Carefully lift the edge of the wrap and glue it down. I have no problem doing this to keep it from getting worse. You can't make it whole again, you can only stop it from getting worse. As for the hoops, keep the inlay and use it anyway. You can just turn that side down.

Party

I agree with Eric here, I replace my chrome ones with woodies as they tend to sound better. The chrome seems a but ringy to my ears.

I tend to use epoxy, but many people here blast me for it...eh, not their gear, it's all mine, so I use it where I find it needed. I had some spots on this kit where the wrap was cracked, so I just epoxied it in place. Not at all noticable.

I know they are backwards, but this is a photo op, not a playing set-up.

Wood hoops are a consideration, or respray the old hoops gloss black and re fit the inlays, which is well within my abilities. I am a drummer first and foremost so I will be playing these things, a lot...

That is why I replace the chrome ones with woodies, these chrome ones cause higher tones and can cause some ringing as well. Wood hoops on this shell, and I just sold a set of gold sparkle from this era, sound much better on this shell, as well as a bass port.

I'd be inclined to give the hoop painting plan a go though, just to see if you like it. I still have the chrome hoops on my kit and I like the sound. Personal taste I guess. I use an Emperor batter and a cheap generic reso with just a felt strip on each head and I love the sound - it's my favourite sounding Bass drum in my collection.

In my experience the steel bass hoops do impart some high end ring on the MIJ kits I have played and owned,I spent some time on a sonor phonic that had sonor metal hoops,not as much ring at all,don't know much of that was hoops or the shell.Maybe you could find some wood hoops on an old beater kick drum,a little krylon black semi gloss throw your inlay on,I think black hoops would pick up the black in the wrap really nicely.

I have wood hoops on my 20" Mapex kick and they do the job well, but for the moment I'll try the respray on the old metal ones. I stripped the red paint off the snare the other day and wasn't really surprised with what I found, I knew there would be rust but it was worse than I had hoped for. A can of spray paint fixed it up though. I went for a satin black to match my other Pearl snare and I'll finish the hoops the same color...

This is an excellent snare drum. I used the cheap Chinese snares for 7 bucks with an Evans Hazy 300 and they sound fine on it. I used an Evans head, one that was on sale to compete with the new Aquarian Z-100 coated at GC. These are around 10 bucks and both are nice heads. I am using more of the Z-100 right now because I can get them for 9 bucks ata local mom-n-pop. I love the texture, it takes brushes nicely. And it just sounds good on all the drums I have tried them on except my Star COS. This is aslo a good candidate for the Fyberskin 3 FA. I like the way it sounds on the Star. Did not try it on the Pearl.

It's just ridiculous the price of drums and equipment in Australia, compared to the U.S. For example a 14" head, say Remo or Evans, can't be bought for under $30. I think it was $32-$34 for the last Ambassador I bought. I'm a Remo guy, I like Ambassador on the snare and Emperors on the toms with a pinstripe kick but I'll give anything a go at the right price...

yeah, I know what you mean - it's the same here in NZ. Basically, with a kit like this, the new heads cost more than the kit.

32.00 to 34.00 is a lot to pay,If they are available you might look into Attack heads,they have some heads made of dynaflex,which is different film than mylar which is what evan's remo etc uses,they also offer the Terry Bozio signature heads,which are made from mylar,in the U.S. they are about 30 to 40 percent cheaper but are the quality of a premium head IMO.The line is limited but they come in amb weights clear and coated and a few specialty bass and snare heads.