Hi guys..This is my first post up here on vintage drum, and i'm really hyped about joining and speaking to fellow vintage drum buffs about anything and everything vintage in the drum world..

Here's a little bit of an enigma concerning a vintage Ludwig 4x14 Downbeat snare drum that i picked up and semi-restored back to life..

She looks great and sounds even better. Extremely warm and punchy, and surprisingly fat for a drum of that depth..

So, now back to the enigma..The original hoops were beyond restoration, with plenty of chrome stripping and warping, so i decided to buy new rims from Gibraltar, which fit nicely..The tension rods were not the original, and were floor tom/ bass drum length, around

4-5/16” (110 mm), and i had purchased the short 2" or (52mm) length, for both top and bottom..

Now, here's where the mystery kicks in.. The top tension rods fit perfectly and i began to tension the drum head.. As i began with the bottom rim, the tension rods would not fit !! As my good buddy at my local drum shop said when i explained this to him,"What kind of black magic sh-t is that ? "

Yes, black magic indeed..I couldn't understand it..So i replaced the bottom tension rods with ones that were an inch or so longer, and they fit perfectly, tuned the drum nicely, and had no infamous shifting from the classic horizontal lugs..

My questions, to anyone who may have the answer to this mystery,are as follows .. Has anyone encountered this problem ? And is this common for these Ludwig snare drums ? Is it a bearing edge thing ?.. Any thoughts, opinions, and help would be extremely appreciated !

Cheers !