Hi Motey

What I've done in similar circumstances is order a calfhide & an unglued (open-ended) wood flesh-hoop. You then custom fit it to your drum and mount/tuck the calfhide onto that hoop. It works pretty good because you get a drum head that exactly fits the drum no matter what size/shape the shell.

If you decide to go this route I can PM or email you detailed instruction how to do this. There are some helpful tips that will save you time & trouble. It's not difficult but there are some common mistakes made that can be frustrating when custom fitting the flesh-hoop.

Hey Motey, If you have the old flesh wood hoop on the drum as Kona states you only need to order a new piece of calf-hide and used your old hoop...If you like i can check in the pile of flesh wood hoops i have and see if i have the size you need...Mikey

Yes - I forgot to mention that........if you have the OLD flesh-hoop it's good to tuck a new hide on that one. I've done that a few times as well. I've also just kept the old wood flesh-hoop and custom fit a new one.....just because it's nice to be able to fit a new hoop AND be able to use the "vintage" hoop if chose. Besides - it's a fun hobby to tuck your own heads = a good skill to know.....especially when you're picking up an old drum here and there. The hides are the expensive parts - the hoops are only a few bucks & it's nice to have one or two unglued hoops around if you're into doing this sort of thing.

Be sure to let us know the outcome..

Well, I don't know where the original hoops are. they're long gone. didn't get this snare with heads. so I would like to know where I can get the skin and the hoops from so I can do it myself. Sounds like a fun project. I have a home studio and want this snare to get samples from and show off too :) Thanks for the help!

Motey

You can bend your own wood hoops (flesh hoops). Hit the local Home Depot or Lowes and pick up trim molding (3/8 square or so), measure the outside circumfrence of the drum add at least 6", cut a 3" scarf joint at each end (opposite sides) so you have the // look, the ends have to meet and overlap. Soak the strips of wood in hot water in the tub. If you have hand lotion with Lanolin, add a bit of that to the hot water, it will help soften the wood for bending. Soak for a few hours, drain and refill with hot water and Lanolin often until wood is flexable and sort of rubbery.

You WILL need a lot of Pony Clamps to do the bending 15 to 20 to do it right.

Cardboard shims about as thick as two matchbook covers (this will leave space to fit the calfskin)

And the drum shell.

I suggest taping the shims around the drum shell at 2" intervals, or if you can cut full cardboard strips to go around the drum as one piece that's fine.

When the wood is ready, you'll start from the center of the wood strip and clamp it to the shell, moving left and right, bend the wood against the shell and add a clamp.

Go all the way around until your scarf joints meet. Use extra clamps where they meet, keep those ends down.

Set it aside overnight. If the wood feels dry as bone the next day, unclamp the scarf ends, glue the cuts and reclamp, leave again overnight.

Remove clamps, slide off the shims and you're done. You're ready to tuck a head!

I hope I was clear. Good luck!