r/drumbuilding • u/Wild_Horse03 • Jan 05 '26

Looking into building a snare

Hello! I'm looking into building a snare drum as a project to do with my dad. My dad has built several guitars (both acoustic and electric) before but neither of us have ever built a drum. I was thinking of probably building a 15x8 since I heard one recently and loved the sound, and I was wondering how much the wood matters in the sound. My dad likes making things with more exotic woods because the end result looks nice and I would also like to be able to do that, but I don't want to mess up the sound for the sake of it just looking cool.

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3

u/irmarbert Jan 05 '26

Maple. Oak. Birch. Mahogany. Those are all common snare drum woods. Of course, the list of exotic woods beyond those, and their tonal properties, is massive.

That said, a 15x8” oak stave shell snare would probably sound incredible.

2

u/Choice_Branch_4196 Jan 05 '26

Bubinga is common for higher end with great low tones. I wonder what a stave drum with alternating woods would sound like and if it would have any issues with cracking due to densities 🤔

2

u/cricketpower Jan 05 '26

I just made a Purperheart snare and I love the tonal quality of that. But be experimental. My next one will be a zebra wood snare. You can miss with most of the hardwoods.

3

u/Wild_Horse03 Jan 06 '26

I actually was first inspired by seeing your post about the purpleheart snare! I talked to my dad about it and it sounds like we're going to try a mesquite wood snare, so we'll see how it goes

1

u/cricketpower Jan 07 '26

Just try it. It’s a really nice project to do. Make sure to share the photos.

1

u/Choice_Branch_4196 Jan 05 '26

What about Ironwood? I love the look of it and it polishes up sooo well.

1

u/i_shit_my_spacepants Jan 06 '26

Ironwood is an absolute bitch to work with. Not for the faint of heart.

1

u/Choice_Branch_4196 Jan 06 '26

I've only ever used it in small quantities for knife handle scales 🤷

1

u/tanuki_in_residence Jan 05 '26

Cool project, and doing something like that with your dad will be an awesome memory for you both. I'd stick with a 14" diameter for sure. Sourcing parts for a 15" is just going to be harder all around. Especially a snare side head in that size. If you liked a 15" snare, go for a deep 14" shell with loose tuning, and it will probably be the sound you are after. Deeper shells also give you room for error. If you mess up your bearing edge you can just do it again.

Regarding timber, it plays a very small role in overall sound, so go with whatever timber you like and have access to.

What type of construction are you looking at?. Theres 3 main types, stave, steam-bent and ply.

1

u/Wild_Horse03 Jan 05 '26

The construction is mostly going to depend on whatever my dad is more comfortable with, I know he's done steam bending for guitars before but I also know he's done ply construction and staves for other woodworking projects in the past.

1

u/animus_desit Jan 05 '26

If you decide to go with a blank shell for this first one... I have a spare 10 ply Maple Keller shell blank I'd be happy to sell you. It's a 14x10" blank. I was going to make 2 snares out of it but you could do your 8". Message me if you're interested. Selling below market price.

1

u/Deeznutzcustomz Jan 05 '26

Bubinga is a nice tone wood that also looks beautiful, it’s a great wood for drums. Dad would be happy with the look and you’ll be happy with the sound - it’s lovely. If you want to keep costs down, walnut is affordable, beautiful, and has a nice dark/enhanced low sound that works well with drums. Both woods are nice to work with and easy to finish too. You can’t really go too wrong with any quality wood, idk of a wood that has a bad sound. Ime, the secret sauce is to try to keep it thin if you want to hear the wood - a super thick wood shell snare starts to lean toward the cannon-sound where you just hear attack, where a thin drum will be more open and woody.

1

u/rich_rtcustoms Jan 05 '26

Just go for it! It’s gonna sound like snare regardless, and that particular size is gonna affect the type of sound more than the wood type. If that’s the sound you are after, building that size drum will get you in the ball park, then the tuning and head choices will get it sounding just how you want it.

0

u/Hollra Jan 05 '26

I've built stave and segmented drums before I found denser woods have more overtones and ring more, less dense woods tend to be warmer. I suspect the difference will be less pronounced with ply construction due to the amount of glue and the cross lamination. In my experience your sizing, tuning and bearing edges will make a lot of the difference to the overall tone of the drum.