That reason is called alignment splay. To pull a hoop over a cylinder, you must do so at 90 degrees. The alignment splay dictates that movement.

This is likely lens aberration caused by the camera being too close to the drum. It's also angled from slightly above which accounts for the difference in ~apparent~ splay between top and bottom rods. Note the shell itself seems slightly conical, wider at top. The camera lies all the time. :)

Mitch

Okay, after about 30 attempts, I took another photo with my lyin’ lens where the camera is equal with the midline of the drum. It appears that both the bottom and top bolts have an angle to them. If this is the case, we’re actually back to square one: is it normal that the lugs and rim holes are misaligned? Frankly, I asked the question out of curiosity more than anything else. The drum assembles, tunes and plays just fine, and it’s a handsome drum to boot!

No, it`s not normal, if it came from factory that way, it`s still not normal.

Your eyes will not warp the image you see. If the rods are splayed, the hoops are your issue or your lugs were changed out. I doubt the lugs were changed out. If you have oversized hoops, it`s plenty fixable.

Any splay in the alignment pulls the hoop ears toward the shell. it will bend the ear until it tightens up. The space between the hoop ring and shell tells the story. Hoops designed for floating heads (not single tension) will be oversized on a drum not designed for floating heads.

You can move a head side to side and see if you get them to align at 90 degrees straight up and down. No engineer would design a ring over cylinder that pulls toward the shell.

Subtel differences between shells, like a rubber spacer on a vistalite or

a bowtie vrs. classic lug can alter alignments. For instance, a bowtie lug on a three ply ludwig will align different to the same hoop on a six ply. The inside diameter does not change, only the outside diameter changes, so the inside of the hoop that goes over the thicker drum shell, aligns different than that same hoop over a three ply. Same as a floating head hoop vrs. a non floating scraper hoop.

The new pic. suggests splay on the bottom but it might just be one side is slipped over further than the other. It`s not as defined as the top hoop. Either way, you want 90 degrees straight up and down for correct slide.

All you need to do is find the differences in the hoops with a tape and measure whatever you think is different. If there are no differences, it came that way or something was changed. 90 degrees is more than just aesthetics, it has a function to prevent wrinkling of the head as well.

The thing about hoops is they can be changed out, but a tape will tell you if it`s the proper one for your shell to lug alignment. The smallest differences can escape your eyes, but not the tape.

If your drum works, don`t fix it, if you end up not liking the look, one day find the hoops that wont give it splay.

This is true! :)

I thought the misalignment under discussion was as pictured below [circled]. If the rods are splayed, you can just see that, but the camera being too close to the drum will increase the appearance of angle. jmcohen for you 32nd attempt, pull back a few feet and zoom in if you can, filling the frame with the drum as before. Not that it really matters. :)

Mitch

Mitch, you are correct. The initial post was regarding the holes in the rims not lining up laterally with the lugs. The photos shifted focus (pun intended) to the splay of the tension rods away from the cylinder of the drum.

Josh

But that`s the splay I saw and still see. Side to side or back and forth travel is splay.

The red one is alignment splay. The alignment on center from a front view looks fine.

I understood what you were asking from start, that's why I suggested placing bottom hoop on top to see if it lined up any better.