let's get rolling..., You lucked out, & got an extremely rare, high quality snare for peanuts. Why not restore it to it's original design ? You may want to rethink turning it into something that looks & sounds like everything else. (I wouldn't doubt you already have several "players". It's a shame you don't like the "looks " of such a special & unique instrument).

tdennis, thanks for the reply! Yeah, you're probably right-- my biggest concern is getting the one extra clip and tighteners, so I guess I'm overreacting.

I'm definitely putting the wood hoop on top because I have enough clips and it works fine. Snare side, though, is the issue.

What would you suggest for making the wood hoops back in round? They are slightly oblong as are the original calf heads. Shell seems to be fine, though.

Wow. That seems like a ridiculous deal.

I don't think there's much you can do to really get the hoops back in round, other than putting them on the drum and evenly tensioning them down.

Congrats and have fun with it.

Man, that one must have slipped by a lot of us. Cool drum at an unbelievable price.

Hi jsjazz,

WOW!!!! You got an unreal deal on this thing! They usually sell for many many times that. Several hundred dollars minimum. I have eight of these and none were anywhere near this cheap...

As chance would have it, I have Adrian Kirchler working on one of these right now and I will have extra, authentic reproduction hooks in a few months when it is done. If you can patient, I'll set one aside for you. The original parts I sent just got to him in Italy last week. Looks like yours might be missing part of the butt and throw as well. Maybe you could get in touch with AK and see if he can repro the missing parts while he has originals in his hands?!?

These drums hold far more value as collectors pieces than as players, so I'd highly recommend leaving it in as original condition as possible. Be careful not to use any abrasive polishes on the hardware. That old nickel plating is thin and delicate. Many here, myself included have had great success with Cape Cod polishing clothes. Be careful with the wood finish as well - just a little lemon oil or other furniture polish on the wood parts should be enough to preserve what is there.

Be cognizant as you gently clean the drum of any marks inside the shell and under the hoops. Is there a number stamped or written inside the drum? Or a paper label? A stamping anywhere? Stone kept track of how many of these they were building and you may be able to date it more closely than the general range. Looks like 1925 or later based on the hardware. The hardware looks super bright. Could be chrome instead of Nickel in which case it's probably very late production - ca. 1930s.

I'd strongly recommend leaving the original hoops on the drum. If they're a little out of round - it's because they's 80 years old! It's not going to sound like a new drum no matter what you do to it! Ply separation is no huge deal, it is what it is. I'd let it be.

Dude, what an awesome drum! Let's see more more pictures!

-Lee

Wow, What a price you got that drum for..I may have the chips that you are looking for.About 5 weeks ago i got a box of parts in they all seem to be from 1900 Stone,Page,Ete {mosty snare drum parts clips and or claws,rods,lugs,some strainer parts even parts i did know, even some rope drum parts} to maybe up to 1930.Iam still looking at all the parts i got in trying to put them together is my stock of vintage parts..It will take me a few days to get back to you...So if any one is looking for these kind of parts P/M.....Mikey