Try Aquarian's American Vintage series...closest to real calf (as close as you can get with plastic anyway) and they have a slightly larger hoop than modern heads so it should fit your vintage Ludwig & Ludwig.

I know this may sound dumb, but...

Could it be a 15" drum?

Barring that, many OLD drums were inconsistent in size. The fact that all drums of that era used calfskin heads, meant that the wooden flesh hoop and the calfskins could be coaxed (if need be) to fit onto the shell. Modern, metal flesh hoops and plastic heads are much less forgiving...unless you get the slightly larger "vintage" heads mentioned.

My suggestion would be to get some modern calfskins. You might just LOVE them!

[COLOR="DarkRed"]The problem becomes that pre-mid-'50's drums were just a wider diameter than contemporary ones. They were REALLY almost spot-on the nominal size (i.e. a 14" drum was 14" diameter, or 13-15/16"....while today, a 14" drum is 13-3/4" or 13-13/16"). Sounds stupid, but you have just experienced what a difference that can make !

Remember, those drums took calfskin heads...which were MUCH more pliable than the plastic heads which succeeded them.

The American Vintages are the obvious choice but be forewarned....they may not work, either. I have had them work...and I have had them still fit too snug.

You could also try a Remo Fiberskyn...they tend to be a tad wider than coated Ambassadors or Emperors.

Another idea I have had some success with is the Ludwig Coateds. Of all mfr's, their head rings are the most flexible by far...so they can work on those old shells pretty well sometimes.

Lastly, Remo clear heads tend to be a bit wider than their coated counterparts.

Hope some of this helps.

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Hey thanks folks for the info, I'll give the Aquarians a try, If not, perhaps I'll take some off the top edge.

I will echo the comment on the Ludwig Coated heads.

Not that they are necessarily significantly wider than others, but their hoops do flex a great deal so they can be successfully fitted onto old shells without negative sound implications.