The early, thinner MIJ shells have the reinforcement rings to strengthen the shell. Later on, as the shells went to 6 ply or more, there was no need for the re-rings as the shells were much stronger. I don't know how much, if any, effect the rings had on ths sound of the drums, but they allowed the drums to be tuned higher than they could have without them. Re-rings were common on other drums as well, Radio Kings, etc.

There are alot of late 60s - early 70s MIJ drums out there that are in-round, with and without re-rings. My guess is that you just have not been fortunate to acquire any.

I will also say this. About 2 years ago, I bought a brand new ddrum Dominion, 100% maple, stained/lacquered - downright beautiful. Well, before I slapped any new heads on her, I got my ruler out and discovered that every single shell was out of round! I was SO MAD! I started making calls. Started with the dealer, who referred me to ddrum, who informed me that they could not replace the shell because that model is discontinued, and they do not even use that factory anymore and it would be impossible to replace it. This really steamed me up and I was considering returning it and losing alot of money on shipping costs.

Well, I was also advised to make some calls and consult. It started with a guy in Washington state that makes all the high-end custom kits for ddrum. It was very interesting talking to this guy and he was extremely helpful and patient with me. Next was a call to Pork Pie (was referred to talk to anyone there). I got this very nice, knowledgeable guy who told me the same thing - and that is that there are alot of great sounding drums out there that are out-of-round, namely alot of Ludwigs. That guy at Pork Pie - none other than the president of the company.

So, I took my shells (and about a dozen others) to a local drum builder, who spend about 7 hours with me inspecting, edgecutting, eating, talking, showing me his mint vintage Rogers kit, etc. etc. What I discovered is that yes, he did a little modifying the edges on my ddrums and then declared that they should sound great.

....and they did, even while being out-of-round. The most out-of-round I saw on those was about 3-4 mm (difference across extremes of the oblong / oval shape of the shell. Still turned out sounding great. What I learned is much more important is the quality of the edge, so long as the out-of-roundness is within a spec (which varies between companies).

Moral of the story, edgework is where it is at. Lastly, I must say that none of the shells I have dealt with have ever had issues with fitting heads onto it. I have been blessed to not run into those extreme specimens.

This new-found knowledge fits into my testimony about my 1972-74 Pearl made (Dixie) MIJ that I bought in 1986. I played it for over 20 years and was never happy with the sound I got out of my 12 inch tom. After the re-cut, it sounded fabulous! I just wish I would have learned about the importance of edges long ago!

.....end of my novel!

John

Though I have restored some of the thicker 9 ply shells that sounded GREAT, I would agree here that the better shells are the thinner 3ply with the rings. They have more low-end to them (deeper range), resonate a bit better.

John