Quick Update: I have been battling with tuning and tone on the 13" Tom ever since I got the kit. After re-cutting the bearing edges (twice) and still getting no "tone" I decided to check one last thing...
After giving up for a while I decided to measure the depth of the drum at various points and discovered that the batter head was 5mm deeper on one side than the other! the skins weren't parallel to one another and of course tuning was nearly impossible and the drum always sounded choked.
Now, after squaring up the drum and recutting the edge the drum sings like it should have all along. Sooooooo...
1. NEVER assume a Fibes (or any vintage drum) is/was actually dimensionally correct in the first place.
2. If you have a drum that isn't sounding/tuning right, measure the depth and ensure it is even all the way round - as well as checking out of round and bearing edges etc.
This is all probably not news to the pros but I have been annoyed by this for years and am feeling a bit dumb for not checking it.
Live and learn I suppose.