Hey again...Ive just been taking the drum apart and noticed a few other things. When I place heads on the drum without attaching the hoop it seems to sit slightly wonky...This doesnt look good as it may mean the drum is warped or egg shaped. Does this mean it is beyond repair?

Also the screws that go in the lugs seem to be much too long, meaning by the time I have screwed them in, I only have a few turns before they are fully in leaving me barely any room for tuning. Should I buy some shorter screws?

so many questions! haha

Aquarian Superkick II on the batter side and the Regulator on the reso side.

Get shorter lugs for the bass drum, all the same length. I am not a big fan of Aquarians, I think that they have their purpose for certain avenues. If you want a boom on the bass drum with some tone, I prefer using a Remo Coated Emporer on the batter side and a Coated Ambassador on the Resonant side. I do it old school with the felt strips, one on batter side, and two on Reso side. Works for me with serious thump.....

[COLOR="DarkRed"]When you say "wonky" what do you mean ? Most old shells have some slight out-of-roundness to them. As long as the heads go on OK without you having to fight them on by pushing down hard....the out-of-roundness is not an issue.

[COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]Do an experiment, though. Take the heads off and sit the drums on a flat surface, so the edges are touching the surface.

Do all edges touch the surface ? Or have maybe very very tiny gaps between the surface and the shell edge ?....or can you "rock" the shell a little back and forth ? [/COLOR]

If the latter, then your edges are no longer level and they should be made level. Because this means that the head is not making equal contact w/ the shell all around, and you therefore are having to tighten one or more lugs further than the rest. Both can cause the sound of the batter head to choke.

If this is the case, find a drum shop or, barring that...a cabinetmaker.... near you who can level the edges.

Next, as mentioned, yes...get proper t-rods which allow more play in tightening.

I like Aquarians and I like SKII's although Aq's have the tightest and least flexible metal rings of ANY drumhead; so sometimes they are a very tght fit on vintage drums...especially if the shell is slightly tweaked. Remos fit a tad looser...so do Evans. Remo Emperors are a good choice, or Remo Powerstroke 3's either coated or not.

Also, on the bass....play around with wood vs. felt vs. plastic beaters and a falam patch or felt patch on the drumface....all can alter the "attack" of the sound.

My suggestion is to match the tuning of the bass batter and the reso head. If it is too boingy-sounding, try a Aq. Superkick head, or perhaps do a round port in the reso head to diminish its influence on the sound a bit. Maybe like an 8" diameter hole cut into it (I use a sharp utility knife and a dish/plate).

The shells, whether b/o badge or painted keystone badge...are all basically the same. Reinforcing rings with relatively broad bearing edges (are what those things are called) on 3-ply thin shells.

Sorry for the novel.

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samnadel,

That bass drum and the rest of your drums are all the same 3-ply shells so the fact they are from different eras won't make a difference.

There are VERY many different types of drumheads available these days. But, back in the vintage days, there were a limited number of styles of drumheads. So, my general rule for getting the vintage sound is to get as close to the old style drumheads as possible.

For my purposes, I prefer any vintage Ludwig bass drum, 20" in diameter and above, to have a coated Emperor batter head coupled with a coated Ambassador on the front. I either put a felt strip on the batter or the resonant side (sometimes, even both sides get a strip), off-center and running vertically.

I've never heard a bass drum sound real good with an pinstripe on it. (Is that a pinstripe?)

Try a Remo smooth white PS3 and it should sound great.

I'm going to do that Stanton Moore thing now. Thanks

Hey everyone. Thanks for the replies. It seems like Head choice is going to effect the sound of this drum alot. Ive never heard a bad word about the Powerstroke 3 (which is what i currently have on the batter side) but Ill certainly try the Ambassador/Emperor options youre all suggesting.

Also it seems that slight warping of vintage shells isnt that uncommon so hopefully can be lived with....

Thanks again..Ill let you know how I get on

sam