Did Stewart drums try and copy Slingerland drums?

[DrummerCT]

Among my sets, I have two that not only look like Slingerland but are, yes, indeed, genuine Slingerland! One Black Diamond Pearl kit from the 1960's That has some Rogers hardware on the bass drum) and a White Marine Pearl set from the 1970's. I also have 4 Slingerland snare drums of various lineages. Ahhh, the joy of Zoomatic strainers, not! I also have a BDP miscellaneous 14" snare modeled after Slingerland. None of them are built to the standards of today's highest quality modern drums. But they do have that Slingerland "warm" sound.

 

[kzac]

When I look at the two drum companies, I see very similar lugs and badges. What's up?

Did Stewart drums copy Slingerland? That's questionable....
Instruments in the 1960s when kids and teens were looking to music as one of their main outlets of expression, was big business.
American drums at that time were relatively expensive, so other alternatives were sought out to bring down the costs, even the American manufacturers were involved in drum manufacturer in the orient, especially for entry level kits.
Stewart is a component of "Star" drums which later became Tama

I owned two sets of Stewart drums, the cheep set was garbage but it got me started, later I owned a very good set of Stewart drums which I purchased from a local rock drummer who had become well known and purchased a new kit. My first kit was made from very cheep wood with thin plies. The plies were so poor that there were gaps, cracks, splinters visible in the plies on the inside of the drum. From what I remember the lugs and rims on my Stewart drums, were like those found on Slingerland.

it was common at that time for drums from the orient to be sold under American/British sounding nameplates. These drum nameplates were folded into the now Tama Drum company, it includes the Stewart name:
- Champion
- Drum Craft
- Drum Mate
- Jason
- Lyra
- Majestic
- Revelle
- Royal Star
- Saturn
- Star
- Stewart
- Swing Star
- US Mercury
- Werco

You can look them up in the vintage guide

Vintage Japanese Drums - Japanese Drums History - Japanese Drum Museum - Japanese Drum Sets - Vintage Japanese Drum Sets

History of Japanese Drums and Japanese Drum Company History. Japanese Drum Catalogs, Japanese Drums and History. The Vintage Japanese Drums History Section of the web site. Learn more about Vintage Japanese Drums and Vintage Japanese Drum Museum

www.vintagedrumguide.com

Vintage Japanese Drums - Japanese Drums History - Japanese Drum Museum - Japanese Drum Sets - Vintage Japanese Drum Sets

History of Japanese Drums and Japanese Drum Company History. Japanese Drum Catalogs, Japanese Drums and History. The Vintage Japanese Drums History Section of the web site. Learn more about Vintage Japanese Drums and Vintage Japanese Drum Museum

www.vintagedrumguide.com

 

[gretschnow]

No mention of the Apollo sets that copied 1960s era Sonor 'teardrop'.

 

[JazzDrumGuy]

I had a '70s Pearl kit that had Gretsch looking lugs. I have a 60's Star MIJ snare and the lugs are spot on for Slingerland but with metric inserts. I swapped them out for American ones because I didn't have the rods. The throw off is a poor copy of a Gretch micro-sensitive.

 

[ludwiglvr]

When I was a kid starting out I was a big fan of the Monkees, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones (actually still am). So, when I played along with Beatles and Stones records I played my set as a standard right handed set up, like Charlie and Ringo. But when I played along to the Monkees records I switched the bass drum to the left like like Mickey Dolenz.

View attachment 612830

Ha! I did that too!!

 

[Mobey]

My first kit was Stewart in 1968 I was in the 6th grade

Mine too around the same time….silver oyster finish.

 

[Pat A Flafla]

MIJ drums are a classic instance of "fake it til you make it."

 

[drumaniac]

My first kit was a WMP Stewart kit, the inside had a grey coating.
When the heads were removed they smelled like hell but they sounded decent for what they were.

 

[chopfuey]

I thought so. Always thought the Slingerland lugs looked cheap. Probably because they were so similar to the ones on my Stewart second hand shop finds.

Ha

 

[chopfuey]

Among my sets, I have two that not only look like Slingerland but are, yes, indeed, genuine Slingerland! One Black Diamond Pearl kit from the 1960's That has some Rogers hardware on the bass drum) and a White Marine Pearl set from the 1970's. I also have 4 Slingerland snare drums of various lineages. Ahhh, the joy of Zoomatic strainers, not! I also have a BDP miscellaneous 14" snare modeled after Slingerland. None of them are built to the standards of today's highest quality modern drums. But they do have that Slingerland "warm" sound.

Don’t laugh
I actually love the zoomatic throw offs and extended butt plates. I’ve never had a problem with them. Many years of using them. Don’t understand why people have had so many problems with them.

 

[woody1953]

I had a Sears and Roebuck red sparkle starter kit. Christmas present 1965. Wonder which MIJ company made them. Was able to add a matching floor tom from Sears later.

 

[idrum4fun]

Don’t laugh
I actually love the zoomatic throw offs and extended butt plates. I’ve never had a problem with them. Many years of using them. Don’t understand why people have had so many problems with them.

The biggest problem with the Zoomatic was that drummers didn't understand how to use it! Slingerland could have alleviated the problem by including instructions with the snare drum, the same way Rogers included instructions on how to use/tune the Dynasonic.

I've already rebuilt enough Zoomatics and each one is good for many years to come...but still can be abused if you don't know how it works!

-Mark

 

[Deafmoon]

I played a Stewart set from ‘72 to ‘75. I replaced the Rail Tom holder with a Slingerland Set O Matic single Tom arm. Bought a Ludwig super Sensitive 5x14 in 1973. And, after I beat up the Stewart Cymbals that came with the set, I gradually moved to A. Zildjian & Pasha cymbals. That kit played school dances, several parties, 2 talent shows & PTA meeting after parties. Awesome little kit, for luan wood.

 

[chopfuey]

The biggest problem with the Zoomatic was that drummers didn't understand how to use it! Slingerland could have alleviated the problem by including instructions with the snare drum, the same way Rogers included instructions on how to use/tune the Dynasonic.

I've already rebuilt enough Zoomatics and each one is good for many years to come...but still can be abused if you don't know how it

 

[chopfuey]

I have a couple zoomatic equipped snares Three of them had replacement throws that I had to re-replace with original zoomatics haha