Nice observations regarding the Zoomatic. That does appear to be a late 80's-early 90's Zoomatic. It has the fine knurled tension knob, the slightly larger "Slingerland" script, the thin snare clamp you pointed out and the handle is bent in the opposite direction of the 70's version. All this info is per DrCJW's article on Zoomatics. The simple butt plate is correct for a BR model according to DrCJW. The correct Zoomatic for the 4x14 BR model should also have a cutout on the rear body to clear the upper hoop. This can not be verified from the pictures. The cutout was used on 80's-90's 4x14's also.

The first year for 5-ply shells was '72. The BDP wrap changed slightly in '73, as it did not have the fine details of the previous years. The BDP on this drum looks like the '73 and up version. The serial number seems a bit on the low side for '73 but is definitely possible. The newer Zoomatic on this drum and the 5-ply shell do not condemn it but it is definitely suspect and not entirely original.

In the 1990's a lot of black diamond Asian Slingerland kits showed up with those snare drums, small outfits with 20 inch bass drums with two on top and 14" floor toms. They were getting sold for 500-600 bucks at the time.

Slingerfan and BEC! Thanks for your observations and comments. Concerning the 5-ply shell, I'm aware they were available from possibly late 1972, but have seen no evidence it was offered on kit drums and snare drums. Is it POSSIBLE it happened? With Slingerland, anything is possible. The style of Zoomatic and those snare wires still seem a bit suspect to me. I certainly don't wish to make a big deal about this, since I have no interest in the drum. I guess I just felt that more information was really needed on this drum. Now, if it had the correct Zoomatic and wires...and wrapped in WMP or COW...and Stick Chopper hoops, I might be interested!

-Mark

Mark, I was mistaken on the correct snare wire attachment for the '70-'75 BR model. Straps on either side of the wires is correct. The cord attachment was used later in the '80s, 90's and up on 4x14's. I will edit the bad info from the earlier post. BEC's comments got me to revisit the BDP wrap. The BDP on this drum has even fewer fine details than the '73 version, leading me to believe it is indeed a newer import with an old badge installed. I would like to give the seller the benefit of doubt but there are a lot of red flags here. Zoomatic and snare attachment are wrong for 70's. Wrap is not consistent with 70's wrap. 5-ply is suspect. All these issues are, however, consistent with a 90's version of the 4x14.

Slingerfan... Again, thanks for your thoughts and insight with this drum. The shell itself appears to be from the Niles era, so up to the early 80's. I also wasn't convinced that the BDP wrap was also consistent with the early 70's. The snare wires on the drum are the model A1613, meaning 16 strands, 13" long for a 14" snare drum and allowing only the use of string. That to me that says it's designed for a drum with a Rapid strainer. All the BR 4x14 drums with Zoomatic used the NZ-2013 wires, which were attached with filament tape strips. These same wires were also used on all Sound King snare drums once they switched over to standard length wires. And, yes, I also considered the fact that the badge was added later. I've got the correct aftermarket Slingerland-style grommets, along with the custom-made flaring tool to install them. When installed properly, it sure looks original! I'm still waiting for a reply from the eBay seller and will post his response on this thread.

-Mark

This may be a silly observation but wouldn't a '70s Slingerland also have some form of stamp in the shell ( P,Year,Month ) As I've seen with every Slingerland I've encountered from that period? I'd assume that the '90s imports did not have any internal markings.

Not silly at all. Hard to tell in pictures but the shell does not look Niles era. The bearing edge appears sharp not classic Slingerland rounded. By the way, this same seller has sold two other "Vintage 70's 4x14 BR 5-plys" in the past six months. Mark, you may not get a reply.

Yea that seems a tad fishy that he has sold that many " Vintage " of the same drum. Assumingly they were all in the same relative condition. Either he came across a cache from an old store, warehouse,etc... or what we have here is a tad more sinister. Which sadly certain details elude to.

And yea from what I see of the shell it reminds me more of the '80s marching drum I had, as opposed to my '70s concert toms.