Your problem seems to be following those hoops. Are you sure they are genuine Slingerland hoops and not MIJ clones?

I'm pretty certain they're real Slingerland hoops and not MIJ knock-offs. Is there any way to tell?

Bump. Nobody?

In all of my many years of owning and gigging with Slingerland drums and Leedy by Slingerland drums, I've never encountered an issue with a drum head of any brand not fitting. As a matter of fact, I got my first Slingy drum back in the mid 1950s. That drum and every other Slingy and Leedy I've owned accept all drum heads well enough for the heads to spin smoothly on the shell. Your question focuses on the Stick Saver hoops. Everything i just said about the shells also applies to the hoops. The heads drop easily on to the shells. The hoops drop just as easily on to the heads.

Slingerland hoops have a bit of a "wall" around the "ear" of each lug hole (if that makes sense) -- not sure if older MIJ knockoffs also did but modern sticksaver repros definitely do not. Judging from your photos I'd say they're legit.

Thanks for the replies, fellas. Yeah, I'm pretty sure these are real Slingerland hoops. They have the inward flange (stick-saver), and the "ears" around the tension rods as you pointed out. Also, they pass the magnet test, so I'm fairly certain they're COB and not COS.

One thing to note though is that (if you look at the photos I added) the holes that the tension rods go through are oval instead of round. The initial measurement I gave at the start of this thread was center-to-center, so that doesn't change. But still, if they were fully round, that would obviously give a tiny bit more leeway in allowing them to line up properly with any brand of drum, right? I suppose filing them out slightly is always an option, though I would hate to make any kind of permanant alterations on vintage gear. It's kind of like the argument for or against enlarging smaller center holes on vintage cymbals to get them to fit on modern stands. I can certainly understand the benefit as well as the loss.

Sir. What is the OD of the shell you are using?

It should be no more than 13 7/8".

Do heads fit easily over the shell?

Do the rims fit easily over the heads?

Thanks for your reply. I finally got around to measuring the shell, and it appears to be around 13 15/16". Heads sit perfectly well on it and have enough room to spin when placed on the shell, so no problems there. And there is also no problem with the rims fitting standard heads.

I've still got about a week of waiting before I buff this drum out and begin the final assembly. If worse comes to worse, I'll just use some different hoops on it in the meantime, as I've got some gigs I'd really like to use this drum on coming up. And I may just do a slight bit of filing on the tension rod holes of the hoops to create a little more leeway, though that's kind of a last resort option at this point.

Thanks again for the help and ideas, fellas.

Only issue I had (& still have) is with an 8" Niles Concert Tom from the early 80's... Remo or Aquarian heads will seat nicely on the shell but the stick saver hoop will not seat over the aluminium frame..

it will always sit up at one lug.. so yes this hoop is indeed undersize.

I have tried several heads to no avail, so finally have hacksawed through the aluminium frame of a CS head at 2 of the 5 positions adjacent to where the tension screws align.

Cheers

John