Puresound Snarewires

Talk more in depth, and it’s clear how crucial these underslung pieces of hardware are. American company Puresound has recently been taken over by the string giant D’Addario as a way of expanding their percussion brands along with Evans heads and the HQ brand. As they are not only a string manufacturer, but also a wire producer, D’Addario’s experience is arguably second to none. And Puresound does exactly what it says on the tin – this is a quality product. I looked at the Custom 12 strand, the 221 8 strand and the Equalizer. All wires were strung onto a 1960 single shell Radio Artist. Working upwards, the two thick/one thin 8’s gave a very metallic, gravelly dark sound to the drum.

You don’t get a nice snare ripple and they really don’t work that well on intricate patterns. For all that, I reckon they might sound better on a deeper drum playing a dampened down funk sound, or something with a heavy back beat. The 12s are for my money the nearest to “normal” snares, giving a natural tone to the drum, while not buzzing too much. The real revelation is the Equalizer. It gives a natural sound right across the drum, is very lively and because both sets of wires are offset, it doesn’t react to the overtones of other instruments. If you’re lucky enough to own one of those old Ludwig snares, Puresound’s Vintage range does a WFL Ludwig set. Now you’re talking. For more go to www.puresoundpercussion.com