I just purchased my first set of Slingerland drums. If I am to believe the seller, these are an all original set. No re-wrap and the original heads are still on the drums and have never been replaced. I tend to believe all of this as the heads say Slingerland Sound King, the bottom heads had no stick marks and the heads were hard to remove from the rims. What was shocking was the quality (or lack thereof) of the wood inside the shells that I saw for the first time when I changed the heads. I have attached some pictures for you guys to see. The wood shows splinters around a lot of the drill sites (badges, tom arms), and there seems to be an abundance of a glue like substance at the bottom inner wood near the re-enforcement ring on the floor tom. I have owned several Ludwig, WFL and one Rogers kit and have never seen this type of poor quality. So I am thinking one of two things here. One is that these drums were re-wrapped and the person who did it did a sloppy job putting the lugs, badges etc back on. Two, this set is all original and untouched as advertised and this was just a poor example of Slingerland's work. Please let me know what you guys think. One last question. I have never seen rims like these, are these correct? The drums do sound really good.
Got my first Slingerlands. Quality question for the experts. Last viewed: 1 hour ago
Have seen that on lots of Sling drums....factory...
Yep, what blairndrums said.
factory chip drilling. dry age cracking on the inside of the drums. Those are the correct hoops called sticksavers.
Looks to be around a 1969 kit.
“I did not trip and fall. I attacked the floor and I believe I am winning.”
I 've seen this on every vintage drum company except Leedy.
Really? Wow. They sound great, look cool and I did not pay much for them. They also came with the original high hat stand, snare stand, tom arm and foot pedal. I'll never use any of it so I just kept the hardware in the bubble wrap. I guess it is good to know that it is not unusual for these kits. I will play these for a few years and then sell them when I buy a different kit and the wife gives me the stink eye. What is shocking to me is that inside of the shells remind me of a 60's Japanese kit I owned years ago with the splinters and poor wood cuts. Again, they sound great so that is the true measure.
Yep, what blairndrums said.factory chip drilling. dry age cracking on the inside of the drums. Those are the correct hoops called sticksavers.Looks to be around a 1969 kit.
The seller said they were from 1968 so you are spot on. I figured the wrap was aqua satin flame, but is actually called green satin flame. Cool trippy finish. I will have to expand my knowledge into the Slingerland realm now. I have been a Ludwig guy for several years but have been branching out recently buying a Rogers Big R kit and a 70's Tama Superstar kit. They all sound awesome, with the Rogers holding a slight lead. My Ludwig Standards from the late 60's still are best sounding kit I have ever played. I do not know how the planets aligned when that kit was made, but you just can't make them sound bad.
...What is shocking to me is that inside of the shells remind me of a 60's Japanese kit I owned years ago with the splinters and poor wood cuts. Again, they sound great so that is the true measure.
That was my first thought. Hope it's not true. You'd have to go to a lot of trouble to fake a Slingerland kit like that. Why bother?
Dig the finish though.
60's WFL Orphans Club Date - Black/Gold Duco (20/13/15)
Not to sidetrack too much, but what do these satin flame wraps feel like? I've never seen one up close. I am thinking they feel like those 3D baseball cards of old, you know, where you hold it certain ways and you can see different images? Am I close?
p.s. Slingerlands of that era are wonderful sounding instruments. Congrats!
Not to sidetrack too much, but what do these satin flame wraps feel like? I've never seen one up close. I am thinking they feel like those 3D baseball cards of old, you know, where you hold it certain ways and you can see different images? Am I close?p.s. Slingerlands of that era are wonderful sounding instruments. Congrats!
They definitely have a "surface" feel to them. There is no intended effect like you describe with the old 3d baseball cards, but the analogy is not far off. They definitely have cool reflections that come off of them. Attached is a picture of my Mapex Mydentity kit in white satin flame. You can see how they respond to light.
Looks like typical vintage drum construction to me. Modern drums (even the cheaper lines) are made to a much higher standard than drums were back in the day. That is due to modern manufacturing techniques coupled with higher consumer expectations.
Looks like a nice set to me. It should be judged by the standards of the time when it was made. Back when nobody really cared about such things as edges, wood types, number of plies, etc. If they sounded good and looked nice (on the outside) that was usually satisfactory to most buyers.
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