I have rogers,and ludwig kits that have the same issues.

My premiers on the other hand don't. I had a lone gretcsh drum that didn't either.

I would have to agree with KO's well stated post. There was some really shoddy work produced on occasion from big name manufacturers, especially in the 60's. There have been instances of Ludwig keystone badges being placed on both the outside and inside of a vent hole. The one on the inside acted as a washer for the hole that was blown ou when drilling. I have often thought that painted interiors had more to do with covering up imperfections than it did with sealing properties or sonic properties.

We still love 'em though, glue drips and all.

My Slingerland kit has the tan interiors and look very clean. I never worried much about how the interiors look on these old vintage kits. I know Ludwig had a ton of issues after Ringo was caught playing one on Ed Sullivan. The 9x15 Slingerland drum I have was made in 1960, before the big invasion and the unpainted mahogany interior looks great.

My Slingerlands are sturdy and of course sound great, but there is some sloppy interior work on individual drums.

The rerings vary all over the place in thickness; one of them has what looks like a gouge from a router bit slip (it left the factory like that, I can tell, it's got the same finish as the rest of the interior).

The bearing edges were so far from level that I had to just completely redo them (don't worry, I did an outside roundover and an inside 45, just like the factory used to, except done correctly).

Had to be creative and careful to cut even edges with the uneven ring thickness, and do a lot of work with hand sanding to make them smooth and even.

So yeah, they're of that same era of sketchy finishing as post-CBS Fender guitars.

My '59 WFL Barrett Deems ("Jazz Festival") has better interior finishing, and required much subtler machining to get good bearing edges.

The variable quality is just part of the "charm" of vintage drums. Like my vintage home, it's more lovable for its imperfections.

BTW, would love to see photos or at least a description of the hardware/pedals. The Tempo King and Yellow Jacket from that era have good reputations.

You're not alone in that thinking. Count me in for that conspiracy theory.

Did anyone who knows me think that I'd not respond to that absurd statement? I worked for Fender during the last five years of CBS ownership years. The quality of the American made guitars became what you call "sketchy" during the last few years of that era. There was little consitency, and many of the instruments that left the factory were not very good.

I take exception with your comment about the post CBS years. I cannot comment about the years past 2007 because I retired at the end of that year. What you refer to as "sketchiness" went away once our new employee-owned era of the company built new factories, and retooled the old jigs from the Leo Fender era that had become quite eccentric during the last of the CBS years.

Just as an aside.......much of the negative misinformation about the company comes from music stores who are not authorized dealers for the product line. More of the negatvism comes from players who think that no one can make a guitar to their liking. But, they know a guy who can make a "better Strat" in his mother's basement. We all know people on drum forums who talk that way about drums. I'm a guy who loves mid 20th century drums by a few manufacturers because I used them to earn a living when they were new. I don't dismiss new drums. I simply don't have any need for them because I don't play professionally any more.

Thanks for all of the feedback. I feel much better about my purchase. These drums are definitely keepers. My goal is to own at least one fine example of every major drum maker, vintage and current. I can know mark Slingerland off of the list. Gretsch will be next. I cannot wait to get a Sonor kit as well. But man, high end Gretsch and Sonor drums are very expensive.

i've owned quite a few slingerlands, and i've seen some jacked up stuff.

age cracks and bubbles on the inside plies, vent holes in weird locations, i had a floor tom with some really nice birdseye maple rings and interior ply.

my favorite is the edges. i had a 13" tom that had the baseball edge on the batter side and a 30 degree edge on the bottom. currently i have a set of 15" and 16" concert toms that have two types of edges on the same side! the drums literally have the baseball edges from the 12 o clock to 6 o clock position, and then 30 degree the rest of the way. i guess you get the best of both worlds that way.

but at the end of the day, they have always sounded great.

I'm not surprised by all of these comments...I sent the snare drum that came with my Slingerland kit back to the Niles factory - twice - until I got one that didn't have some kind of QC issue

...the people at the music store where I bought the drums weren't too thrilled about it, as I recall

but I still have the drums and they've become my "go-to" kit because they sound so good

Gretsch Renown are upper level drums and can be had for a reasonable price $1,000 or so ...?

Gretsch is probably making the best drums quality wise today from top to bottom and have many almost-pro affordable options.