Die Cast hoops etc

[Manicoti]

Thought i'd take advantage of the knowledgeable folks here and ask about hoops.
Die cast or triple flanged...which are better and what are advantages and disadvantages? Also, how do you tell what kind your hoops are?
Thanks!
Mani

[buga]

I think your going to get a lot of different opinions on this subject, because like everything at the end it comes down to personal taste and preference, if someone tells you otherwise then they're probably trying to push their own bias. I'll tell you that many top end kits such as Pearl Masters and Tama Starclassic now come standard with die cast hoops, but a lot of people still choose to have triple flanged hoops special ordered because of the wide open sound you can get from them. Cast hoops give a more focused and a slightly brighter sound.

For a snare, the die-casts hoops are better IMO. They allow more focused sounding rimshots, providing a sharper sound and don't "give" as much. Triple-flange hoops tend to have a little "give" when doing hard rimshots.

Generally die cast are heavier, thicker, more rigid, and more expensive than triple-flanged hoops. Most people prefer them on snare drums because of louder and brighter rimshots and cross-stick like I said. They also stay in tune better than triple-flanged hoops. Because of their rigidity, they can be used on tom suspension systems, like Tama's Star-Cast without any risk or bending or failure. If your looking for a somewhat punchy sound without alot of excess overtones, then Die Cast hoops are for you.

As for the difference in looks, here's a great example, the Copeland snare from Tama(die cast on batter, triple flange on snare side)=



<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ February 29, 2004 04:50 PM: Message edited by: Bozzio ]</font>

[Manicoti]

Thanks very much for all the info. From the pic posted, it looks like triple flanged it is.
I guess the Gretsch Renown Maple kit i bought used were made prior to the upgrade. The add says Die-Cast, but mine are triple flanged.
I think maybe i'll look into wood hoops.
Thanks again [img]smile.gif[/img]
Mani

[Randy walker]

It's not really amatter of one being better than the other, it's a dependant on what sound you are striving for. diecast hoops will dry a drum out a tad, but give a better cross stic sound.
triple flanged will retain more ring in the drum then die cast but you suffer on the cros stic.
I good choice in between is to try wood hoops on the batter side of the drum, better cros stic, retains the ring and does not dry up the tone of the drum.
The visual difference between a die cast and triple flanged is simply a diecast weighs more and has rounded top edges, a flanged is simply that, it is flanged at the top and folded over, s stic chooper if you will.

[palmerlouie]

i had to decide about hoops when ordering my new kit....i was convinced that i wanted die cast on all the drums, but after selling my previous kit and using my dads pearl masters for a couple of months i found i really disliked them on the toms. as randy said they deaden them a tad and there is too much rim all together.....however i much prefer die cast on any snare drum....i ended up not ordering any die cast, but regret not getting them on my snares.

[blackzoner]

Yeah I'd mostly have to agree with Bozzio on die cast snare drums hoops anyway. They do tend to eat up your sticks tho if you play alot of rimshots! Badda Bing!

I prefer triple flanged hoops on my toms but die cast on snares, but it costs unless you're endorsed by a stick company! Just my 2 cents.

I also prefer triple flanged hoops on toms for tom rimshots!

"And the pantalooned duck white goose neck quacked
WEBCOR-WEBCOR" Don Van Vliet [img]wink.gif[/img]

[mja61]

I have an old (ca. 1988) Tama Artwood maple snare that orginally came with Tama's "Mighty Hoops" (which is their awe-inspiring fancy trademark for "plain old cheap triple flanged hoops"). I put a die-cast hoop on the batter side about 10 years ago, and it really brought the drum to life and gave it a fuller sound. The cross-sticks have much more depth and presence, and the drum just feels more solid when I hit it. I don't think it chews up sticks any more than a TF hoop, and I play a lot of rimshots. (Without going on too much of a tangent, I have been gradually trying to incorporate some of the Freddie Gruber approach into my playing for several years. I found that makes a bigger difference than TF vs. die-cast.) I left the TF hoop on the bottom, and really have not had any inclination to replace it.

A friend recently stopped by my house with a couple of his StarClassic toms. We tried some different tuning ideas, did some comparison to my drums, etc. I found that the StarClassics had a very pure, rich sound, but lacked projection and ring. After reading this post, I'm thinking it's due to the die-cast rims. This was my first real experience with these drums, and I had been under the impression that they were designed for maximum projection, resonance, and clarity (thin, undersized shells, low-mass lugs, RIMS-style mounts, etc.), but that was not what I was hearing from these.

[ladanny]

basically

thin shells = low volume
thick shells = lots of projection

obviously, there are other factors, but if you had two similar drums with the only difference being shell thickness, the above statement would be very clear.

A great example of this is the Pearl MMX vs. MRX line of drums. MMX are thinner than the MRX. Most of the studio guys like the MMX because of the warmth. They don't need to be loud at all since they're in a studio. MRX give drummers more volume, so for live application, MRX works a little better. Again, these are general statements.