I narrowed down my drums' age by looking at a combination of details. They've got a "dogtag" badge, so that means roughly 1953-56. They've got Sound King lugs, so that means 1955 or '56. The wrap is tucked into the shell joint, so that means 1955 or early '56.

Not everyone needs to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out their drums' age, though. A number of Slingerland drums have their manufacture date ink-stamped on the inside of the shell.

Often times the date is stamped in the shell.

It's my understanding from reading Dr. Wenk's article that the tags were changed on specific years.

So, your dog tag would be 53-56, not roughly, ( like '52-'57 ) with the exception of being placed on some marching drums up until '59.

When the serial numbers began, that's where there is a possibility of up to a one year variation in the serial number chart in the Drum Guide. It can be as close as only a week's variance though.

Anyway, that's the way I understand it to be.

:)

Thanks for the info! I guess later 60's is about as close as I'll get to figuring out what year my kit is. Date stamp inside the shell would make this process pretty doggone easy ... no such luck with mine. Thanks again for the replies.