The wood hoops will probably work well on that drum, its a great drum to start with. I really regretted selling the first one I had. They were very well put together, and the quality is classic Ayotte. The Drumsmith I have now is in the deep dark blue lacquer, picked it up at a very good price. My other Ayotte is a 7x14 Custom, in Piano Black Gloss lacquer, it was the original drum that came with my Ayotte Custom 1995 kit. Bought the kit in a pawn shop in 2001, in 2004, found the snare drum at a Music Go Round, still with original heads. Sequential serial numbers to the kit. Snagged that for 250.00 7x14, Steel hoop. Lovely drums. Absolutely lovely.