Matthias,
While I will advise you as much as you like, I must disclaim a few things. First, while I have been drumming for 28 years, I have only been learning a great deal more about drums in the last couple years. These guys on here (as you can see by the number of posts) are really the experts. Is their advice better than mine or visa versa? No - nobody's is really 'better' than the other drummers' - rather the best advice for you is advice from the drummer who happens to have your desired sound. That being said, we can give you alot of great advice, but really at the end of the day it is up to you to experiment and figure out what you like best. All of our advice is extremely valuable as it is free and from a source of experience (the best teacher). I know I have learned alot from these guys.
That being said, priorities should always be something like the following:
1) practice
2) practice more
(as far as the drums themselves)
3) well....the following is the rest of it that I can offer tonight......in no particular order unless stated......
Be sure not to damage threads more by trying to force anything. Yeah – definitely sounds like you have some stripped pieces – get help from someone in person – like your local drum teachers. Your priority should be to get things taken apart first, without damaging them. Then, you can clean them up, so that they will work well and hopefully function very smoothly with no damage occurring. Try swapping other parts to check threading, put tension rods and T-rods up to each other to determine threading and compatible threading....use WD-40 (BUT ONLY ONCE THESE PARTS ARE ALREADY REMOVED FROM THE DRUMS---that kind of stuff is not good for the shells!!!!)
Getting back to priorities....If I were you, I would change heads before getting wood hoops. Yes, those hoops are METAL (steel I believe) and NOT WOOD. They have a wrap on there on a metal hoop. While wood hoops will make a big difference, new heads will make a more affordable and significant difference for your overall experience.
Some good ideas on this – depending on what heads you have to use is this:
http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=26656&highlight=felt&page=3
from OsakaBop post number 24
I *think* this felt can be bought for very cheap at a fabric store (***OTHER MEMBERS: PLEASE ADVISE***)
OR my post on the same page #27
OR best option is to buy the resonant heads with the 1-2 inch ring on the inside of the head (like Evans EQ3 or EQ4)
Looking forward to the pics of the first drums you picked up (tiger wrap). KEEP THOSE. My advice is to give these complete ones their shake with a thorough cleaning and tuning – the whole treatment. You will grow to love them…..and that will only make the "Tiger Stripe" project that much more enjoyable – in due time…. In the meantime, be on the lookout for the missing drums (floor tom) as sometimes those types of drums (wraps) can be few and far between….though I have seen those on ebay and in fact I bought a 4 piece Red Onyx kit off of CL last summer for only $100---pics coming later this summer once the project is complete.
Those nice new Premiers are a different beast. Their appeal will differ from your MIJ as they are different wood type, and their hardware (while more functional) is only really “nice” because it is so much more cleaner and lubed a bit. Your old MIJ drums can be that functional and ‘nice’ when you put the work in. READ THE ADVICE ON THIS FORUM for techniques as it is abundantly on here.
Cool video. Of course these drums will sound completely different from your MIJs. Believe me, when you put in the time to take yours all apart, clean them up, and re-assemble, you will love your MIJs as much as you dig their’s. If you have not already, read what I said about using Dawn dish-soap to clean your metal pieces.
http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=25981&highlight=dawn&page=3
See post number 22
This will take 48 hours of patience, and more patience when you use the toothbrush (then there is the polishing/waxing) – but you will be amazed at the results and the beauty of your parts will inspire you to keep going.
BTW, regarding your toms - you can get that flatter look and feel with ANY mounting. The reason players are using stands for their toms is so that they will not be muting the bass drum with all that weight on the shell. A bass drum with no tom mounting is referred to as “Virgin” and is more recently preferred so that the bass drum will sound best. Of course this is related to how you like your bass drum and what tuning and muffling you are using/not using. Snare stands are fine – or another option many use is suspension mounts with tom mounts onto cymbals stands. Again, the whole idea there is the most resonance for all your drums.
My advice on the spurs…..I would NOT drill new holes and mount different legs, unless you want to ‘marry’ your kit for life – as drilling/additional holes greatly depreciates the value of these drums in the event of selling. Now that I think about it - DON'T DRILL MORE HOLES even if you want to 'marry' this kit. Like (moreso than) haircuts, once it's done, there is no going back. Look this issue up as well (search words like backing plate, spurs, legs, mount, bass) – as the solution for those little round legs/mounts are to use a good backing plate. I think these forums have addressed this issue as well and I may have added my 2cents on that if I recall. Another way to stabilize the kick drum is to use a bass drum anchor on the front. These are not very expensive either.
Have fun and sink you time and heart into these (in the form of patient cleaning), and they will sink their joy into you in return.
John
