If the shells aren't exactly the same circumference your lug holes will be all whacked, not evenly spaced around the shell. Check real carefully.

I think a heat gun and blade are all that's needed. Best of luck to you sir!

Mitch

Wow! That 20x18 FT must sound like thunder.

I also saw your post on the Vintage Ludwig FB group. You mentioned this drum and the rest of the kit are in pristine condition, which is awesome.

Here's my thoughts:

I would try to get this drum fixed before removing the wrap and applying to a new Keller shell. At that point, it's not a Ludwig drum and there is a very good chance that the Cortex has become brittle over the years and will crack during the removal.

The size of the drum is large and the tuning would be so low, I can't imagine anyone would notice a performance issue from this type of distortion. Plus, it's even on the resonant side of the shell.

Here are some options:

Call Precision Drum to see what ideas they have to correct the issue. Maybe they can install a reinforcement ring on the resonant side with high-performance glue and use clamps to push out the distortion. Maybe they can use steam and some type of internal mold to push the distortion back into place.

You have a pretty rare drum, so you should exhaust all repair options before going to the extreme.

As members start to chime in, they may have other ideas and you'll also see I'm not alone.

Thanks for posting.

-Tim

Tim, thanks for your feedback.

Sometime ago I reached out and sent pictures to "Precision Drum"...they had no solutions to the 'flat spots' around the shell. :(

HD - You're dead in the water, brother. Cortex wraps are the hardest, nastiest wraps to remove from any drum shell. Don't ask me why, I'm sure it's the same glue. For some reason, cortex is always a pure bee-atch to remove. I think it has something to do with how dense/thick/heavy, cortex is. I'd look for any way possible to rehab the shell you have.

Listen to the voice of experience. Cr=G - Cortex removal = Grief

John

In addition to the voice of experience listed above, you could look at the fingers of my right hand where I stripped some white cortex of a Rogers concert tom 10 days ago. I must have had a beer or two because I didn't really notice the pain of the damn stuff cutting into my fingers in a few places. Still hasn't healed properly. Can you get tetanus from cortex? Whatever, no pain, no gain.

Yep.... wrap edges can cut you, but good...

I shredded one of my favourite Grateful Dead t-shirts and wound up with thirty or more little "belly cuts" wrapping this set a couple of years ago....

My skin healed up but the shirt never recovered....:):)

Dang, Kevin - the drums came out great, but the tee-shirt looks like you got into a fight with Jackie Chan while he was high on crack! LOL

John

Laughing H

Haah! I was actually stripping a beat up black wrap from some Rogers this weekend and sliced my index finger up. Then I re-opened the cut this morning while putting my shoes on.

Is there any trick for getting it off cleaner besides a butter knife and a hairdryer?

I'm going to have to agree with purdieshuffle.. I removed white cortex wrap from my super classic floor tom which was also white cortex from the 90's, and it was hell on earth.. The glue that Ludwig used is super strong.. I didn't care what happened to the cortex because it was going to the garbage anyway, but the heat gun and scraper will indeed be needed, but as someone mentioned up here, the wrap is most probably brittle and i would also say it's probably stiff from years of temperature change , dryness and humidity, etc.. My advice ? LEAVE IT ALONE..