Hi,

Straight from the fertile waters of Ebay...another weird one enters the collection. I have only seen four 4 x 14 Tone Flange Models. Three are 4 x 14 Slingerland (2 Sea Green Pearl, 1 Gold Sparkle) Artist Models and then there is this interesting no-name 4 x 14 (Black Lacquer) snare drum with a Tone Flange that makes it four. I know of what I speak because I own all four of the aforementioned snare drums. I know that I am not the only vintage snare drum collector out there so if there are other 4 x 14 TFs that I am not aware of please weigh-in as I always appreciate your correspondence. This drum is way different than the 3 Slingerland TFs as you will soon see.

1928-32 NO-NAME (SLINGERLAND?) 4 x 14 BLACK LACQUER 10 LUG TONE FLANGE MODEL

THE SHELL:

Let the weirdness begin! First off, the shell is finished in Black Lacquer as opposed to the 2 Sea Green/1 Gold Sparkle Slingerland versions that are in my collection. The finish has seen better days so I cleaned, polished and touched up the shell as much as it would allow but I did leave the shell more "rustic" as that was what my gut was telling me to do with this restoration. The shell is 3-ply with maple reinforcement rings. This is a first for me as the other three 4 x 14 TFs that I mentioned are all solid mahogany shells as are all of the 5 x 14 and 6.5 x 14 Artist Model TFs that I own or have seen. I also own a few solid maple versions. The shell depth actually measures 3 3/4”, most likely to accommodate the Tone Flange/brass ring. The shell has no badge and no air hole. There are no plugged holes where a badge or an air hole (or both) would have been placed from the factory. The TF side of the shell has the normal flat "bearing edge" but there are 12 brass brads that are evenly spaced around the shell. Every other TF Model that I own or have seen has the brass brads (less common) or the 10 brass, slotted wood screws that are lined up with each of the 10 tube lugs. I've noticed the brass brads on only a few of my drums. Mark Cooper seems to think that the brass brads are the predecessor to the brass screws as Slingerland probably figured out that brass screws were less expensive and easier to obtain therefore cutting the manufacturing costs down. "Bean Counter" Mark strikes again with an astute observation.

THE HARDWARE:

Nothing out of the ordinary for this no-name drum. The nickel plated hardware is the same as one would see on any Slingerland or Liberty Tone Flange Model. The hardware is definitely Slingerland. The 3 pt. strainer is the correct era with the small thumbscrew that attaches to the correct era threaded post on the strainer arm. Under all of the rust I discovered that he extension lever is stamped with the Slingerland USA logo, this is not common on the non-Slingerland TF Models and other non-Slingerland models as the extension lever was usually left blank. I left the "bend" in the extension lever as a nice artifact from a drummer of yesteryear. The butt plate is your normal Slingerland (slightly different from L&L and Leedy) version. The 10 tube lugs look like Slingerland and are the same spacing (1 1/4” c-c) as the 4 x 14 Slingerland drums of that era. The rims are the heavy nob double flanged rims that were standard equipment on the Slingerland 10 lug Artist Models. I noticed a slight difference with the lug, strainer and butt plate internal attachment hardware on this drum. On my Slingerland/Liberty snare drums the attachment hardware is an 8-32 screw, a washer and a lock washer. On this drum the attachment hardware has an added washer that is smaller than the washer that lies (lays?) against the inner shell. So we have an 8-32 screw, washer, smaller washer and the lock washer. Yes, Geek-A-Tron minutiae but I love this stuff! The tension rods, washers and collar hooks are also Slingerland. All of the hardware was in decent shape with some rust so I cleaned and polished as best as I could but again also choosing to leave the hardware somewhat "rustic" to match the shell. I did hit the tension rod threads with some clear lacquer to stave off any future rust. The Tone Flange is the solid brass version (earliest of the 3 versions to my knowledge) and is in great shape. The brass ring that goes under the Tone Flange looks to be original.

A final observation comes from Bill Wanser who poses the question: could this be a home brew, to wit parts bought from Slingerland that were then installed on a shell that was lying (laying?) around? An argument against that would be that the top "bearing edge" of the shell looks like it was prepared at a factory to receive a Tone Flange/brass ring. If only these old drums had memory chips in them.

The batter calf head was in great shape and still fit perfectly onto the Tone Flange (thank you gods of vintage snare drum collecting!). An of-the-era slunk (bottom) head and Snappi Snares rounded out this quirky specimen of yesteryear.

Enjoy!

Mike Curotto