Well, I still haven't solved this dilemma! I've tried Remo, Aquarian (Texture Coated), Evans (including Level 360), Attack and have basically given up.

I inquired at my local store (managed by VDF member "nailfoxx") about Remo custom making me a 13 3/16" head. Remo said they could do it, but when nailfoxx got the price quote back from their distributor, it was over $60 per head (street/store price)! Do you believe it?

I consulted Remo's forum, where oddly some employee named "Christian" always responds to the questions. Christian said that $60 per head sounded about right.

I responded back to him to confirm whether or not a 300%+ markup sounded "about right". That's ridiculous! What sane person would pay $120 for two 13" drumheads? You could buy a Keller shell for that much!

I ordered 2 American Vintage heads that will arrive this week, as my last ditch effort to resolve this problem. I am not optimisitc that they will fit. I held a 16" American Vintage head up to a normal 16" Aquarian head at the store, and didn't see much difference in size. I am thinking that I might just find another 13" MIJ tom of the same type (3-ply with re-rings) that is "normal" size with the same lugs (or lug hole spacing), and just carefully take the wrap off of my existing drum and use the wrap on the new, correctly sized drum. I appreciate all the suggestions everyone has given me, I just don't want a lot of hassle when I have to change heads, or have to do some explaining if/when I sell them.

So, does anyone have a 13" MIJ shell that is 3-ply with re-rings they would like to sell, or possibly trade for two unused Aquarian American Vintage Drumheads (ha ha!).

The reason the custom Remo heads are so expensive are twofold. 1) Remo makes all those heads by hand. It is no different, than buying any handmade product where the person doing the work , expects a reasonable income.

2) Your dealer fleeces you. When a dealer sells a standard head, they are competing with other dealers. They buy in a bundle from Remo , then mark them up minimally , to move them along. When they buy a custom head for you, there is no competition., so they put , probably 50% at least on it ,instead of 20-25%.

I work with Remo custom heads. I know what they cost me( and I pay a higher price because I am in Canada) and I know how much I mark them up. I just sold some for a snare drum and they were 2/3 , what you are being quoted.

back to other solutions. some people have had some luck by shaving a little off of the inside of the aluminum hoop, that the head is tucked into. you don't need too much, just enough to get it on.

Hey Calfskin,

I think I am happy to report that vyacheslav and I finally got his head problem solved. I think he ended up taking off a bit of the wrap, and a Remo regular head fit on there just fine!

Also, and I don't want you to think I took offense to it, but there was no 'fleecing' on my part to him on the custom head. He is a teacher at the store, as well as a great customer and better friend. Remo dealer cost to our store was $52-53 for each head! I asked like 3 times if we were talking about the same product, and they assured me there was no mistake. I agree that the handmade notion will play a factor in it, but you would think that they allow for a special circumstance in their normal profit margin. But...maybe not!

Cheers!

Sorry about the slur. I was clearly out of line. Remo, may have raised their prices some, since I last bought custom heads. The prices quoted , looked pretty high to me.

---very glad that you got it sorted out.