Found this kit on e-bay a couple of weeks ago, all-original matched set dated June 1970. There were no photos of the inside of the shells, only the outside - my mistake there, I should have asked. I pulled the trigger anyway (excited to get one of those), the box came in a couple of days ago and I was like 'sweet'. As soon as I opened it, I saw this. I asked a friend who's into drum restorations and he said it's no good as a player's drum anymore, cause the damaged part won't vibrate I know some of you guys are quite experienced with problems like that (and I've seen some really impressive work on this forum), so I thought I'd get an opinion before I do anything about it. Mind you, the rest of the kit is in great shape and the heads hadn't been removed in a very long time - it's possible that my seller didn't know about this until he packed the kit. Whaddya guys think?

Alex

More pics. The shell is still flexible and in-round.

Classic example of why you should never leave a pillow in your BD.

You can fill all the cracks in with wood filler, then after drying sand it all smooth again. Wash with Clorox/water 50/50 and let dry. Sand again to remove raised grain.

You will never get the mold stain out. Cover your finished drum with beeswax inside. Three or four times.

About the separation on the edge. Open it up with a butter knife or something thin and strong, then drop in wood glue and work it in as best you can. Clamp til dry and lightly remove excess with fine sandpaper not changing the round over.

Replace pillow and repeat after damage returns.

Press that filler in really hard.

If that is the worst of it, then I would say you can save it...

A fungicide treatment, some filler for the cracks, a good sanding, then I would finish the shell with a few coats of solvent based paint...

Cheers
John

Thanks for the responses guys, I appreciate it. I still have some doubts whether this can be a player's drum again, but I guess I'll have to take that chance now that I've paid for it. It's a pity, since the rest of the kit is in really good condition for its age, but there you go.

That said, I've asked my seller for a partial refund - we'll see how that goes.

Alex

I agree with Odball/Longjohn. Only thing I can add is to make sure any loose wood is glued back down, Im talking about the ply's de-laminating here, approach that just like the edge repair.
Thats about all you can do. Get some coated heads on them and play them, they will probably be just fine.
Someone sent this link to me, check out this product, it might be good in some areas.
http://www.systemthree.com/store/pc/Sculpwood-c40.htm

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

I am sure you will be able to get a decent sound out of the drum after working on it. It might not resonate as well as it did 50 years ago, but I don't think anyone in a club is going to come up to you and say "Hey...I can tell you have wood glued inside!!".

Point is, don't worry about it , just fix it as best you can and play the thing. It will be fine.