Slingerland Spirit Shells

[Yapz]

I just read in the "DrCJW" article regarding the various Slingerland wood shells that the "Slingerland Spirit" shells were simply 3-ply Niles shells without reinforcing rings.

Were these shells of the same roundness and quality as the 3-ply Slingerland "regular line" shells that did have reinforcing rings? Since they weren't re-ringed, did they tend to prematurely warp or go out of round?

Point being ... I have a set of re-ringed 1973 Slings, mahogany-poplar-maple. Should I ever perchance on any in-round "Spirit" shells, could they be re-ringed by a decent drum shop and be fairly compatible with my original '73s?

Did Slingerland/Niles always make their shells in-house, or did they ever outsource (Keller, Jasper, etc.)?

Thanks!

[DrCJW]

Yapz:

Received your message regarding this post. The 3-ply no-ring shell of the 1980s is a fine quality shell, with as stated in the article the same wood composition and ply lay-up as the classic Slingerland shell with solid maple reinforcing rings. However, the bearing edges are quite different. The ringless 3-ply shell has a sharp 45 degree cut, whereas the earlier reinforced 3-ply shells have rounded edges with exact profile that varied depending on the manufacturing period. You can expect acoustic differences based on the edges, and you would not be able to recreate the ringed shell sound without significantly altering the ringless shell.

From a vintage value and historical preservation point of view, many Slingerland drummers would strongly wish that you not do this. You can get a very nice maple-poplar-mahogany ringed shell brand new from Keller, have the edges cut exactly as you want, and recreate the sound you are looking for. Just some thoughts.

Chicagoland Slingerland made its own shells in house throughout its history. There was one short-lived period in the later 1970s when Slingerland prototyped some new drums in sizes they were not yet tooled to produce, and they bought some shells from Jasper. There is a small number of Slingerland factory marching Cut-A-Ways out there with Jasper shells. Slingerland tooled shell molds in the new depths and the use of the Jasper shells was short-lived. Of course Slingerland used up the small Jasper stock it had, and we occasionally run across a late 1970's or early 1980's kit tom with a Jasper shell. You can detect this shell by the different ply lay-up - multiple thin plies all of the same width, no rings.

DrCJW