I do not have an answer for you but can share that several collectors I know will avoid an out of round shell like the plague. Couple that with the rough finish and you may have your answer. I had one collector friend complain to me that he was having trouble getting a new drum head on an old Rogers 70's 9x13 rack tom. This drum was barely out of round and had the original head on it for all of those years. I bought it from him for cheap and thought it sounded pretty good. But to him, it was worthless.

For 10 bucks and you like 26".. get it and give it a shot... If it's just at one bearing edge? should be repairable... 1/2" out on a 26" is not a huge margin.. I would put an internal brace in it to true it up, moisten the shell and then leave it to dry for couple of weeks..

Cheers

John

I'm with John. If the wrap is not much good in the first place, you have nothing to lose. I once used boiling water (several kettles full) to bring back an old snare to round. The boiling water softens the shell until it is malleable. Use braces, wedges or whatever it takes and let the shell dry out completely. My grandfather used the same technique a half century ago to bend handles of canes he would carve. Best of luck, sir.

Brian

Follow this same concept and you will repair http://vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=46982&highlight=repairing+Ludwig+timbales

I'd use above tricks and make it a nice players drum, not necessary to build a matching kit around it. You could use it lik this also:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO4FbBxFRe8"]Angry Tradesmen - Big Wave (courtesy of Delightful Rain. A Celebration of Australian Surf Music. Filmed and recorded at Freshwater SLSC. May 2006 ) - YouTube[/ame]

You could also pull the longer side to 26" with a rope attached permanently to two small eye-screws in the re-ring.

Note.... This is a wooden shell...

Cheers

what he said...

I'd spend $10 on a beer that I might not even like. What do you really have to lose?

Wood is very flexible, just make sure that you moisten the parts that need to move... 90 degrees from either side of where your measurement is off.

ex: if compared to a clock, and it's out of round at the 9:00, then you'd be bending at 12:00 and 6:00 to get the shape back.

Thanks for the suggestions. I agree that for $10 I have nothing to lose.

Heck for ten bucks it would be great for parts. But you can fix it, it's only 1/4" out of round