Judging by the badge on the snare drum, that kit would date to 1959-61. Also, I don't believe thaose BD t-rods were used in 1963. The snare drum may very well be of the solid shelled variety, and worth quite a bit in and of itself. Looks to be in great condition, and I wouldn't let it go for less than $1200.

Beautiful kit man. I don't detect any fade in the wrap from the pics. Looks like they have been stored for a long time looking at the hardware pitting. If I were going to sell these babies I would do a serious disassemble, clean/polish/lube, reassemble job. If the cymbals are Zildjian, the value jumps considerably. Original drum heads mean nothing to a player so I would replace all heads with coated Ambassadors (some may disagree with changing the heads)...the drums will look and sound beautiful and be ready to play right out of the box. A very appealing kit to a jazz player looking for that classic American made 3 ply sound. $850 to $1000 depending on cymbals and how successful you are at removing the pitting from the hardware. Good luck.

Someone recently pointed out that the bass drum and small tom are probably older and the floor tom was added later to the the set...I got the 1963 date from a stamp on the floor tom (maple). Bass drum and small tom are mahogony instead of maple and do not have a date stamp

1. I saw a Zildjian stamp on the ride cymbal but did not see any stamp of any kind on the crash. Is there any way to figure out what type it is? How much is the Zildjian ride cymbal worth?

2. Is there any recommended method to clean and buff. There is definitely some tarish on the hardware, but no fading on the shells.

Hats look like A.Zil,as does the Ride...older too,so..what ....$300 easily right there...

Looks like 20,12,14 kit...$600-800 there

If snare cleans up..solid maple...$350-400?

$1,200-1,400?

BTW..get the kitchen towels out of those shells Pronto!

Not to worry about the maple interior on the FT. 1963 was the year that Slingerland transitioned from mahogany to maple interiors. Many kits from that year came with mixed interiors. Follow jccabinet's instructions below for insightful step by step cleaning procedure. (taken from post:NEED HELP IN RESTORING 1959 gene krupa)

From what I can see the wrap (outer shell) looks like its in pretty good condition. Re wrapping will cut value by 50%, so they say. Here is what I would do.

Assuming the parts are chrome over steel.

Dissasemble the entire drum but leave the badge and gromet intact.

Soak the tension rods and lug/strainer screws in CLR, house hold cleaner, found about anywhere. Some guys soak in dish soap then spin the the t-rods with a drill and polish with steel wool. Thats too much work, the ClR will remove that rust just by soaking and rinsing.

Get a small bowl of hot water with Dawn dish soap and use a small sponge to dip in it. Clean the exterior of the shell with the dish soap. Do not get the sponge really wet and allow water to get into the holes.

Dry it off and use some Novus #2 polish, found at some hardware stores.

Soak the the lugs and hoops in a sink or big bucket (for the hoops) in water and Dawn dish soap for at least 24 hours. You can also use a product called KrudKutter if they are real nasty.

After the chrome parts are cleaned, then polish with a chrome polish of your choice. I have been using blue Magic and I like it.

Place all of your lug and strainer nuts and bolts into a small dish and spray them with WD40. This will help prevent them from rusting again.

Inspect the shells edges. You can smooth them out with some 220 grit sand paper if needed. Just dont sand too much and sand away the profile.

Wax the edges with Johnsons paste wax before you put the heads on.

Put a drop of oil in the threaded part of the lugs before you screw the tension rods into them.

YOur drum will look great, not new but we dont want new because its a vintage drum.

Good luck!

Jeff C

Thanks for the help.