Thanks to all who have followed up on this, I really appreciate all of the input so far.
[COLOR="DarkRed"]Just as a quick aside, I wouldn't concern myself with negative market repercussions of altering a '60's MIJ drum edge. I know what you mean when you say 'who would do that to a '60's Luddy ?'...but...apples and oranges, here.Evans J1's......maybe Remo Diplomat coateds....maybe even Evans G1 coateds....Tell us what you think of the Attack bass head when you get 'er rigged up.[/COLOR]
It's not even that, Jaye. The bass is in perfect condition, aside from the faded wrap. I guess it's just that old adage, "you can't un-ring a bell". It's just a nagging feeling that I'll never get it to sound right.
This weekend I scored an entire set of some unknown brand for $20, all 3 ply shells. 22-13-16. Got an extra 16 ft with it that is a Royce. And it actually sounds pretty good with crappy heads on it.Along with the set came a script Rogers HH, some really nice Royce hi-hat cymbals (can you hear the sarcasm??) and 3 pedals, one being a TAMA. Upon setting it to the bass, well, it now sounds like a bass drum.
I will be posting it under a heading of "This weeks nightm...I mean project". Something like that. I will be re-doing this kit as a players kit-probably cover it in Sparkle-Brite. I just don't have $150.00 for wrap right now, and since these are cheap shells, they should be OK. Very perplexed over the origin of this set. I know it's of Pearl make, just by the lugs. The snare is a single ply, and is missing the muffler. I tore in down, took the cheesy, thin un-attached wrap off of it, stained it and then gave it to the neighbor kid that is giving my son his lessons. It's still ringy, but it looks ok, and once we get the muff in it, it should sound better.