Welcome 2Sticx, Great story & glad to meet ya man! Rock on Brother! band3

Hello all - Dave from Central PA here. Yet another greenhorn (to drums, anyway). Lifelong musician - guitars, pedal steel, b@njo (and bass, piano years ago.) Made a living at it for a while, also owned/ran a vintage guitar shop during the 90s. But I wearied of the life and went back to college teaching. Play some gigs still. Into varied styles - blues, jazz, old-school country, rockabilly and old-school rock and roll, bluegrass, roots-rock, Americana, and so on. Played old Gretsch guitars for years - various old Chets, Nitron Jets, Anniversaries, and so on. Teles, archtops, old flattops too. Like many pedal steel players, I like formica (or Nitron if I can get it) on pedal steels - always wanted to front a PSG with some cool Caddy Green or Copper Mist Nitron, or maybe Silver Sparkle wrap to make it look like Buck Owens' and Don Rich's Teles. May do it yet.

Got the bug to play drums a while back. Started looking for an old Slingerland set (played for a while on my buddy's '60s orange-sparkle Slingerland back about '68, but all I could afford was a MIJ geetar, c'est la vie.) But I do seem to veer to Gretsch - a few months ago, stumbled on a cool round-badge White Marine Pearl Gretsch 3-piece (prob late 50s from what I can tell, dead ringer for the Broadkaster "One Nighter Plus" on p. 8 of the '58 Gretsch catalog - die-cast rim on snare, stamped on tom). I've been studying up, cleaned the drums up a bit, put on some new heads, got a 60s A. Zildjian 20" crash-ride from Bill at classicvintagedrums.com, picked up newer 14" hats and 16" crash to hold me over till I find some older Zildjians. Practicing daily, it's cool. Family not so crazy about it, but they didn't like pedal steel either.

Anyway, I've been lurking for a while now, thought it was time to join up. I'm mostly into vintage sounds, this seems like the place to be.

Hi Dave: Welcome I'm also from PA. Vtg Marine Pearl Gretsch kit, Nice find!

Greetings!

I'm new to the forum and, as of yesterday, new to the wonderful world of being a vintage drum owner! I'll start with a little about me, and then if anyone's able to help, I'd love to find out as much as I can about the kit I just picked up yesterday.

About Me:

I started playing when I was about 13, borrowed my dad's '60's Slingerland, set it up COMPLETELY wrong and started teaching myself how to play. I remember it coming fairly easily at first, playing along to my mom's classic rock records, and then I found Lars Ulrich and this crazy thing he did with 2 Bass Drums. Being a know-nothing punk kid, as I got better, I thought my Dad's Slingerland was just too small and simple for what I was getting into and had to pick me up a 7 piece, double-bass Tama kit.

Fast forward 15 years and I'd like to conciser myself a bit wiser. I've realized, after lugging around tons of gear, that no one needs 150 drums and cymbals surrounding them, simple IS effective (and in my opinion, forces you to be a little more creative). So yesterday I decided to pull the trigger on a set that I think will be the one I let my son (maybe someday) learn to play on.

About The Drums:

1960-70's? Slingerland White Marine Pearl

All have Niles Badges, black oval with chrome lettering

All wood (And they are HEAVY!)

8x12 Tom - Serial # 170378

14x14 Floor - Serial # 365888

12x22 Bass Drum - Serial # 380973

5(5.5?)x14 Snare (Wood) - Serial # 78161

All have natural wood interior

All have Chrome hoops (Even the Bass Drum??)

And that's about it. Any info on the possible year? I know that Slingerland made it hard to exactly date, but a close range would be nice.

Is it a specific "Model"?

What's up with the Chrome Bass Drum Hoops?

It's in really good shape and I'm going to do my best to get it back to its original shine (will definitely be using this forum for restoration and cleaning tips). I'll be sure to take a ton of before and after pics.

Thanks folks!

[IMG]http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/r481/pbrMATTasap/IMG_4115-1.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/r481/pbrMATTasap/IMG_9549.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/r481/pbrMATTasap/IMG_4129.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/r481/pbrMATTasap/IMG_4121.jpg[/IMG]

Welcome to VDF, Matt!

That's a sweet old set of drums. You should start a thread in the Vintage forum so more members will see them. They certainly serve as your Special Pass to become a member of our little vintage drum loving community.

Look forward to hearing more from you in the future...

John

What's happening Dave? I'm a Central PA native myself (Hanover to be specific), now residing in disgustingly hot Houston, TX. Sounds like you have some fantastic taste in gear. Any pics?

Welcome To All!! Dat's a Sweeeet........... Set! MATT

Howdy,

Long-time lurker finally stepping out of the shadow. As a drummer that is slowly becoming vintage himself, I guess it's only fitting that I prefer playing vintage drums. I do have a sweet Phattie kit in be-bop sizes, as well as a cocktail drum, but for the most part, I dig the older gear.

My current band plays traditional rock-a-billy. The previous drummer played standing and I finally warmed up to the idea a few years ago. It's definitely a lot of fun and it's nice being able to connect with the audience (rather than being buried behind a wall of players and amps). I've been playing the cocktail drum mated with various full-size snares, but recently switched over to using multiple drums.

I'm currently playing a set of early-70's Premiers, using the 22" BD, and 14" FT from that kit. I lucked into a '65 Slingerland Hollywood Ace on ebay for $150 and the aged WMP wrap is a pretty close match for the Premiers. I LOVE the snare, but not crazy on the Premiers. They sound FANTASTIC, but the funky lugs on the floor tom and the L-shaped tension rods on the BD just seem a little too "modern" for the rock-a-billy thing. Of course, no one else would notice (present company excluded). ;-)

I also have my drums from when I was a kid... '72-ish Gretsch 4-piece (22, 16, 13, and 4160 COB snare) in red pearl. I got these second-hand and was young and dumb enough to "make them better" by adding a second tom and mounting them to the BD. Fortunately, this was accomplished with a small rail bracket, so the shell only has four small holes. I've had the 9x13 in a snare stand for the last 20 years or so. I guess one cool thing about the "upgrade" is that it was done by Muzzy Mizzoni at his shop in Morristown, NJ.

My other kit is a set of '41 Radio Kings (24, 16, 13, and matching snare). I bought these from Mark Cooper about 6 years ago... easily my favorite sounding kit. The clamp-on bass spurs are a bit of a drag for live shows, and for most "rock applications" it really helps to have the kit mic'd to cut through the mix. I'd actually love to find a few orphan Radio Kings to use for the rock-a-billy gig... maybe a 20-22 BD and a 14" FT.

Guess that's enough ramblin' for a first post!

-murph

OK, so I guess this is the introduction section, so here goes. I started playing at 12 ,only had a pad for 2 years, then Dad brought home a drum set in the trunk of the 62 chevy. he popped the trunk, and said" they were on sale" .I said" Dad, they're pink!"{ 1964 Ludwig club date..pink champagne }I was embarrased until I saw Mitch Mitchell in 1967, then they were cool.I played thru high school in bands, then joined a band in 1968, had success, played the Filmore, toured, cut records, and kept playing until about 1972.Then traveled for 4 years, came back to Portland, and suddenly kids started popping out. Worked until 4 years ago, got all the kids thru college, and here I am, just the wife and me left. During all that time I still collected, drums,cymbals,records, motorcycles. Now , finally, the time has come to let go of most of it. A fellow drummer and I still buy, sell, restore and play, but nowadays younger players seem scared of my white hair.

I know though, we invented all that "flannel and feedback" in the 60's. So there!

I currently have a few sets left, 1961 Premier...1962 Slingerland...1965 Dixie...1960's Japanese "Jelly Bean" ...1967 Pearl...1975 Sonor...and a newer {?}1995 Starclassic.Oh yeah, and the custom"Rockabilly" set I made a few years ago.Walking

Welcome Musicman (from a fellow VDF noob)!

Very cool intro. Do you still have your first kit? No doubt it would fit right in here. Would love to see a photo of your rock-a-billy kit. Is it a trad configuration or do you play it standing? You can check out my kit at the bottom of this thread:

http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=29389

-murph