The Official Slingerland Drum Thread

[tkillian]

Is there one here? If not lets start it now.
History. Photos. Specs. Video. Article links.

Go for it. This should be fun. Ill start

 

[tkillian]

1. For starters my first professional kit was an original 1960s Sky Blue Pearl
12x8, 14x14, 20x14 and 14x5.5 Metal Snare.

2. The tone and warmth. I love it because its distinct and personal

3. The Sticksaver rims. The feel of the drumhead under my sticks because of them which for me is somewhere between gretsch diecast and triple flange

4. American made

 

[tkillian]

 

[Houndog]

I’m a Slingerland guy .

All my heroes played them .
Neil Peart
Phil Ehart
Bill Ward
Matt Abts
Nigel Olson

I know a lot more did but these are my favs .

I have built up a shell bank .
Still looking for an 18” & 20” bass drum .

 

[cornelius]

My first kit was Slingerland: Marine Pearl 12,13,16,22 - I got them Christmas of 1978. Being a 70's kit they were concert toms, but unlike the kit in the catalog, the bass drum had a front reso head.

In the 80s I switched to Yamaha Recording Custom drums but In the mid 90s, returned back to my old Slingys and had them updated. I took them to the Modern Drum Shop and they added bottom hardware. I didn't need the 13" so I took the lugs off and bought an old ruined Slingerland tom that they had laying around, for the remaining lugs and rims. They installed heavier Pearl spurs, cleaned up the drums, and I instantly had a hip gigging kit. I was amazed at how great they sounded so I gigged and recorded with them.

For many years I used to go to Nodar's drum shop where he always had a lot of great vintage drums to try - some of the best sounding drums in his store were Slingerlands.

Here's a pic from a recording session, probably around '97.

Here's a reverse angle - Tom, can you tell what kind of ride that is on my right?

 

[D. B. Cooper]

Good idea for a thread.
Here's my babies:

I love the overall tone.
It's kind of hard to describe for me, but I think at my favorite tunings they have a certain dryness to them.
I love how the overtones and shell resonance complete the overall sound. I can get some weird harmonics from these drums, but for some reason they're almost always complimentary.

It's hard for me to stop tuning them sometimes, because I feel like I continually find new sounds.

Excited to see everybody's drums!

 

[Skins_in_the_game]

64 Gene Krupa Deluxe -1n set with orig stands, hardware and cymbals. In a not so common White satin flame.

 

[thejohnlec]

Didn’t own any Slingerlands until my adult years. I had a gorgeous WMP Radio King 7x14 solid maple that I let go some time ago that I still regret. Here are my current Slingerland snares:

L to R:
- Late 30s/early 40s Radio King cloud badge 3-ply, all original except for the upper throw arm (I have the internal muffler as well)
- Mid-60s Hollywood Ace
- Early-mid 70s brass Sound King, all original with a warranty card
- Mid-80s 6.5x14 brass 2-to-1

I have a matching 20” kick drum for that Hollywood Ace as well:

These are all set up to play and all sound great.

 

[Houndog]

.....I have just 2 Snares , a single ply 5.5 Artist and a 6.5 COB Krupa , my buddy brought his 6.5 Black Beauty over and they sounded very similar .

 

[tkillian]

My first kit was Slingerland: Marine Pearl 12,13,16,22 - I got them Christmas of 1978. Being a 70's kit they were concert toms, but unlike the kit in the catalog, the bass drum had a front reso head.

In the 80s I switched to Yamaha Recording Custom drums but In the mid 90s, returned back to my old Slingys and had them updated. I took them to the Modern Drum Shop and they added bottom hardware. I didn't need the 13" so I took the lugs off and bought an old ruined Slingerland tom that they had laying around, for the remaining lugs and rims. They installed heavier Pearl spurs, cleaned up the drums, and I instantly had a hip gigging kit. I was amazed at how great they sounded so I gigged and recorded with them.

For many years I used to go to Nodar's drum shop where he always had a lot of great vintage drums to try - some of the best sounding drums in his store were Slingerlands.

Here's a pic from a recording session, probably around '97.
View attachment 461094

Here's a reverse angle - Tom, can you tell what kind of ride that is on my right?
View attachment 461095

Ooh baby. 20" new dimensions scdr?

 

[tkillian]

How do you guys tune your 1960s wood snares?

I love mine but its moody. A little too ringy. Sometimes it sounds like a tom tom with snares underneath.

Id like to not use the internal muffler but often do.

Also. Any Ludwig snare Ive owned sounds great. Easy to dial in.

So right now I only gig my modern drum shop 14x6.5 maple snare

 

[squidart]

This is my favorite part from the @Scott K Fish interview with the great Frankie Dunlop about Slingerland. Frankie sounds like a little kid that just got his first decent bike!

 

[CSR]

‘68 80N marine pearl 22,16,16,14, Artist 14. Original stands, pedal, hi hat. Virtually mint.

 

[Dave in VA]

Hello everyone.....Drums bought brand new in 1969....Photo shot in 1978

 

[Houndog]

How do you guys tune your 1960s wood snares?

I love mine but its moody. A little too ringy. Sometimes it sounds like a tom tom with snares underneath.

Id like to not use the internal muffler but often do.

Also. Any Ludwig snare Ive owned sounds great. Easy to dial in.

So right now I only gig my modern drum shop 14x6.5 maple snare

Mine has a std butt plate but the wires attach to the bottom of the strainer like it’s a super sensitive or something. It’s a bit rattley .

 

[thejohnlec]

‘68 80N marine pearl 22,16,16,14, Artist 14. Original stands, pedal, hi hat. Virtually mint. View attachment 461111 View attachment 461112 View attachment 461113

Absolutely beautiful!

 

[thejohnlec]

How do you guys tune your 1960s wood snares?

I love mine but its moody. A little too ringy. Sometimes it sounds like a tom tom with snares underneath.

Id like to not use the internal muffler...

I use an Evans Power Center Reverse Dot on top and a 300 snare side, with a small drumdot on top right at the rim to control some (but not all) of the ring. Bottom head is fairly tight, top usually dials in really quickly. I typically remove my internal mufflers and store them.

What’s the snare you’re having trouble with and what kind of sound would you like?

 

[tkillian]

I use an Evans Power Center Reverse Dot on top and a 300 snare side, with a small drumdot on top right at the rim to control some (but not all) of the ring. Bottom head is fairly tight, top usually dials in really quickly. I typically remove my internal mufflers and store them.

What’s the snare you’re having trouble with and what kind of sound would you like?

:36 and 6:51 in this video.

Ill let you judge whether it sounds good.

 

[thejohnlec]

I think that Slingerland at those points in the video sounds good. I’d perhaps like slightly more sustain to match the tom sustain, but that’s subjective. Have you tried loosening the snare wires? I’ve often heard snare drums producing a tone when the snares were too tight.

 

[EvEnStEvEn]

Never owned a full kit but I have around 20 Slingerland snares,
here's a couple I have pics of.