As each drum was from a different downbeat kit i'm guessing there's not much collectors value anyway and all i'm intrested in is the quality of sound. The high tom doesn't seem to play as nicely as the other two. Do you think this could be to do with the edges??

Might be the way it's mounted. I had the same issue. I had to tension the drum a bit higher than normal. Only then did it start singing. Just a thought.

[COLOR="DarkRed"]You know...here's the thing: do you wanna PLAY this kit, or sell it ? because if you bought it to PLAY it, and the sound is compromised...and you have tried:

For a rack tom:

~ different heads (to open up the sound of a dead tom, try Evans J1 etched heads...if they fail, nothin' will work),

~different tuning,

~ playing the tom off of the tom mount and on the tom mount, and still getting the same sound.

For a floor tom:

~ all of the above plus playing the drum on a carpet vs. a hard floor surface

~ changing the rubber feet

If all of that fails, and you don't wanna just sell it off....then...[COLOR="Red"]screw collectability[/COLOR]....you have a drum which has some sonic issues....because old Luddys don't sound choked at all.

Check whether the level of the edges are true, on a flat surface. Check if any of the edges of the head, when tightened, are wrinkled or binding.

If you have one of those two problems, and all of the above band-aids fail...you really DO have to recut.[/COLOR]

I have to agree with Jaye, to get optimal sound you might have to touch up the edges. Try holding the tom by one of the tension rods or the rim and then hit it, that will tell you if the drum is being choked or not. I had a problem with a 14" slingie floor tom, extremely narrow tunning range. Had the batter side touched up and now its great high or low. Also there was a thread a little bit ago about the resonant side of a 12" tom. Try using a little thicker head on it. I never had a problem with my 12" rack tom , I could put any batter side head on it and it would sing. It had an old weathermaster on the resonant side and a few months ago I decided to put matching heads all around. So I put a new evans thin, clear resonant head on it and I had a hard time getting that thing to sound good. Put the old head back on and I got my tom back!