To drill or not to drill...

[PK Drums]

Here's a question that has been bugging me for some time, and I hear different responses.

If you have a virgin drum (drum that was never factory drilled) and you drill the correct period parts in the correct spots, are you devaluing the drum?

I would think no, but I hear people say different.

If the job is done professionally, is there any way to actually tell?

[Antipodes]

Unfortunately yes. Collectorworld says anything other than "factory" is a negative for the value. As stuff gets harder to come by I suspect this will become less rigid but you can see now on ebay that stuff with the slightest alterations go for substantially less than their untouched counterparts (no matter how impractical and unusable the latter may be in a contemporary playing situation).

If it's a rack tom or two, bung 'em on snare stands or a free standing tom mount.

People will always give you the "ultimately it's your choice" line but imagine yourself burning dollar bills instead of drilling holes 'cause that's kind of what you will be doing. Almost better to sell them for top dollar and get something that better suits your needs.

In short, never drill - ever.

Cheers,
David

[JohnG]

never, ever.....no....don't do it.....hope I am clear on this...........

[Vipercussionist]

With the advent of RIMS mounting systems there's really no reason to ever drill out a Tom. You can mount any drum with any hardware with those!

Bass drums might be a slightly different story, I have put vintage rail mounts on some vintage virgin kicks, but they weren't showroom quality pieces either, they looked good from a bit away, but up close they were quite worn from years of use.

I have seen the proverbial 1990's PEARL tom mount carved into the 1960's vintage LUDWIG Tom, that REALLY grosses me out and should be avoided at all costs! crying2-07

If you have a perfect virgin shell, I wouldn't suggest it.

But if it's a "players" drum and you do a GREAT job, I'd say do it, but be SURE to get vintage measurements, you'll want EXACT placement for the drum you're working on. Also make sure the hardware you will use is the standard era's issue for the piece you'll be attaching it to.
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