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Old marching bass drum

bassdrum mahogany marching restoration
Posts: 54 Threads: 11

So my friend got this bass drum for me from an attic, supposedly it's from the 1920's according to a relative of the original owner.

It is a true 30" diameter and 10" depth. It has old double flange brass hoops that likely won't work with modern drum heads. The lug mechanism was a free floating design, so none of the lugs were drilled into the shell. The lugs are very likely not salvageable, and some are missing anyway.

The shell is in good shape and round, it is steam bent single ply, and I think it's mahogany.

Questions:

Will a modern 30" head actually fit on this or will I need a custom head since most modern drums are undersized? Same question with the drum hoops. I know I can get special sized heads from Remo if need be.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to keep this as a single tension drum, I don't want to drill any holes if I don't have to. Maybe just use a modern free floating post for a snare drum?

Thanks in advance!

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Posted on 6 years ago
#1
Posts: 1955 Threads: 68

BPM,

I restored a very similar bass with the same single-flanged hoops. Single ply mahogany shell with a granadilla wood vent grommet (don't lose that!). I have a thread on it:

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"]http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=46596[/COLOR]

More than likely, your bass was not a marcher but rather mounted on a band organ like this:

[Attachment: 121147] [Attachment: 121148]

Your bass looks almost identical to the one pictured above, and with the same single tensioning. As far as mounting a modern head, the tension rods won't clear the fat metal rims of a modern head. The single-flanged bass hoops were designed to accommodate a calfskin head with a 1/4" flesh hoop. So the only solution I came up with was to drill small holes through the metal rims of the head and pass the tension rods right through them. It worked:

[Attachment: 121149] [Attachment: 121150]

Good luck with this project. It's definitely worthwhile, and you'll have a unique bass to be proud of. Keep us posted.

Mike

-No Guru... still learning more every day-
Posted on 6 years ago
#2
Posts: 54 Threads: 11

great idea on the rims, thank you so much for the help!

Posted on 6 years ago
#3
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