slingerland kit completed

[58apache]

hi. I dont know anything about drums but i enjoy restoring vintage stuff. i toy with cars bikes and woodworking. i got this kit in sad shape. 10 coats of psychadeic green paint, no hardware. My best friend has been drumming for 20+ years. i refinished this as a gift for him. i would just like some opinions before i give it to him in a few months. dont know year prob 68? milk chocolate interior. retaining rings, badge #33777 3 consecutive #'s 3 not consecutive but all have 5 didgets. stamped M inside . sizes ( ill give head size first since i dont know how it is usually given)
14x10 rac tom
15x10 rac tom
16x16 floor tom
20x18 floor tom
24x14 kick drum

i wasnt going for 100% original thus the pearl hardware etc. i am hoping he will actually use this kit for his funk band and studio work. can you chime in with an opinion of this kit? thanks in advance!! Eric

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q217/ejstab/DSC01227.jpg

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q217/ejstab/DSC01165.jpg


http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q217/ejstab/DSC01163.jpg

THE 20X18 FLOOR TOM THIS THING IS HUGE

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q217/ejstab/DSC01178.jpg

[slingerlandsm]

Wow,i would really like to see the before pics your job looks pro, 3 of my 6 slingerland kits were redone and this looks every bit a pro job p.s i think a lot of members wish they had afriend like you. steve

[58apache]

actually I didnt even have a digital camera when I started this project! I did all the prep work on the shells about 4 years ago. i then slowly collected the hardware. the 20" floor tom hoops were the hardest to find! I gave up on it for awhile. Ran outa projects and the weather has been nice here in va so i pulled it out and stained and sprayed it. THANK YOU FOR THE COMMENT!! I WORKED HARD ON THESE!! sory about no before pics. they would have made you cry anyways

[StephenCass]

Hi, new member here, but had to comment on the beautiful kit. I'm in process now of refinishing an old Slingerland kit for my 3-year-old daughter...floor tom conversion to bass drum...and would like to know the wood stain you used? Truly a head turner of a kit. You're indeed a drummer's best friend.
Steve

[58apache]

these are maple shells and i kinda custom mixed the stain. i started with a natural. it wasnt what i was looking for so i mixed a little early english with it kept going darker till i found a shade i liked. you can start light and keep coating it darker till you get what you want. buy a natural finish and some really dark shade. use a seperate can and use mostly natural adding a splash of the dark untill you get it. you can apply multiple coats of stain but it will ALWAYS get darker not lighter. thank you for the nice comment on my refinish work. i made a short clip video of the kit if you want to see more of it. i dont have alot of pics of the restoration as it took me 4 years to complete.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtfZz3IRxWQ

[58apache]

first try too light..
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q217/ejstab/drums/DSC07175.jpg

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q217/ejstab/drums/DSC07173.jpg

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q217/ejstab/drums/DSC07166.jpg

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q217/ejstab/drums/DSC07164.jpg

you can see some of the green paint in the holes still that stuff was horrible!!!

VIDEO......http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtfZz3IRxWQ

[FoamieOmie]

Wow, that's pretty. All drummers need friends like you.

[58apache]

I was a tour manager for a while and always seemed to hang out with the drummers, maby because they were the most level headed:D :D


does anyone know if these are typical sizes? this kit seems HUGE to me!

[Antipodes]

A really nice piece of work and, yes, those are some big babies there. With the exception of the bass drum, those are your top size "conventional" toms of the period and even the 20" tom is pretty much a rarity (would account for the difficulty in getting a 20" rim, I guess). I've never played one though - curious to know how it handles. Even 18"s can even get a bit out of control so I'm imagining a 20" could really go berserk (and not in a good way).

DR

[StephenCass]

Thanks for the quick response on the wood staining and also the video clip...a fabulous-looking kit and you provided some insightful information. Gracias!

The last kit (and only) I refinished I sold to a drummer in NYC. My snare (not me) even made it on the Conan O'Brien show backing up Rick Okasek (sp) of the former Cars. It was a 60s Slingerland jazz kit configuration 20-13-14 and I went with the natural so as to match an old Slingerland snare refinished in the natural stain. It was a tough job, for as you spoke of all the green paint and such to remove, I had to sand down a horrible black stain without getting too deep into the outer maple ply and bleeding into the second ply. I really didn't think it would be possible to rid of the darker stain but it turned out all right. I'll see if I can find some of the photos of it to post.

That was my first refinishing attempt and I thoroughly enjoyed the process. Took about 3 weeks one summer. And believe me, if I can refinish drums (with very little background in woodsmithery), any one with a bit of knowhow and common sense can. I asked a lot of questions and learned a lot. It is a great feeling of accomplishment when you are finished too. Besides, you really know the in's and out's of your instrument when all is said and done, too.

To the dismay of my wife, I eventually sold the kit on eBay (my wife was upset I did that cause she knew how much effort went into refinishing the kit). I sold it, however, so I could afford to purchase a '67 Gretsch kit in Tangerine Sparkle. Sacrifices sometimes have to be made. I'm glad it went to a drummer who appreciated it as I'm sure your friend will yours.

Of course, that was before our 2 1/2 year old daughter made her enthusiastic presence known in our lives. She takes most of my time these days and digs the drums. Most of the refinishing work is done during her nap time on the weekends or after 8:30pm when she goes to sleep. Because she's shown more than moderate interest in drums, I'm currently working on her mini-kit out of 70s Slingerland shells (I think it's a mahagony exterior ply...any experts out there who can add to this would be appreciated...I'm more knowledgable about Gretsch). This has been a bear of a project because I'm having to strip from the shells adhesive glue (Zip Strip works well). Underneath the glue is a dark brown stain. I'd like to darken it a bit but not too much to overshadow the grain so your advice on the darkening is indeed helpful.

Other projects, as I wait for better weather, are my attempting for the first time to recover a 60s Gretsch snare shell in Tangerine Glitter (Precision Drums has been super to work with on this...they also supplied me with a tom-riser and two 16 wooden hoops for the floor tom to bass drum conversion if anyone out there is in process of a similar rebuild). With regard to the Gretsch snare, removing the White Marine Pearl wrap from the drum required holding the snare shell over a hot plate (I used our stove burner...wife didn't like that) to loosen the adhesive and then using a metal scraper I peeled back the wrap in sections. Once I got started it went smoothly. Be careful though if heating for some wraps are known to start on fire from the heat.

Ten minutes later, I had the wrap off and discovered underneath the adhesive the maple shell was covered with a black primer seal. Apparently, this primer is to prevent discoloration and bleed through to the WMP wrap. The next day I cleaned the shell of primer and adhesive with Zip Strip and metal scraper.

The adhesive I plan to use for the wrap will be 3M Fastbond 30NF (Note: it is hard to get in most hardware stores...got mine from Precision Drums...but has gotten good results.) It was recommended by PD.

Well, again thanks for the information. It's been extremely helpful. Now if I could only wish the 1/2 foot of newly fallen snow on the ground away.

[IsaacHeath]

I gave your video 5 stars to balance out the 1 star rating it had. The set looks amazing.

Isaac

[58apache]

thanks for the 5 stars. i kinda felt bad on getting one but i figured they were looking for a solo! oh and i can play a solo. so-low you cant hear me! steven thanks for the imput. i would love to see pics. i appreciate all of your feedback. i figured i would get a bunch of crap from this site
1 cause i'm not a drummer
2 because this isnt a 100% original build
3 i have no clue what I'm talkin about
everyone here has been super nice. any tips on tuning? i think i've got em close. i stretched the heads the toms were not that hard but the 20" and bass are a little off i think. i am using evans j1 coated on all toms except the 20" had to use a g1 coated as they dont make a j1 in 20". all genera glass resonant. emporer snare. e-mad batter on the bass and evans eq3 resonant. were these a good choice? these are what my buddy plays on his dw kit. anyone know how to ship these to phoenix inexpensivly?

[StephenCass]

For shipping a kit this nice to phoenix, I'd offer these few tips taken from my years of ebay sales and shipments:

First, would your friend be paying you a visit any time soon that he might haul them back to AZ? Or would you or anyone you know with extra vehicle space be heading his direction? This would be the ideal and alleviate the hassle of the shipping. However, if you must ship, UPS (I know them well) has done a nice job for me, except I usually talk them thru big packaging of drum kits and make sure they understand the fragility of the shells and hardware. Fedex is another I've had no probs with. Check around. I've never used US postal for large kits but maybe someone out there has. Any cases for the drums would also help. I have usually shipped UPS 6 day ground and this keeps costs down. You would want to buy some insurance offered by UPS to cover loss or damage that could occur in shipping.

If you can stack the shells, that will save you on shipping costs. Also, man have you been Mr Stellar with regard to drumhead selection and tuning; I would say that your friend will be able to tune the drums to his liking (you shouldn't worry about this aspect), and I would encourage you to loosen the tension of the heads prior to shipping if stacking is not an option. I've known shells to crack under tension and dramatic climate change...afterall, those drums may be passing through some of MY COLD midwest country. Right now, the nights are below the freezing mark and could affect drums. The cold with contraction and drumheads under great tension can lead to cracking of shells and much more. Leave the heads loose and your friend will be just as delighted when he receives them.

Anyway, these are just a few things that came to mind. I'm sure there are things I didn't think of like keeping hardware (tension rods) in ziplock bags helps or wrapping shells in plastic bags to keep moisture out (I think the webmaster alluded to this in his ebay discusssion). Good luck with the shipping. Can't wait to hear how your friend reacts to a great kit from a great friend. And I thought I was a cool friend sending Omaha steaks to my buddy in Tennessee last year. I suppose I should have sent my guitar player an old Gretsch picking machine (refinished of course but not by me).

[58apache]

Thanks for the tips Stephen. I told him I was building theese to learn to play on. another friend is giving my son a signature series washburn they just recorded with. This guitar is going thru my drumming friend in phoenix to handle shipping. The Dan the drummer is more reliable to ship it than the guitarist I know ! so it will cost probably 80-100 to ship the guitar to me so i am trying to talk Dan into flying out with the guitar and i will pay 100 of his ticket. I am saying he can come tune "my" drums for me at the same time. Does it cost more to fly with drums? is it safe without hard cases? thanks again for all your help.I'm not a gerat typer so forgive Me

[roth49]

Hello,This Slingerland set looks great.I'm starting on my Mahogany set but I wanted to ask a few questions.First ,I want to thank drum forum for the advice oh re doing my drums.Whats the best way to do the exteriors,stripping of the drums without getting any paint remover on the interiors.I think myself that taking off the chocalate paint on the interiors would be better for a better sound.Just have a natural maple, mahogany interior,with a clear gloss coat of urethane.Why did they put a chocalate type of stain or paint on the inside.I owned another set of Slings about 74 or 75 chrome over maple shells and the interiors were a clear gloss finish.They sounded great.Any answers would help.Thanks Mike.

[roth49]

Hello,This Slingerland set looks great.I'm starting on my Mahogany set but I wanted to ask a few questions.First ,I want to thank drum forum for the advice oh re doing my drums.Whats the best way to do the exteriors,stripping of the drums without getting any paint remover on the interiors.I take all the lugs and mounts ,badge off.I think myself that taking off the chocalate paint on the interiors would be better for a better sound.Just have a natural maple, mahogany interior,with a clear gloss coat of urethane.Why did they put a chocalate type of stain or paint on the inside.I owned another set of Slings newer, about 74 or 75 chrome over maple shells and the interiors were a clear gloss finish.They sounded great.I should have kept them.Any answers would help.Thanks Mike.