I had a Slingerland kit in blackchrome with concert toms 12 to 16 with an 18 inch floor. Toured all over the country with it with roadies that kept vise grips in their pockets ! Those drums never let me down .The 24 inch kick was thunderous! We'd do a 92 night run straight of one nighter's with zero night's off and never had to repair anything ! Sometimes the reso head's tension rods would back out and be laying on the floor , but that's about it ! This was in '79 till '89 . Great days , Great drums !! Wish I never sold them ..

Very cool drum history here. I'm a big fan of Slingerland, I have two old kits from the 60's, and early 70's (Artist model, & Sound King model), they're fantastic. My first kit was a used Slingerland 1964-67 "Jet"outfit (8"×12", 14"×14", 14"×18"bass w/steel hoops, 5"×14" chrome sound king snare) in Gold satin flame, I got em when I was 12 years old, man ,I wish I still had those, it seems to be a rare outfit (kit), because it had a special tempo king bass pedal that slipped on to a hinged tongue mounted on the steel bass hoop (very odd feature), but the drums sounded great. Cool topic guys, love the drum talk. Bob. G

In the nineteen eighties my best friend got his hands on a set of copper-covered Slingerlands that had such a great tone, really "warm" and loud, though a significant amount of credit can be attributed to Jerry's skills, the sound of those drums always stuck with me. I played every brand since those days of watching Jerry on his Slingerlands, everything except the seemingly elusive brand which I wanted but couldn't find...until 2017. I bought my first set of Slingerlands that year: an early 1970's set of chrome-covered maple shells in 24", 13", 14", 16" from someone that must've loved them because they were in mint condition. They sound even better than Jerry's, due to the brand new Evans heads surely. I'll never sell them, they sit in a prominent place in my living room, polished and looking showroom clean, and played every day. Once in awhile I'll carefully take them out for a local gig, but I have other kits for the road as the Slingerlands stay safely at home. They're awesome drums and I'm proud to play them.

I'm so happy to have found this!!! Great work!!!

Great episode. Would be great to hear a Kent drum history podcast in the future

I thought I would listen for a bit. But. I had to listen to the whole thing….and I did. And I used my BR Fibes in church yesterday. It has a special “crack” that I can’t get from any other snare that I’ve ever played or owned. You helped me date it to ‘75. It could easily be thought of as new. I do take care of that baby. Great to hear you on this program.

I am the original owner of a beautiful 3-piece set of Slingerland drums and I play a Ludwig Ludalloy snare drum with the set. There is one badge on the bass drum that is a Black and Brass Niles without a serial number. Both my Slingerlands and the Ludwig snare were made in 1962. The wrap on my Slingerlands is a silver sparkle. It yellowed over the years. I had the set recovered once with the same silver sparkle and they look brand new. If interested, you can see and hear the set (before recovering) on my Y.T. channel. The sizes are 8" x 12" small tom, 14" x 14" floor tom, and a 14" x 20" bass drum. Great-sounding and I've played them in all types of gigs, from duos to big bands.

Thanks for the video

Exciting news! DW has bought Slingerland from Gibson and is planning on remanufacturing Slingerland, starting with the Radio King line!

I would love to hear a podcast with the guys at Q drum co reminiscing about their time at Orange County, Being arguably the most famous custom drum company ever with artist like Chad Sexton, Abe Cunningham, Adrian Young, John Otto and of course Travis Barker, and so on and so on, and all of the innovative things they did to Keller shells that was so fresh and new, and shaped how small shops marketed and sold custom drums from then on. Especially about how the the Truth drums guys toured OCDP's facility and used that as the blueprint for their own shop and the beef that went along with it. It would be really cool to hear the first hand accounts of everything from being the guys who made the highest end custom drums money could buy to the eventual guitar center buyout that led to the awful China made drums we know today.

Just to correct something I heard around 52:20, Ludwig did not acquire the Leedy tooling and introduced Leedy & Ludwig. Conn introduced Leedy & Ludwig in the early 50s by combining both brands to save money. Their venture into knob tension drums sealed its fate and that’s when Conn decided to sell both brands. WFL Drums got their Ludwig & Ludwig moniker back and some toolings. That’s how WFL then brought the Imperial lug to the Super Ludwig/Supraphonic and Super Sensitive brass or aluminum shelled snares.

Browsing Craiglist a cpl of years ago. Found a ad with 1 blurry picture. $75.00 I called the number at 7am and met the guy. I hit the Jack pot.... in a cymbal bag. 22 big and ugly ride. 18 dark K. Early 70's Ludwig piccolo snare,first year run pep by dw set. and best of all a 1926 Eugene gisler snare drum. Completely intact. I sold it that day for $550

Great jib-cut man.

I have a slingerland gold set stamped inside is each drum is the year before the Beatles come to the United States. But the thing is the two Tom's 12,13. Don't have any vent holes in it. I think the year is 1963 in one and the other is 1962 in it. The thing is the kick is a 20" I pick it up from my Neighbor that would buy storage Bintang he had a yard sale .slingerland seat and the drums gold glass. Iam missing one leg on it and the original cymbal stand that mounts to the BassDrum the L-mounting to the bass drum. The set came with a 60s zildjian ride.

looks like the website is gone

Too bad the website is down...

Uhh rumor has it John Bonham joined Led Zeppelin and recorded Zeppelin l with his blue sparkle set of Slingerlands!!!! 22",13"and two 16" toms!! They went on an American tour and played "rider" drums! I E basically backline rentals . Carmen Appease told Ludwig if they were smart endorse him!!! So at every show Ludwig supplied the drums! If Slingerland got that endorsement?????

All my drums are vintage. I have no interest in new gear whatsoever. New stuff is cool, but not for me. Don't know why. Just the way it is.