Was the drum damaged in shipment?  If so collect on the insurance.  If it was a defect the seller knew about you should contact him.  Most power sellers will correct the problem.

Thanks for the reply Louis,

The drums were packed with more foam, peanuts and wrap than I have ever seen. I highly doubt it was caused during shipment. The seller took apart the drums totally so all the shells had no heads or hoops on them and were all wrapped seperately. With that in mind it could have happened anywhere along the way, from the original buyer, from them taking it apart, to the shipping.

James, I'm not sure how I would work out the price of the snare seeing that it's a used kit and there are 5 other peices involved in the price.

Ah, gotcha - I misunderstood, and thought you bought directly from Donoho.

Do you have a picture of the shell showing the damage from the side?  I'm curious how deep the damage is, and whether the drum could be repaired by having the edges recut.  There isn't a whole lot of wiggle room on a 5" deep snare drum.  If there is enough room, get an estimate from a shop that does those sorts of repairs (Precision Drum, f.i.), and request that much in compensation from the seller, if you're willing to live with the shallower snare drum.

Is Donoho still in business?  If so, contact them and find out what the cost would be to repair or replace the shell - then pass that cost along to the seller.  If they're no longer active, maybe some other builder could start with a fresh Keller shell, take the hardware and badge from your drum, and match the finish?

To be honest, I've never been in this situation, having to deal with one component of a drum set being unplayable, so I'm not exactly sure how I'd handle it.  Would you send the snare drum back for a refund?  Ask compensation for damages and keep the drum?  I'm sure that would factor into the compensation as well - whether, when all is said and done, you have a new snare drum or you don't.

Perhaps someone here has dealt with that sort of thing, and could share their first-hand experiences.

That just might be the worst damage I've ever seen to a drum that's been shipped ... with or without notice of damage.

I have been trying to understand how that damage could have happened.  Apparently the drum, was apart and something was dropped on it.  That has to be the worse bearing edge I have seen on a drum.

Hmmm i dont wanna be outdone!!!

Jack

I'd estimate that you (or whoever you get to do it) would have to take about 1/4" off of the shell to get past the damage and cut a new edge.  Taking a look at the original auction, and the lugs on that snare drum, I'm not sure if there would be enough clearance between the counterhoop and lugs if you took off that much shell.  That's why I suggested the possibility of simply replacing the shell.

("Simply?")


It certainly would take a lot of time and effort (and perhaps money?) to get that drum repaired/restored to its original state, especially if the shell would need to be replaced.  I guess a lot of this depends on how much you want to have a matching snare for the kit.

So here is the reply:
"we apologize that your shipment arrived damaged.  we will gladly file all insurance claims on your behalf and get this resolved for you as quickly and painlessly for you as possible.
would you like to claim the full amount of sale for damage or would you rather put a price on just the snare drum value and claim that?  the decision is yours.  please let us know and we will get on this as soon as possible for you."

I have never delt with shipping insurance before, how does this work and which way should I go about it?



James, my brother in law is a woodworker and I'm wondering if he may be able to fix it. He has never worked on drums before but I'm sure he has all the tools to recut the edge. What advice do you have or could you point me in the right direction to a good sight that would explain the process.

Thanks again James,