Originally Posted by vintagerules

Thank you. Some of the tension rods are shorter than the others. I'm not sure if it's because the bottom hoop has been replaced.

Most likely they were mixed up at some point during the drum's life when someone took it apart for whatever reason. Who knows? I tore mine apart at one point for some reason (which now escapes me) and its various parts were in a shoebox for about a decade.

However, one cannot say with 100% certainty that the drum wasn't originally built like that either. Someone grabbing tension rods out of bins and tightening them down for an 8 hour shift in 1957 wasn't likely to really care about getting the same length on every lug on every drum.

It’s finally finished (kinda). It looks as pretty as it will get. I tried my best to restore it like a pro. As I thew everything together I noticed the bottom hoop isn’t perfectly round and as a result is kinda hard to tune. I’m in the Seattle area so I called west coast drum shop (formerly donn Bennett drum studios) and they said they don’t have any vintage hoops ��. I’m a stickler for keeping everything vintage because I’m a weirdo and I put tons of time into this. The guy said my best bet would be contacting Steve Maxwell vintage drums if I wanted the “correct” hoop. Anyways.... here’s the kinda finished product.

I also put some duct tape up against the springs to keep them from ringing

You can kinda see the snare side hoop isn't perfectly round in the last pic.