I have always had a special place in my heart for Slingerland drums. I welcome the news that the Slingerland name is going to get a lot of attention in the coming days since the company has been purchased by DW Drum Workshop. There will be new Slingerland products on the market soon, at least I hope there will. Since DW will be making these new drums you can rest assured they will be first class products. I hope a new Slingerland Radio King snare will be coming out soon. Although I rarely buy a new drum I might have to have one of those if they pattern them after the great vintage Radio King snares of the past. Leave a comment to express your feelings and concerns about the new Slingerland owners and the possibility of seeing new Slingerland drums on the market.
I have just purchased this 1970s Slingerland Pop Outfit in recent days. The toms are standard sizes 12, 13, 16 and as you can see, single headed. The rockers in the 70s were removing the bottom heads to get a dry funky sound from their drums. Most of the drum companies decided to just make the drums with top heads only to basically get that sound the pop drummers wanted. They actually sound good, and tune up easier. they are louder too. As the music got louder in the 70s, these drums filled the need to get more volume from the kit. The bass drum is a 22X14 standard size with front and rear heads. The wrap is a chrome finish, so these were referred to as chrome over wood. The shells are maple with clear interiors and reinforcement rings. The snare is a chrome metal shell with a Zoomatic strainer. The badges are silver and black Niles. The tom holder is a simple Set-O-Matic.
The owner of this set was a church in Augusta, Georgia about 70 miles from my home. They went in to the local music store with hopes of trading this set in on a new Pearl drum set. The owner, my friend, Stewart Ray, had them call me to see if I wanted to buy them so that they would have cash for their deal. Stewart helps me get some very good vintage drums. Make friends with the local music store personnel. They will often see items for sale that they can tell you about. Just don't interfere with their business and you will get calls. I bought the set and they were very pleased. Something happened during the deal that I will write an article about in the near future. I'll save that for later. If this article comes out before the end of the year, I wish you and yours happy holidays, and a very happy New Year.