Sorry to hear about the passing of your brother. Chances are good that drum used the P87 strainer. If so, snare wires are hard to find. Also, he probably had to drill some new holes to mount the Pearl strainer. If you decided to go back to the P87, you will have extra holes in the shell. Post some pic's of the drum so we know for sure.

Here you go

The strainer to me looks original for the drum. snare wires not original but still do the job. To get the correct snare wires either hunt some down on ebay or have them made. Great looking drum.

Good for you. That is a WFL strainer. The "Classic" model.

Not a pearl.

If you don't mind my asking...

What lead you to ID it as a Pearl.....sir?

It says Pearl on the ends. I'm not astute enough to know otherwise. A drum shop guy told me the original would not have string near the throwoff but would that would attach via a screw into the mechanism. Again what I'm told not what I know first hand.

OK, i get it now.

Someone used Pearl snare wires because the original wires that connect with a screw are hard to find.

Actually, you are quite astute.

You are doing well.

There are "so" many parts on a snare drum.

The device mounted to the side of the shell, to pull the snare wires up and let them down down, is called a "Strainer" or "Throw-Off".

The device on the other side that just holds the snare wires with string is called "The Butte Plate".

The wires pulled across the bottom or "Resonant Drumhead" are called "snare wires"

Can you play the drum now with the Pearl snare wires, and does it sound good?

I think so. The batter head was pulled to check the date (Jan 13, 1959) but I am going to reattach it and try it. Should play fine I expect.

Make sure that when snares wires are engaged, that they sit straight across the head. No curves in the wires.

Also when engaged, the spaces between the snare wire mounting plates and the "bearing edge" should be the same.

"bearing edges" are the top outer edges of the drum shell.

The snare wire mounting plates are the plates with the holes for the strings.

That basically means the snare wires need to be centered on the head.

Do you have a local drum shop?

Yes I have a local shop. Thanks for the snare wire advice. I may get them to do it. This one deserves the best.