Hey guys, I am a current member of my schools drumline and I am in charge of maintaining the battery instruments. Since my first year, I have noticed a huge difficulty in tuning our tenors' drum 1's together. I investigated, and it turns out that the bearing edge on this set was completely destroyed (possibly by careless playing). The damage, to me, looks severe, but is it beyond repair? If it Isn't can I possibly repair this myself by sanding the whole edge down as best as i can?

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b322/averagejoes/DSC_0439.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b322/averagejoes/DSC_0438.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b322/averagejoes/DSC_0437.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b322/averagejoes/DSC_0435.jpg

Well, that doesn't actually look all that bad. None of the wood is gone and its not like the edge has parts disintegrate on it (it happens). I'm not going to condone sanding the edge down just because if you mess it up more than it already is, I don't want to be responsible for suggesting it. But I will say it's possible to do. DFgreg is a member here who fixes stuff like this all the time. I'd send him a message before touching this with sandpaper.

Please, don't do this and ask forgiveness later. This is a serious repair and can end up costing your program some serious cash if you have to replace the drum. Ask the powers that need to know before doing this.

A good drum repair shop can put the drum on a router table and re-cut the bearing edge.

warboy mentioned possibly contacting DFGreg, who works at Drum Foundry. You can find Greg's contact info on their web site.

I've also known some guys to send their set drums to Precision Drum for repairs. You could try contacting them (and others) as well.

In the meantime, tell your tenor players to stop hitting the **** shell! Play in your zones, and in control. If you can't control where the sticks are going, you're probably trying to play above your ability level. (And audiences are NOT impressed by hard stuff played like crap.)

By the way, this is why the rim flange on Yamaha tenors is turned inward toward the shell. It helps keep stray sticks and mallets from whacking the bearing edge.

Those bearing edges are fine.

They've only suffered normal wear for a HS team and the tuning issue is more whom than what.

The little dents are easily bypassed by using paraffin wax on the bearing edge. You should be doing this anyway, but it will definitely help form the seal you need for maximum contact between the head and the shell.

There is also a good possibility that the bearing edges are in that shape because of how close you guys let the rims get to the bearing edge as evidenced by the drum to the left in the first photo. It's no mystery why the rim offers no protection.

The rim and bearing edge are almost even- double hoop that thing!

The head will ast longer and you won't destroy the shell.

The bearing edges are not in that bad of shape. They definitely show wear but not enough to cause major tuning issues. If you want to try and smooth them out, take a sanding sponge with a fine grit with the powers that be permission and lightly sand the top of the edge where the two angles meet /\. Gently pull the sponge back and forth around the shell to help even it out. You will more than likely sand the sealer off of the edge when doing this so make sure you reseal the edge with wax. Do NOT re-cut the edge with a router unless you are a trained professional and have years of woodworking experience, you could not only wreck the drum beyond repair but also hurt yourself very badly. Re-cutting the edge will severely alter how the drums sounds and tunes, so unless you know what you are doing, don't mess around with that part of the repair process.