Slingerland bass tuning nightmare

[gutz]

I have been fighting getting heads tuned on my mid 70's red sparkle Slingerland bass. I got the Remo classic fit heads on the toms and snare and they work just dandy. But the bass will not let heads seat until a ridiculous amount of tension is reached. To the point where the bass is pitched higher than the floor tom. Measuring the bass show it is 20 inches across. But when seating the heads they never get even, and stay wrinkled and rattle, no matter how carefully I tension them.
The Remo classic fit I just received does the same wrinkle dance.
HELP!

Greg

[leedybdp]

There must be some out-of-round area on that shell. I've never had that issue with any Slingerland or SlingerLeedy bass drum with reinforcement rings. I've owned many. Does your bass drum have re-rings?

[gutz]

No re-rings on this one. It is a puzzle.
I do not have this much trouble with an ovaled Ludwig Supra I have.

[Hoppy]

Originally Posted by gutz

...Measuring the bass show it is 20 inches across. But when seating the heads they never get even, and stay wrinkled and rattle, no matter how carefully I tension them.

Greg

Greg, have you measured the drum in more than one spot to check for roundness? I would measure across the drum in a least 4 different points (more would be better - like near the lug points) as shown in the illustration, to help evaluate the roundness of the drum.

[Rob the drummer]

In addition to the drum not being round, another possibility is that the depth of the shell is not consistent. Think of a good drum shell being a rectangle when viewed from the side. This could be slightly trapezoidal.

I had an early 80's Rogers snare, just before they went under (go figure) that was like that. Edges were flat, but not parallel to each other. Sounded like Sh#!.

[gutz]

Originally Posted by Hoppy

Greg, have you measured the drum in more than one spot to check for roundness? I would measure across the drum in a least 4 different points (more would be better - like near the lug points) as shown in the illustration, to help evaluate the roundness of the drum.

I did measure across the lugs, and it is consistent within 1/8"

[gutz]

Originally Posted by Rob the drummer

In addition to the drum not being round, another possibility is that the depth of the shell is not consistent. Think of a good drum shell being a rectangle when viewed from the side. This could be slightly trapezoidal.

I had an early 80's Rogers snare, just before they went under (go figure) that was like that. Edges were flat, but not parallel to each other. Sounded like Sh#!.

Now there's something I did not check! Thanks!!

[Hoppy]

Originally Posted by gutz

I did measure across the lugs, and it is consistent within 1/8"

Shell in round and ruling out defective heads (by trying multiple heads), this may be a bit more challenging to troubleshoot. Hopefully Rob's suggestion may reveal something.

I would also suggest looking at the bass hoop to see if the head contact side of it actually lays flat. I don't think the hoop roundness will be a huge factor like it would be for the shell.

[kevins]

Perhaps a bad head .. ??
If you've tightened it above the tone of the floor tom, it could also be stretched to the point that it just won't tune at this point?
Just throwing it out there, I've not experienced this yet.

[grantro]

Originally Posted by Rob the drummer

In addition to the drum not being round, another possibility is that the depth of the shell is not consistent. Think of a good drum shell being a rectangle when viewed from the side. This could be slightly trapezoidal.

+1 with this statement...

Cheers