'd just get out the drill ...... measure twice, mark, and drill once! One additional hole is all you'll need to use the wonderful INDe strainer.

And ..... if you ever went back to the original part, the new hole would be neatly concealed. But after using the INDe, you won't want to ......! Unless you want to sell the drum and keep your new strainer .......

M.

 

[purity]

It might be possible to get your original strainer to hold tension better. I believe some of the Premier strainers had a spring that went over the tensioning rod to "lock" it in position. Another option would be to use a rubber grommet to help hold tension on the strainer or to wrap some teflon tape on the threads of the tensioning rod.

View attachment 530406 View attachment 530407 View attachment 530408

Interesting. The strainer on my snare now looks very similar to the one in your second picture, minus the spring and the concentric grooves below the knob. There's currently no notch or anything on the rod that would support a spring, but a simple washer and loctite could solve that. Thanks for the input.

 

[Geardaddy]

Since your strainer is similar to the second picture I posted, probably the easiest solution would be to find a spring that is about as long as the distance between the 2 ball pieces that the tensioning rod goes through. A decent hardware store should be able to help you find a spring of the right diameter and length to work. The spring will keep the tensioning rod from moving when playing the drum. I've used the same fix on older Ludwig P-83 strainers that don't hold tension.

 

[Geardaddy]

Here's my fix for a Ludwig P-83 that wouldn't hold tension.

 

[purity]

Thanks a lot, that is very helpful. I'll try to stop by a hardware store this weekend.

 

[purity]

Worked like a charm and seems to be holding tension great now. Thanks again for all the input everyone. Now if I could only find a pair of those beautiful barrel hoops that Premier used to make...

 

[Geardaddy]

I figured the spring idea would work for you. Glad to hear it did. Nice looking snare drum!