Tommy, any shell more than an 1/8th inch out of round should be summarily passed. 1/8th or under and the head will still go on easy and tune up well. More than that; constant problems, if you can get a head on it at all.

Vintage drums (old drums) are notorious for going out of round. Lots of drummers used to remove the reso heads back in the day and the result of not having heads and hoops helping to hold the drums shape has resulted in so many out-of-round drums circulating around 30/40/50 years later. I always take a tape measure with me whenever I'm checking out a kit or a drum I'm thinking of purchasing. Especially with the older stuff, check the roundness of the shells - always.

John

I've never checked any of my drums....though I'm almost certain some of them would be out of round or have an imperfect bearing edge, etc. Somehow, even drums that have flat spots and re-ring gaps and dings in the edge still sound great.

I had an old Ludwig transition badge Duco bass drum -single tension with calfskin heads.....When I tried to replace the calfskins with modern heads, I found that the shell was so egg-shaped, it could have almost passed as a Trixon! heh heh ;). The heads wouldn't fit. But when I put the old calfskins back on, the sound the drum produced was incredible.

The bigger the vintage drum is , the higher the chances that it will be out of round because over time, uneven tensioning and imperfect climatic conditions will throw them out. Same thing happened to my back over time, too! I used to stand up straight....but years of slumping over the drum set has caused things to move out of alignment! So, I guess a curved spine and and out of round drum make a good match! :)

Thanks for the reply's. Tommy