90's would have been Joe MacSweeny ownership.

They made a lot of rope tension drums under Ralph Eames ownership up until the bicentenial.Joe Mac worked for Eames,then bought the company

in 1977.

I don't know if rope tension drums were made under Joe's ownership.

The rope tension drums were 3 ply with rerings,so were earlier Eames kit drums and snares.Early 80's eames went to 12 and 9 ply unobstructed shells then added 6 ply.

I would think your drum if 3 ply would pre 80's at least.

ON MY EAMES KIT SHELL THE BUILD DATE IS ENGRAVED INSIDE THE SHELL.don't know if that was done pre Joe Mac.

Replacing a head means removing the rope. Takes pictures and observe exacting how it's strung. It's more complicated then it looks at first blush. I have a similar drum. Just Loosening the ropes won't give you sufficient slack to move the hoops off the heads

Cool marcher!! Can you post more pics when you get it?

Cheers

Once you get the drum, look into the vent hole on the side of the drum. Hopefully inside is a paper label which will list when the drum was made. See the attached picture.

I have one from 1976 that looks the same as yours.

It is possible to change the head without removing the rope - you just have to loosen it all the way around so you can lift the hoop and head up in order to slide the head off the drum.

If there is a length of the rope that is braided (used for carrying the drum) that is where you start loosening it.

Jeff

Here is the label insinde my drum.

This is interesting for sure.... From what I know Ralph made drums in the 50's as more of a hobby and such. I have heard that often times he would basterdize drums to put something together from pieces and parts. Joe MacSweeny was a teenager when he started helping out Ralph in the shop. In 1977 Ralph ended up selling the shop to Joe as Joe learned the art of building drums using the original Stone wheel in the shop that Stone master model drums were made on.

I am actually wondering if this an original Ralph drums that may have been refurbished by Joe in the 90's. Another interesting thing for me is that my mom grew up in Wakefield Mass through the 40's and 50's and her mom was actually friends with Ralph's wife Marjorie. I will have to see if I can figure out more about this drums as it seems like a cool find.

Thanks for all the replies! I am trying to find out from my friend if there is any info on the inside of the shell. I won't have the drums in my hands for a few weeks.

PressRoll, I was able to speak to my friend Mark who is now the current owner of Eames. Mark was good friends with Ralph and Joe and when Joe retired recently, Mark bought the company. I was able to message him as we have been out of contact for a while and I sent him the pics you posted as well as the info you gave. This is the response I got from him:

[COLOR="DarkGreen"] Based on the paper badge, that drum is definitely an Eames built in the Bicentennial year 1976. It's probable that Joe helped build some aspects of the drum since Ralph had Joe and 3 other employees working with him at that time but the drum would be attributed to Ralph overall. I think you're right about Joe possibly repairing the drum in the 1990's. Joe bought Eames in 1978 and though he kept the last name, he did not continue using Ralph's first name to my knowledge... Certainly not into the 90's. Also he would have dated it the year it was made. I hope that's helpful. Nice pic. Thanks for sending it my way.[/COLOR]

Hope this helps and good luck with the drum!

To replace the head,....Member CTPercussion,...it`s all he does is rope drums and antiques.