Forum Fixing

[StevSha]

Hey. So i love my forum series drumset and i've had it since i was 6. One day though i wanna fix it up a bit. My main concern with it is the mounts. Eventually i wanna get optimounts and nice stuff like that, but of course the problem is........the pesky holes left by the original mounts.
As most of you know, old forum series drum mounts are placed on the shell and have a large hole cut in the center to let the tom arm slide in to the mount and through the shell. I'm fine with leaving the holes in, but how would i go about protecting the holes? Round off the edges? stick in those little metal cover things that you see on snare vent holes (except they'd probably have to be custom made to fit or whatever) ?

[Headshrinker]

As most of you know, old forum series drum mounts are placed on the shell and have a large hole cut in the center to let the tom arm slide in to the mount and through the shell. I'm fine with leaving the holes in, but how would i go about protecting the holes?

Why 'protect the holes', if they held up with tom arms in them, they'll be fine without, I suppose?

You have probably found out already that those Optimounts are quite expensive. Are those Forum shells really worth such an upgrade?

[Artisan]

Yeah, i'd suggest upgrading the whole kit.

[AcustomPaiste2002]

If I were you, I would lump it out with the kit you have for awhile until you gain enough capitol to afford something of higher quality. I too have a pearl Forum and am currently saving my money to get a custom built stave drum set. I got a guy that has set a quote for me for around $2000 for a 20/12/14/16 with 14 snare as well. I know that stave built kits are of the highest quality and often surpass pro level kits from major manufacturers at a fraction of the price. Then I get a kit that is built specifically for me, with the wood species I want. Think about it. Buy the best, you will never be disappointed.

[barjack]

Options:

1) Leave the entire kit ASIS. It is what it is, and that's an inexpensive kit that plays decetly but won't play THAT much better with a large montetary investment.

2) Remove the brackets, leave the holes, buy Optis. Here's the thing- Optimounts aren't going to make those shells sound that much better. They're 100% B-stock poplar, not the most inhearntly resonant wood. In fact, the tones that poplar promote- fat, deep, etc. don't really need a floating tom bracket to show through. In fact, the best upgrade you could make to the tone of a forum kit, aside from getting new heads top and bottom, would be to purchase the $15 Pearl floating floor tom feet. Now THAT makes a difference!

3) Use the Forums as a project kit. Take the wrap off, buy wood plugs and fill in the tom bracket and bass bracket holes, refinish or rewrap them and learn a ton about how to clean up and assemble a drum kit. If this is your plan, go all out. You won't make ANY of the money you invested back, but that's not the point. If you want to learn to customise kits, starting with something cheap and generally valueless is a great way to go. If you want Optis, keep and eye on eBay and you may score some for far less used. You might even go with RIMS to save some money.

[StevSha]

I mainly wanna do this just to keep the kit alive and make it a little more modern. Its always gonna be my baby. I just don't like the idea of having the arms inside the shell were more damage could occur. And yes it actually sounds much better than you'd expect a forum to. I guess it just aged really well or somethin.

[barjack]

I mainly wanna do this just to keep the kit alive and make it a little more modern. Its always gonna be my baby. I just don't like the idea of having the arms inside the shell were more damage could occur. And yes it actually sounds much better than you'd expect a forum to. I guess it just aged really well or somethin.

I would suggest functional upgrades then. All new heads including nice resos, a Superkick I, and a white Pearl front logo head. New clamp-style floor tom brackets. Floating floor tom feet.

[3pearlkits]

barjack is quite correct.

Pearl air suspension feet are available separately and will make a significant difference to resonance in the floor tom.
If you decide to go with optimounts, remember that the optis are sold based on drum depth and not drum diameter.
As for the through mount holes left in the shell by removing the tom mount, the GK-90 gasket kit was made to cover those up.
Check in "first aid" to see if the GK-90's will in fact cover the holes for your forum kit. not sure myself, I thought the forum kit had a different tom mount.
Plenty of peeps just leave the holes as is though, and protect the hole by putting the opti over it.

Being a lower end kit, the lugs are somewhat more flimsy than the higher end kits. You should carefully inspect all the lugs to see if there early signs of cracking (or indeed see if some are cracked already). Especially the snare ( I had a target kit as a rehearsal kit and I like higher tunings on snare, and that lead to half the lugs cracking in half on it).
Hope this helps...

[barjack]

barjack is quite correct.

Pearl air suspension feet are available separately and will make a significant difference to resonance in the floor tom.
If you decide to go with optimounts, remember that the optis are sold based on drum depth and not drum diameter.
As for the through mount holes left in the shell by removing the tom mount, the GK-90 gasket kit was made to cover those up.
Check in "first aid" to see if the GK-90's will in fact cover the holes for your forum kit. not sure myself, I thought the forum kit had a different tom mount.
Plenty of peeps just leave the holes as is though, and protect the hole by putting the opti over it.

Being a lower end kit, the lugs are somewhat more flimsy than the higher end kits. You should carefully inspect all the lugs to see if there early signs of cracking (or indeed see if some are cracked already). Especially the snare ( I had a target kit as a rehearsal kit and I like higher tunings on snare, and that lead to half the lugs cracking in half on it).
Hope this helps...

I have a feeling that if the mounts go into the shells, this kit has the BT-70 brackets which are not GK90 compatible. I think that most Forums with BT-3's also had ISS.

[erwinner]

As always I agree with barjack 100%.
If they were mine and I had a significant attachment to them, I'd just leave them as is, but with new heads. I have two kits in this category and their condition/shortcomings are not an issue to me at all. They are perfectly functional and will never be altered beyond their present condition. Just new heads when they need them.
If you want a better drumset, just get on craigslist often and wait until you find a nice deal for very little money. Very, very little sometimes. Just save up some cash and instead of spending it on the Forums, buy an entire mid-high end kit for $300-500. I've done it several times. Often for WAY less than $300 even.

[StevSha]

I have a feeling that if the mounts go into the shells, this kit has the BT-70 brackets which are not GK90 compatible. I think that most Forums with BT-3's also had ISS.

Yeah they are BT-70s. Just checked the manual. (still have it after all these years)