Good question on the shells. The catalog scans here show the Artist as a solid shell until 73 and up where it's described as a "uni mold" shell. Not sure if that's 3 ply or what??

Gary/Glen!

The 10 lug Slingerland "Artist" ( #156 ) is indeed pretty rare... and of interest is that Buddy played the 8 lug model! I have a 1968 Slingerland Buddy Rich Model snare drum which is indeed the "Artist" renamed for Buddy when he came aboard in 1968. Mine is the Solid Shell and as such is worth a bit more than the plied model.. but .. regardless of shell make-up, they are all still the "Artist" . One would think that BR would have gone for the 10 lug, but in this case he didn't. Also of interest is that Buddy opted for the StickSaver hoops on his Artist snare drum... the ONLY model to have those. Every other Slingerland snare he played featured StickChoppers. Regarding shells:

The "Artist" was available as either SS or plied, and easily as far back as 1968. The catalogs are a little sketchy in that regard. The 10 lug model came out in 1964... well before BR came aboard Slingerland. Plied model shells.. ( Unimold ) .. came in around 1960. These were available in addition to the solid shells offered.

I can't say as to value/fair market on a Slingerland 10 lug ( #156 ) Artist... but I do know that a NICE/COMPLETE 8 lug solid shell BR Artist in WMP would bring around $400.00 in today's market. I'll attach a couple of my 8 lug Buddy Rich Artist.

Tommyp

Tommy: Thanks so much for taking the time to respond to my inquiry as well as for the additional information that you presented. I appreciate it. The pics of your "Artist" are stunning as I expected, based on all the drums in your outstanding collection.

For some strange reason (perhaps the one functioning eye) I've never been good at determining shell plies. I realize that 3-ply shells have the reinforcement rings but exactly how can I tell the difference between a "solid shell" and the 3-ply? Is it mainly the physical appearance of the wood involved or are there other definitive characteristics? I apologize in advance for my lack of knowledge in this area.

X's 2 Tommy great info thanks for posting! And a beautiful snare there too! That's interesting they made tha Artist in both solid and ply back that far. I did notice the 69 catalog calls the Artist the "Buddy Rich" Artist model. So guess that started in 68 when Buddy went to Slingerland? 71 catalog shows the thinner piccolo style snare as the BR model. And the Artist no longer had the BR name tagged to it.

Gary!

Regarding Slingerland and their plied/solid shell snare drums: The earliest plied models had a mahogany inner ply, and if you see THAT... well, it's a plied shell. But then in the mid 60's, Slingerland switched to an inner ply of maple, and that makes it a little tougher to tell. This was relatively brief though as by the latter part of the 60's, they were painting the plied models with that "tannish" beige color which a lot of guys call "chocolate milk paint". All that said...

If you were to A/B a solid shell snare drum against a plied model, you would see instantly BECAUSE... even with a solid maple re-ring on a plied model, you can easily see the plies, whereas on the solid shell... it's a solid piece of wood.. and .. the solid shell models were NEVER painted. They were always left natural. With the solid shell, there are NO ply lines... just grain. Do you know anyone that has a solid shell snare drum? Perhaps an EARLIER Slingerland Radio King? Compare that to a plied shell drum and you would be able to see the difference. It is kinda hard without actually comparing them to each other. Once you do though... you'll know from that point on!

Tommyp

OS both 3 ply and solid maple shells had the maple rerings. My eyes are not all that hot anymore either so I use a magnifying glass or my lupe to look closely at some things when needed. 3 ply shell if you look close at the bearing edge you should be able to see the plies. Solid shell is just that and you'll just see the rering glued to the shell. Above in the Vintage Drum ID section click on "Slingerland Drums" and you'll see the shell section and it'll show closeups of the edges where you can see the plies.

Ha Tommy your quick! I'm slow at typing. :)

That is correct Glen! Buddy only played the Artist for about a year and half as Slingerland had the NEW 4x14 Buddy Rich in his hands PRIOR to even being cataloged. It was listed as a 1970 model, but Buddy had it prior to that. I have BOTH 4X14 Buddy Rich model snare drums in the BR collection.. ( WMP and COW, and he played both ) .. and each drum has the EARLY black/gold badge signifying 1st production runs. After coming out with the 4X14, Slingerland dropped the "Buddy Rich" from the Artist name as the 4x14 was now the BR model. BTW... as I'm most fond of saying: Buddy LOVED the NEW Slingerland 4X14 Buddy Rich model snare drum...until he didn't! I'll attach a couple pics of both my EARLY Slingerland 4X14 Buddy Rich models. ENJOY!!

Tommyp

Man Tommy those are nice!! I dig the stick chopper hoops. Classic Buddy for sure. I put a pair of SC hoops on my RK snare. Although not correct in my case they are fun to play. :)