Dating slingerland drums

The history of Slingerland Drums - The Vintage Drum Guide shows you These drums are anomalies that throw the dating guide off a little and make.
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Today, they are extremely scarce and only about a dozen are known to exist. Photo by Tony Bradshaw, courtesy of Jim Messina. Daughter and Grandaughter of H. Slingerland, Sally and Laura Slingerland, seen. Photo courtesy of John D. Notice that Full Dress snare drums did not always have badges. However, bass drums did have them. Named after rudimental champion, Frank Fancher. Sea Green Pearl Fancher Model.

Black Diamond Pearl Fancher Model. There were a few different strainer designs, including one type that utilizes a wire cable instead of a metal rod. Photos courtesy of Dave Brown.


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The photo below shows the only engraved model known to exist. Photos courtesy of Mike Curotto. In , Slingerland introduced their first tunable tom toms.

Vintage Slingerland Snare Drums - Vintage Slingerland Drums - Slingerland Drums

The top head could be tuned but the botton head was attached to the shell with carpet tacks. These bottom heads were very thick and made from goat. In this year, Slingerland introduced the Broadcaster model. While not actually catalogued, the Broadcaster was the forerunner to the Radio King models. These lugs had tapped threaded holes for the tension rods. By , most lugs were equipped with spring-loaded, threaded inserts, which eliminated cross threading problems. The new extended patent pending adjustable snares gates were first used on this model, as well.

While they are quite rare, a metal shell Broadcaster was also available in Few examples exist today. Note the use of the older Todd internal tone control on the Broadcasters. As far as I know, there is no actual evidence of any legal action by Gretsch but it can safely be assumed that was the reasoning behind the name change.

The Radio King line of drums first appeared in the catalog. On very early Radio King drums , the words were actually engraved into the top rims see photo at right. Eight lugs became the standard by Very rare metal solid brass shell Radio King note the tapped lugs.


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  5. How to Date Slingerland Drums.

    6. Rare Abalone Pearl Radio King. Courtesy of Mike Curotto. His photo would be featured on every Slingerland catalog until Krupa is credited with bringing the drummer to the forefront. He is also responsible for the introduction of the fully tunable tom tom. Prior to , tom toms could only be tuned from the top, thus limiting the tuning range.

    The catalog featured these new tunable tom toms…. Soon, special single sided lugs were produced. Below are photos of Gene Krupa using an early Radio King tom with snare lugs and an example of a green pearl tom with them.

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    Constructed of three-ply mahogany and poplar shells with maple reinforcing rings, the Radio King tom toms were available in various sizes: Those with painted finishes received an outer ply of maple. It was an eight lug, solid maple snare drum and was offered in the 6. Note the four screw extension brackets with adjustable end pieces. These were changed to the six screw type around The adjustable brackets had small brass thumb wheels that raised or lowered the height of the snares. These adjustable end pieces were discontinued after World War Two. Slingerland drums did not change much in design from through However, in , Slingerland introduced the Super Radio King snare drum.

    This drum featured the new Super lugs and the innovative Super snare strainer. The Super lugs also known as the small beaver tail lugs were available on snare drums as well as tom toms and even bass drums. The Super Strainer also known as the clamshell was an attractive design but proved to be rather fragile and difficult to adjust.

    How to Date Slingerland Drums

    Hollywood Ace with Super lugs. Extremely rare 14x24 bass drum with Super lugs. A few sparkle finishes were offered as well. For the drummers who did not like the extended snare systems of Radio King snare drums, a simpler version was available. During World War Two, the U. Replacing the metal lugs were beautiful hand-carved rosewood and walnut lugs. These distinctive lugs along with pearl-inlaid solid maple hoops, and rosewood Super strainers combine to create a true work of art.

    The Rolling Bombers line continued for the duration of the war war years: For more information on drums of the war years, click here: During the war and until about , the aluminum cloud badge was often used in addition to the brass version. Most likely, most of the aluminum badges were only used near the end of the war or right after. Slingerland passed away on March 13, His brother Walter Robert Slingerland became new president.

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    Brass was difficult to obtain during and right after WWII. After the end of World War II, Slingerland slowly resumed normal drum production but their drums were basically the same as their pre-war drums. Understandably, it would be several years before any significant design advancements were made.

    Leedy had been offering floor tom legs since ! In , Slingerland presented their new line of hardware. Replacing the Streamline lugs were the new Beaver Tail lugs. They were identical in design to the Super lugs but larger. The drum badge is one of the easiest ways to accurately date a Slingerland drum.

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    The shape of the badge is a great identifier. From , Slingerland used metal badges with a more floral shape. In they switched to round badges in solid metal colors. From on the company began using the oval badge with a black background that you still see on Slingerlands today. Date your Slingerland drum by identifying the veneer of the drum.

    The veneer is the exterior covering used to protect and color the drum. Slingerland experimented with veneers more than any other company. They have a much larger range of coverings for their drums than almost any other company and many veneers from different years are extremely similar. The veneers were also reissued occasionally and can make dating a Slingerland drum difficult.

    The best way to date a drum by veneer is to find a veneer guide online, such as the Slingerland finish guide on www. These photos, together with the shape of a badge, can help you narrow your date down considerably. Look at the bottom of your badge and note where the drum was manufactured.

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