And dad's drums are arriving!

Bo Eder

Platinum Member
Hey all,

So my project to come full circle and play the drums that mom and dad got me started on is beginning to happen. It's funny that nobody really talks alot about Slingerland drums, so I thought I'd post some Slingerland porn.

The snare drum arrived yesterday, and today it got a nice chrome polishing, new heads, and new snare wire attachment cable. The drum is in remarkable condition - the seller wasn't kidding about it being in close to new. There are a couple of slight dings to the chrome, but the drum is round, and heavy, and it sounds incredible. The Slingerland TDR strainer is incredibly smooth for its age - this drum was not abused at all. All the tension rods installed and tuned very smoothly - another sign of proper handling - even though this drum is 36 years old!

The drum is the Slingerland Buddy Rich Chrome Over Brass TDR snare. It's a 6.5x14 and it is much heavier than my aluminum 6.5x14 Ludwig Supraphonic. I guess the one Buddy played was actually a wood shell with a white marine pearl, but Slingerland also made these COB models. The drums has three air vents. The badge says Niles, Illinois and it dates to 1977 (which is a year before mom and dad got me a new black Slingerland kit when I was 13).

My one modification I do to all of my old snares - I take out the internal muffler. I've always hated those things, and in the end they just tend to rattle and make noise. So I removed it and stored it somewhere in case I need it in the future.

I decided this Slingerland kit will get Remo heads, and I installed a coated emperor on top and an ambassador snare side on the bottom. I think the newer Evans heads would appear anachronistic on this kit.

I should see the rest of the kit next week some time, and I have parts waiting for that one too. Dad is either laughing at me or being proud ;)
 

Attachments

  • TDR-COB.jpg
    TDR-COB.jpg
    54.1 KB · Views: 1,205
My first kit was a Slingerland from the mid 60's and I loved it!
Enjoy the drums Bo.
I have been thinking of building a kit with 3 ply African mahogany/poplar shells with reinforcement rings and 45 degree round over bearing edges to kind of duplicate my first kit.
 
Enjoy the drums, In high school I only played Slingerlands, I loved them. My first kit was a white Slingerland kit during high school and then I bought a chrome over wood kit for bars and clubs. I kept the chrome over wood kit but when but after 15 years of storage in the basement it was in bad shape so I stripped it down and refinished it in Black. I included some Slingerland porn as well,
 

Attachments

  • whiteslingerlands.jpg
    whiteslingerlands.jpg
    61.7 KB · Views: 694
  • chrome slingerlands.jpg
    chrome slingerlands.jpg
    57.3 KB · Views: 703
  • oldChromeKit Refinished.jpg
    oldChromeKit Refinished.jpg
    228.7 KB · Views: 835
Beautiful drum Bo!

Great project idea. For me though my first kit was a hand-me-down Raven 4 piece. Not worth revisiting that setup though.

Please keep us posted as your project progresses. I'm a long-time Slingerland fan
 
So these are the same exact drums you owned, or the same kind of drums ? The batter hoop on the snare is not something I am familiar with ...
 
Great refinish job gr8! Thanks for the pics... Nice snare too Bo. Can wait for it all to come together.
 
Dad is either laughing at me or being proud ;)

I'm sure he's proud....................Any father would want to see their boy happy and doing what he loves.

.............on a lighter note, I had to google "anachronistic"...............never heard that one before
 
So these are the same exact drums you owned, or the same kind of drums ? The batter hoop on the snare is not something I am familiar with ...

No, my first proper Slingerland kit was all black, but the toms were single-headed and the snare was a 5x14 steel model. The ones coming are double headed and I now have the better snare. I really wish I kept that old kit but you know how it is when you're in your teens and you want to be a Rockstar.......
 
Enjoy the drums, In high school I only played Slingerlands, I loved them. My first kit was a white Slingerland kit during high school and then I bought a chrome over wood kit for bars and clubs. I kept the chrome over wood kit but when but after 15 years of storage in the basement it was in bad shape so I stripped it down and refinished it in Black. I included some Slingerland porn as well,

Nice looking kits! But what the heck happened to your bass reso on the chrome kit?
 
Nice looking kits! But what the heck happened to your bass reso on the chrome kit?
If I remember correctly, we played a private gig at an ice skating rink. There were kegs of beer, a packed crowed and some really drunk girl came flying into the kit skates first. Took out my head, my guitar player and part of our PA that night. LOL! Oh yeah, and we were flat broke so I played that way for about month.
 
Enjoy the drums, In high school I only played Slingerlands, I loved them. My first kit was a white Slingerland kit during high school and then I bought a chrome over wood kit for bars and clubs. I kept the chrome over wood kit but when but after 15 years of storage in the basement it was in bad shape so I stripped it down and refinished it in Black. I included some Slingerland porn as well,

That kit looks great in black! It looks brand new! Thanks for posting those - people do have Slingerland kits!

I got a chance to play the Slingerland snare today - I added it to the zep kit and basically tuned it in the same range that my Supraphonic is in, and they almost sound identical. The Slingerland, I'll admit, sounds a little more 'boxy' than the Supra. Perhaps its because of it being a heavier brass shell. The Supra just has this high pitched 'ping' that the Slingerland doesn't. But it still sounds great. I got a gig in the morning and I'll probably bring the Slingerland with me to try it out on stage.
 
That kit looks great in black! It looks brand new! Thanks for posting those - people do have Slingerland kits!

I got a chance to play the Slingerland snare today - I added it to the zep kit and basically tuned it in the same range that my Supraphonic is in, and they almost sound identical. The Slingerland, I'll admit, sounds a little more 'boxy' than the Supra. Perhaps its because of it being a heavier brass shell. The Supra just has this high pitched 'ping' that the Slingerland doesn't. But it still sounds great. I got a gig in the morning and I'll probably bring the Slingerland with me to try it out on stage.
Thanks, I worked hard on that black kit and I loved every minute of it. You honoring your father this way makes this a wonderful thread so I wanted to be sure I put my best foot forward in terms of pictures. I look forward to hearing you play that 6.5 x 14 with the rest of your Slingerland kit. Your father is definitely looking down with a big PROUD smile on his face.
 
Great drum Bo.I have 4 vintage Slingerland snares,and in my opinion they are really close to dead even with Ludwig in this area.Slingerland fron the mid 50's on made some really great stuff,in terms of sound and build quality.

I have a 5x14 Spitfire 12 lug lacquered brass,with chrome hardware with the TDR strainer.Some say it was the best strainer that Slingerland ever made,and I agree.

My other 3 are a 47 Super Gene Krupa Radio King 7x14 in WMP,.,a 66 Artist 5.5x14 in WMP,and 66 Sound King COB 5x14 8 luger.All are great sounding drums.,as are Slingerland toms and bass drums.

It's truly a shame Gibson Guitars ,who own the Slingerland name,never made them a viable company save for some drums made in the Nashville plant in the 90's.They were making a comeback,and then......nothing.

I'm sure dad is smiling and probably saying.....what took you so long?:)

Steve B.
 
I'm sure dad is smiling and probably saying.....what took you so long?:)

Steve B.

He sorta joked I was eventually gonna do this a few years ago ;)

So you don't think Slingerland made great snares pre-1950s? I've never played or seen one from that long ago so I'm no judge - but weren't Radio Kings pre-1950? Or are we just talking about shells and not hardware?
 
Slingerland snares were made well,but toms and bass drums weren't as well made.Even my 47 radio King is a little sloppy,especially by todays standards.The Radio King first appeared in 1936 and replaced the short lived Broadcaster model.

They were still great drums,but not as good as they could have been.

In the mid 50's Slingerland stepped up their game in order to compete with WFL/Ludwig.There was always a rivalry between H.H (Bud ) Slingerland and Bill F Ludwig,and H.H. was determined to take a bigger share of the market.

This was also about the time Bill Ludwig purchased the rights to use his name and certain patents from Conn.Slingerland actually went into the deal also and purchased the rights to Leedy and those patents.They split the sale price 50/50.

Ludwig couldn't have gotten the rights back to his name without Slingerlands help .Till then, Ludwig was WFL drums.

So as far as quality,they made each other better,with a slight edge to Slingerland in the build department.

That's all for now boys and girls.

Steve B
 
Back
Top