I wish it was on the bottom, it is actually on the side of the drum. I was thinking to myself, "What idiot puts a seam in a visible spot?"

I still think you got a great deal, a lil touch up paint of the right colors and only YOU will know that seam seperation is there.

I have the same thing on my 3ply grannytone BD

Clean m' and play m'

That is a good idea about painting the exposed wood. I cant wait for all the new heads and suspension mounts for the 13" and 14" toms to come in. I am looking forward to getting these on the rack.

Plus 1 on Frondelli, a true craftsman! Break out the old tape measure to checkout the roundness, should be in the neighborhood of 21.875" if the bass drum is 22". It's wood, so don't freakout if it's a little out, but if you're looking at .125" + difference in roundness I would think about returning them.

The bass drum is within specs but the 18" floor tom is over an 1/8" out of round. The lower hoops were removed because the previous owner took all the lower hardware off to match the concert toms. Once the hoop is installed will it pull the drum back into spec a little bit better? It is visible when you put the hoop on the drum, you can see the gaps.

How much over 1/8"? 1/8" out-of-round isn't bad. And, the 3-ply shells do have quite a bit of "give" in them. IF you can't get it back just by squeezing it a little when putting on the head and rim, let me know and I can "talk" you through a semi-easy fix. Once you've got the head and rim on go ahead and tune it just like normal. It will be OK.

I'm at that age that I liked the single-headed, concert tom sound. So on my double-headed toms I took old, used heads for the resonant side and cut them out 1" from the edge. Then installed the cut-out heads with the rims and tension rods. That way I've not had to worry about shells going out-of-round on the resonant side. I bought my set new in 1978, and it still has the same cut-out heads on the bottom I put on then.

Shoot, I've even sold some sets done that way ('cause I was too cheap to put new resonant heads on, and a good share of the time my customer tells me he's buying his own new heads anyway...).

I figured I could get a cheap steam machine from walmart and moisten up the wood a bit to make it more pliable. I just dont want the steam to cause any glue to come loose. I am going to go pick up a couple of heads locally today and see if there are any fitment issues. If they fit, I will just tighten them pretty tight and let them sit a couple of days. The 13" and 14" were done just like you mentioned. The hoops were on the drum and the head was cut around the bottom. Not sure why he didnt do that to the floor toms.

I would suggest to try and do it "dry" first. I successfully "re-rounded" a Club Date 14x14 last summer that was football shaped at the bottom because the head had been left off for years. It took time, but a pipe clamp and a strap clamp took care of it. Like you, I'd be concerned that the steam may loosen up some glue, then you'd have more problems...