1970s Slingerland "Denim" covering...

[billnvick]

Be patient with me on this one... it's a LONG story.

A little over a year ago I ran a CL add in my area looking for vintage drums. Late one night I got a reply from a guy that emailed me a very poor quality picture of some drums that he said were covered in "blue jeans" material.

I told him I needed better pictures, and he got offended and said that "if you really know anything about vintage drums, you wouldn' need any more pictures and would know what these were."

Well, after a couple of more "heated" replies, I just passed it off as him being drunk and left it alone. Never heard from him again.

One of my kids got me Rob Cook's Slingerland book for Christmas. And guess what? Yes, there is a picture of a 1970s Slingerland kit with blue denim covering that came from the factory that way! Does anyone know anything more about these?

And yes, the kit in the picture I received definately had Slingerland style lugs, but of course so do many MIJ stencil kits... IF I saved the emails, I will post that picture later today.

Thanks,
Bill

[vibes]

Yes, they offered a denim wrap at one time.

[billnvick]

Any idea how many they made?
And, did I mess up by not following through on this set?

[Drumjinx]

Yep...

[equipmentdork]

I played one for several weeks as a practice kit in the 80's. Definitely a 22" bass drum, chrome over steel or brass snare that sounded IMMENSE. The finish was as taut as you see in the photos. Got dusty after a while. But how to clean them? You can't very well put them in the wash!




Dan

[mchair303]

I remember these when they came out. Obviously the manufacturer's response to the hippie fad at that time of recovering old shells with fabric. I remember guys stripping off old pearl finishes to make their drums "cool" (pearls and sparkles represented our fathers' generation).

I saw drums recovered in velvet, orange shag fur, and leather. Less ambitious shell modifiers simply painted over the old shells (psychodelic patterns and peace signs being the preferred motif). And many, many drummers simply stripped the pearl and sparkle finishes off leaving the bare wood exposed, and that's when we started seeing all the wood finishes offered in the Ludwig, Slingerland, and Rogers catalogs.

Boy were we stupid.

[billnvick]

Originally Posted by mchair303

I remember these when they came out. Obviously the manufacturer's response to the hippie fad at that time of recovering old shells with fabric. I remember guys stripping off old pearl finishes to make their drums "cool" (pearls and sparkles represented our fathers' generation).

I saw drums recovered in velvet, orange shag fur, and leather. Less ambitious shell modifiers simply painted over the old shells (psychodelic patterns and peace signs being the preferred motif). And many, many drummers simply stripped the pearl and sparkle finishes off leaving the bare wood exposed, and that's when we started seeing all the wood finishes offered in the Ludwig, Slingerland, and Rogers catalogs.

Boy were we stupid.

And I'm with you on the "stupid" remark! Meaning: Me, too!!

[billnvick]

Gonna this up...

'Cause I'm still wondering how many are out there...

[MIKEY777]

Originally Posted by billnvick

Gonna this up...

'Cause I'm still wondering how many are out there...

Bill, Not many of these sets are around S/L made them in 1976..They did not sell at all,,I have only seen one complete five piece drum set with matching snare in 35+ years...Just a side note S/L also in 1976 made a clear vista set,also a set with a finish that looked like a coke soda can-{red and white}---Any of these sets are Rare to come by....Mikey

[longjohn]

As far as I know,
Only one of these kits ever made it to Australia.. I had the opportunity to buy it off the floor at Drum City in Sydney. I decided against it because it was already "dusty" eg: gathering lint & stuff, just from sitting on display.
I bought the same 51N in a two tone sparkle instead.
Happy with my choice at the time..

I often wonder who bought it and the big question..( did it fade)??
Cheers