It all depends on if you are already happy with that BD or not. I know what you are thinking.....that we can not know if it can sound better until we try something and hear better! If any of this helps, I will offer my little experience with BDs.

I have an MIJ that I have had for about 25 years. I had never been happy with the 12 in tom. I took them to a guy to check them out. He re-cut all the edges on it and the toms just seemed to come alive and sing! It was great. The BD sounded ok, but not as good as another MIJ I had bought a while back. The edges were sharp 45s. I checked out the other MIJ and the batter edge was rounded off. Well, I decided to round off the batter edge on said drum and it really gained alot of punch and finally gave me the bottom end I was seeking. Now it sounds great (yes I did it by hand at home) but it is also because I use the right heads. I use a SKI on the batter side and any number of different reso heads, but so long as they have the ring built into it. I have one without the ring build in, but just use some weatherstripping on it (the inside of the drum) and it sounds ok.....takes experimentation. Another key factor is WOOD HOOPS. This gives the drum a fuller sound in my opinion and I try to go this route every time.

Now, this is my testimony regarding my luan MIJ, which is different than your Mach 4, but the principles are still in play. Heads, wood hoops, edges.....can only help your BD sound great no matter what wood type you have. BTW, my MIJs are standard size 14x20. I have read that wood type is a lesser contributing factor to a drum sound. Heads and edges is where it's at - and why a even a cheap drum can be made to sound good.

I MUST mention that you should search and find some discussion on here regarding checking your edges at home. You need a flat surface and a flashlight. Most use a piece of glass for the flat surface, as most do not have the luxury of owning a high-end machined surface worktable!

220 sandpaper is the grit of choice as well that you will read about on here.

Next time you see a drum deal that is a good flip and it includes a cheap brand drumset.....do it. Flip everything else and keep a drumshell or two from it. You can then use these to practice on at home. These deals are quite easy to find when you use the knowledge from this site and ebay completed listings. In fact I have acquired entire shell kits this way (that are keepers) with the final bill after selling off the peripherals------FREE.

John

Well, I'm happy with the bassdrum and with the 16" tom. The 13" is good also, but is clearly out of shape, what makes it difficult to tune at low tuning.

But the 16" floor has the problem that the head fits not so easy on it. But ones the head is there.....it sounds amazing. Maybe by re-edging everything everything will become better. But I don't really believe in the bassdrum. It has good punch and tone. although I think it can have a deeper tone, but I don't know if that really matters with the edges???? For tuning the bassdrum...I tune it anyway not all sides perfect, so does it really make sense to have good edges?

There has been much discussion regarding that very thing here on the forum. My belief is that more wood on a kick drum head is generally a good thing. Drummer John had that experience by putting a round-over on his MIJ kick vs. the sharper edge that was already on it. Generally I find that if I like the low end punch of a kick drum, I will generally find a respectable amount of wood on the bearing edge. (a round over or an edge with a pretty broad bearing surface) I have yet to hear a double 45 on a kick that produces that sound. A lot of the progressing rock and speed metal guys prefer that edge due to it's increased attack. I am not a huge fan however.

I don't know if you need to put new edges on your kick, I am just throwing in my 2 cents.

Thanks a lot. Still have one day to think about it :)

I would do it...but it costs quite a lot and I am little bit sick of keeping invetsting in drumstuff ;) Although the Ludwig is becoming my main recording gear!!!! First thing I hear with it from engeneer is: the toms sound amazing! we don't have any work with the toms!... says enough Mind Blowi

I disagree with being so quick to re-do the bearing edges on the 13" I agree with Oddball! Lets see them 1st, The problem may not be your edges at all...As far as re-cutting them, as long as you go with the original profile they will no doubt be better than when they left the factory for play-ability or studio use, but re-sale might be not only less money, but close to impossible...I won't buy any drum that has had modified or has damaged bearing edges, regardless of the price. So if you ever plan on re-selling them you might want to keep that in mind. Re-cutting equates to damaged...Also it's virtually impossible not to notice the difference in appearance. I recently bought a 16x16" floor tom shell off of ebay for 99.00 and when it arrived I noticed it had a nick or dent in the reso side bearing edge where the head meets the shell. Well since it is/was an 1/8th of an inch deep it makes the tom absolutely worthless...I would be ashamed to even give it away or gift it... Just my :2Cents:

Well. I did some studio jobs, and have some new studio recordings coming up.

I must say the Ludwig is becoming my main working kit. For performance and studio. That is because it's a light drum and easy to transport and has the classic 13-16 sizes that does not sound too heavy like some modern big drums.

I see, so the heads don't fit so well onto the 16" floor tom and the 13 doesn't want to tune right? I suspected warpage from the get go. No amount of bearing edge work will correct for warped shells...

Question > how can an outside "counter cut" be a "round-over" too???

Reason I ask, my 1978 6-ply Luds have what I believe to be a 45 degree inner with a mild round-over on the outside. And the edge 'peak' lands on the 5'th ply (more or less)