Hey, I just took a look at The Slingerland Book by Rob Cook and there's a section on Slingerland mallet instruments. If you provide a couple of pics of the entire instrument I may be able to help you out and maybe get a model # if you don't already have one. The book has a number of pictures. Judging by the badge, it looks to be '67 - '72. In these years Slingerland's mallet instruments were manufactured by the Jenco Company. '73 - '79 they were manufactured by Deagan. Hey, I just learned something, too. Thanks

Ok dont have a heart attack, here is how it arrived, and unwrapped. After a bit of repair , and setting it up correctly for the first time in its life ,here's what it looks like, and yes that is a wolf. He provides the wolf note. This marimba is just awesome,the keys are barely used, and all it needs is some minor adjustment and alignment here and there. And a room with no wolves to play it in for us to rock out. I heard a great version of "Not Fade Away" the other day, not the usual, just chock full of marimbas! This one is a 3.5 octave. Thanks!

Holy moley!! nice puppy! Look out Red Hot Riding Hood!!

Wow is that a nice find. My book doesn't seem to have a model quite like yours but that badge is almost certainly 67 -72. There is one model M840 3 octave (I only see 3 octaves on yours but I am just a drummer) that closely resembles yours but the pic has a different badge, however, this may have changed between the years.

If you counted 3 octaves ,it probably is ... duh...67-72 sounds right, that is the feel it gives off. Perfect era for me. Frank Zappa used a lot of marimba .hmmm. Thank you for your help, what else does that handy little book say? Anything else? Not that i would ever sell it, i wonder for insurance purposes,what it is worth also ,and where else could i find info on it? Thank you again.

You're very welcome. I'm glad you found it in such great condition and want to keep it. And yes, Zappa did tons of marimba and other mallet instruments. The book only has a 6 pages on mallet insts. and has pics of models and talks about the Jenco Co. affiliation between 67 &72 and the Deagan era of 73 -79. According to the book, 79 was the last catalog to include mallet insts. I only scanned this so forgive me if I missed something. Also, I found a site called . That may help you determine some kind of value. Good luck and have fun with them and don't let your wolf take claim by marking them.

Are you sure that is a marimba and not a xylophone? I'm just a zappa fan that has been on the hunt for a xylophone or marimba that I can afford for some time now and from what I've learned on the web I thought the marimba's tended to be 4 octaves or larger and would have the longer tubes. Xylophones tended to be 2.5 to 4 octave range and the resonator tubes are shorter like yours. From watching ebay they tend to go in the 400 and up range and fully restored and retuned are obviously on the higher end. I found a vibraphone at a consignment shop a few years ago and I contacted http://www.malletshop.com/ and they were able to provide me some info. I also spoke with someone from http://centurymallet.com/index.html and I would contact http://www.malletinstrumentservice.com who might also be able to provide some more info. I was told then the Jenco percussion instruments were more desirable models, so if ours is Jenco made then the value is probably on the higher side. Also if yours does come from the Deagan era you can check out this site http://deaganresource.com/ and you might find your model there. hope this helps, tom

I'm pretty sure that's a xylophone. Marimbas are much larger and lower pitched with wider bars.

Hi-i just came across this post when i was searching the net to find a market price for my Jen-co marimba.Judging by the date on this post the dicussion here is likely long over but just wanted to comment on a couple of things.I bought this same mallet instrument as you have in 1968 new and indeed it was sold to me as a marimba and not a xylophone and i still have it.It`s not a Slingerland but as was pointed out Jen-co made these for Slingerland at that time so mine is the same unit but with the Jen-co name on it.I must confess i never really learned how to play it properly but i tinker on it from time to time so i`m not a true marimbist.Marimbas go from bass to treble in size and i think what we have is the highest note(treble)marimba just border lining on the xylophone size.Hope this is of some help to you.Let me know if you`ve found a price range that yours falls into or any other pertinate info regarding this, as we have the same model/make of marimba.Take care...

Wayne

OK I know this is an old post but it was right up the ally with the info I was looking for. My aunt gave us a beautiful 4 octave Marimba Manufactured by JENCO. It was her Ex husbands mothers who passed away in 1973. The only catch is we are missing the entire lower set of bars. (supposably they were stole out of a storage unit). I have seen pictures of a Marimba that was a Slingerland that looked identical in design as far as I can tell so it makes sense that JENCO was making them for Slingerland. I don't know much about Marimbas and would love to get a replacement set of bars that don't cost more then what the instruments worth. Any advice on replacement bars would be greatly appreciated.