How does it function and sound? It might be neat to play it out that way and show off it unique character.

I have seen these old 3-ply MIJs do this, but the one I had like this was never something I played. I ended up parting it out, because it was not a drum I was looking to use, just one that I got with a kit that I already had a snare for.

If the re-rings are round, I would say tune it up and play it - and see how it sounds. Again, as long as the rings are round, you could even slap some new heads on there without ruining them in case you abandon the shell.

If I had to guess, I would say that the shell is starting to be deformed because of some environmental, atmospheric conditions it has been (stored?) in. Seems they are thin enough to deform under those conditions especially if pressure was placed on them, like too much weight when stacked on.

While it is not ideal, (pun intended!) that shell may still sound fine and be ok so ling as the rings don't go bad. In fact, it looks like in this case, they are doing their job very well!

She is screaming to be cleaned up and I look forward to pics once you get around to it!

John

It has always been the nature of a lot of these thin shelled MIJ drums to simply deform by being tensioned. Since snare drums are generally tensioned tighter than the other drums it was more likely to happen to them. It could also have been from stacking.

I'd say play around with it as you can't hurt it at this point. The worst that could happen is you part it out. I would use it to practice some bearing edge work maybe. You could also experiment with bringing it back into shape as you just never know until you try.

There are plenty of good or even great quality virgin shells that could replace this for under $100. There are a lot of NOS vintage shells that could be made into something outstanding, or pick up a Keller "vintage" series shell and make something seriously cool.

Hi again,

Thanks for your proposals, appreciated! Finally I've decided to take the long road and try to build it up originally again. Here are the pics of the process, taken during the summer season:

Inside of the shell, view to the destroyed area around the strainer part:

[IMG]http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/ee346/PaisteStar/Star-05_zps920b4a5d.jpg[/IMG]

Measure taken to round the shell again by giving pressure from inside (leaving each two sections this way for one day):

[IMG]http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/ee346/PaisteStar/Star-06_zps8593c8d8.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/ee346/PaisteStar/Star-07_zpsc9569346.jpg[/IMG]

Fixing of the additional third reinforcement ring, into the middle of the shell:

[IMG]http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/ee346/PaisteStar/Star-08_zps0ce872ba.jpg[/IMG]

Height compensating additional small wood blocks fixed for assembling strainer parts and damper:

[IMG]http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/ee346/PaisteStar/Star-09_zps5ebfd659.jpg[/IMG]

Et voilà:

[IMG]http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/ee346/PaisteStar/Star-10_zps7af31d1c.jpg[/IMG]

Sound: still lots of sustain left, typical wooden sound (I prefer the metal tone) and a bit more punch due to the 6 1/2" height. Nevertheless a great tone, catching compliments from the bass player in one of my two bands.

Ralf

And the final one:

[IMG]http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/ee346/PaisteStar/Star-11_zps01a6349d.jpg[/IMG]

Ralf

Ralf Wow!! Fantastic work on this one. Really came out nice. ;)

Great job!

Man, you sure put a lot of work into this. Pics are great - love how you used the lug, and snare holes for the supports - what are the curved blocks? Have you treated the interior with anything?

Ralf, very impressive!! These things are a labor of love. You could have just salvaged the parts and dumped the shell but you brought it back to life. Think of all the places that drum has been. Like I tell my wife, it's not all the man hours that are put into these drums, it's the end result. You now have a beautiful drum that you can be proud of. I'm breathing life back into an old set of Stars that I,m working on and it's very satisfying to see the results. I may keep it or I may pass it on to someone who appreciates it. I recently realized that the "Star Timeline" site is yours. It's helped me date the kit I'm working on. It seems that this is between 63 and 66. 63 snare strainer, 66 bass lugs and claws, rectangle badges but metal bass drum hoops. Glad you decided to take the long route. Rich