One Of My Dream Sets Now Reality

[BobC]

I have always wanted an original Pink Sparkle Slingerland set in my usual sizes, 13/16/22, and here they are. Purchased from Steve Maxwell today. I got a great deal on them, because...the rack tom and bass drum are in fine shape, but the floor tom has structural and finish damage, that will be professionally repaired by the very capable folks at Precision Drum In Pleasant Valley, NY. It will never look perfect, but I can just face the damaged section to the back, out of audience view on gigs. And yes, the floor tom legs were neatly changed to Rogers at some point.

Steve will ship the floor tom to Precision, and the rack tom and bass drum to me. Here they are. The toms look darker than the bass drum due to the lighting.

 

[Hollywood Jim]

Beautiful !!
I love Slingerland drums....................

.

 

[Al Strange]

Very cool! Look forward to the pics when the floor tom arrives!!

 

[Totigerus]

I’ve never had the privilege to have played a Slingerland kit before. What was the “thing” that set them apart from Gretsch, Ludwig and Roger’s? Congratulations on the kit btw!

 

[beatdat]

Lovely drums, classic sizes, and I like that tom mount.

It's a shame that companies no longer offer the 13, 16, 22 sizes as a stock configuration... I just can't seem to get into the stock 12, 16, 22 or 13, 16, 24 configurations that are so prevalent these days.

 

[Stroman]

Lovely drums, classic sizes, and I like that tom mount.

It's a shame that companies no longer offer the 13, 16, 22 sizes as a stock configuration... I just can't seem to get into the stock 12, 16, 22 or 13, 16, 24 configurations that are so prevalent these days.

Ludwig offers 13,16,22!

Bob, those look great! You know I love Slingies.

 

[jda]

Isn't the reality when you get them back repaired,
What if it goes the other way hits a major snag.
One of my dream kits is "now in the idea" stage
Isn't that thru the shell?

So everyone knows the challenge in front of you:

Slingerland 22/13/16" 60's 3-ply Drum Set - Pink Sparkle | Reverb

Here is a set of player-grade vintage Slingerland drums, finished in their original pink sparkle wrap. There is some damage to note on this set - see below. These drums are 3-ply mahogany/poplar/mahogany, sized 14x22", 9x13", and 16x16". These drums have the bones of a nice sounding set of Slinge...

reverb.com

 

[gish]

Congratulations on acquiring a kit that has deep meaning for you Bob.

If there’s a story behind why this kit is one of your dream kits, I’d love to hear it if you feel like sharing.

 

[BobC]

Thanks for all the positive replies. I'm very much looking forward to getting them. It's a shame abut the damage to the floor tom, which is pretty bad, but repairable, but that's why I got them for the price I did. Any other time, I've seen pink sparkle Slingerlands, they are thousands of dollars, due to rarity. That color never sold well, so Slingerland never made many. The one drummer I know about who played pink sparkle Slingies was the guy in Louie Prima's band. Also, most times when you find pink sparkle drums, they've developed ugly black spots in the wrap that occur for some reason. That never happened with these drums. They must have been case queens.

The damage is primarily to the wrap, which is badly torn, and can be reglued, but will never look pristine by any means. The internal damage isn't too bad, but it's near a spot where one of the legs and the bracket are attached, so most likely, we'll have to install a metal plate to reinforce the area. We could rewrap the drum, but there's no guarantee that today's pink sparkle wrap will match the rest of the set, so we'll just fix it for now. The bass drum hoop on the batter side is missing the inlay, but that's easy to replace. I can do that.

I'm really curious as to what kind of reaction I'll get from people when I gig them. I have never hesitated to wear pink shirts, and I even own a pink Fender Stratocaster, so I have no hang-ups about appearing less than masculine. I know who I am. I think those stereotypes have largely faded by now.

Next Slingerland goal: a set in Mardi Gras or Capri Pearl.

 

[BobC]

I’ve never had the privilege to have played a Slingerland kit before. What was the “thing” that set them apart from Gretsch, Ludwig and Roger’s? Congratulations on the kit btw!

To answer your question, I have played Slingerland drums from day one. My first set was Slingerland. My feeling is, they are very warm, woody, full and resonant. They are different from the other major drums brands in some ways. I feel that vintage Ludwig drums have a more raw sound, Gretsch have a sharper attack, and Rogers drums are somewhere in between all of them, but I can't really describe it exactly. They are warm, like Slingerland, but punchy. I hope you get to try Slingerlands.

 

[criz p. critter]

Beautiful kit, and congrats on your new babies.

I’m a big fan of early 70s mahogany Premiers. I’ve wondered if Slingerlands sound similar. Weren’t they also mahogany? I’m getting more and more curious about finding a kit of my own.

 

[RobertM]

To answer your question, I have played Slingerland drums from day one. My first set was Slingerland. My feeling is, they are very warm, woody, full and resonant. They are different from the other major drums brands in some ways. I feel that vintage Ludwig drums have a more raw sound, Gretsch have a sharper attack, and Rogers drums are somewhere in between all of them, but I can't really describe it exactly. They are warm, like Slingerland, but punchy. I hope you get to try Slingerlands.

I have an Allegra drum set made by Dave Peterson who used to work at Slingerland. I wonder if the bearing edges are similar?

 

[BobC]

Congratulations on acquiring a kit that has deep meaning for you Bob.

If there’s a story behind why this kit is one of your dream kits, I’d love to hear it if you feel like sharing.

I started playing in the '60s, when most drums were covered with pearl or sparkle wraps, and like many others, I sent away for drum catalogs, which I spent many hours looking through. The Slingerland finishes always spoke to me in particular. I liked Capri Pearl, Mardi Gras Pearl, Blue and Red Ripple, Red. White and Yellow Tiger Pearls, Oyster Pink, Black Sparkle, Green Sparkle, Maroon Sparkle, the Satin Flames, Purple Sparkle, and Pink Sparkle. In other words, most of the finishes that were not real popular at the time. I wound up with Champagne Sparkle at my old man's insistence, which I never really liked. My father thought Champagne was a "commercially viable" choice for some reason. This was typical of the way he ran our lives, but that's a story unto itself.

So, it's just matter of liking certain wraps and not others. I'm a very visual person with a natural attraction to shades of red, pink and purple, as well as blues and greens, and those wraps mentioned above appealed to me. Maybe there's a little case of comeuppance going on, now that I can buy whatever finish I like. Pink Sparkle drums are very much out of the ordinary, you don't see them often, and perhaps they make a statement. I know of no other drummers around here who play Pink Sparkle drums.

Slingerland's most popular '60s wraps were White Marine Pearl, Black Diamond Pearl, Blue, Red, Champagne and Silver Sparkles, Blue Agate, Black Beauty Pearl, and Sky Blue Pearl. If you shop the vintage market, that's about 75% of what you'll find. There's a guy on FB Marketplace right now selling a very rare 13/16/22 Slingerland set in Yellow Tiger, and is asking $3000, so far, with no takers. They look incredible.

Also in the '70s and '80s, when natural wood finishes (which I generally dislike) were in fashion, some drummers (like guitar players), stripped the original finishes off their drums. I'm sure there were Pink Sparkle sets that underwent this indignity, just the way Shell Pink Fender guitars were. You very rarely find an original '60s Shell Pink Fender, because most of them were stripped.

 

[Rattlin' Bones]

Isn't the reality when you get them back repaired,
What if it goes the other way hits a major snag.
One of my dream kits is "now in the idea" stage
Isn't that thru the shell?

So everyone knows the challenge in front of you:

Slingerland 22/13/16" 60's 3-ply Drum Set - Pink Sparkle | Reverb

Here is a set of player-grade vintage Slingerland drums, finished in their original pink sparkle wrap. There is some damage to note on this set - see below. These drums are 3-ply mahogany/poplar/mahogany, sized 14x22", 9x13", and 16x16". These drums have the bones of a nice sounding set of Slinge...

reverb.com

Buzz kill, dude. Chill.

 

[jaykaydrums]

looks good to me! good luck repairing the damage, may the kit bring you years of happiness!

 

[Totigerus]

This was typical of the way he ran our lives, but that's a story unto itself.

OMG you and I need to go to drumming/family therapy together!

 

[BobC]

Beautiful kit, and congrats on your new babies.

I’m a big fan of early 70s mahogany Premiers. I’ve wondered if Slingerlands sound similar. Weren’t they also mahogany? I’m getting more and more curious about finding a kit of my own.

I'm sorry, but I can't answer this for you, as I have very little experience with Premier drums. I have always secretly desired a turquoise sparkle set of Premiers, and there's one for sale right now on FB Marketplace that's affordable, and in nice shape. But they are pre-international sizes, and that makes it somewhat hard to find heads that'll fit properly. The choices are very limited. You probably know that already, being a Premier fan.

Can anyone tell me what current heads will fit these Premiers? I'm just curious. As it is, I have two drumsets coming. Of course, I sold two in the last few weeks, so it evens out.

 

[BobC]

OMG you and I need to go to drumming/family therapy together!

Yeah, my old man was a piece of work. I can't really get into it here. He was very rigid, very conservative, and unable to accept his family for who we were.

 

[Rattlin' Bones]

I'm sorry, but I can't answer this for you, as I have very little experience with Premier drums. I have always secretly desired a turquoise sparkle set of Premiers, and there's one for sale right now on FB Marketplace that's affordable, and in nice shape. But they are pre-international sizes, and that makes them somewhat hard to find heads that'll fit properly. The choices are very limited. You probably know that already, being a Premier fan.

Can anyone tell me what current heads will fit these Premiers? I'm just curious. As it is, I have two drumsets coming. Of course, I sold two in the last few weeks, so it evens out.

And probably has those slotted tension rods that you need a special key for, or a proper fitting screwdriver?

May be a bit of a crapshoot on heads. Check out this link:
Remo Pre-Int Heads

I think by 1972 all Premier drums were standard size.

 

[criz p. critter]

And probably has those slotted tension rods that you need a special key for, or a proper fitting screwdriver?

May be a bit of a crapshoot on heads. Check out this link:
Remo Pre-Int Heads

I think by 1972 all Premier drums were standard size.

I’d never buy a pre-intl kit. Just too much trouble, unless you really want an older one. As far as the slotted rods, I’ve just replaced them all with square… keeping the originals, of course.