Those are Tower drums with center lugs. The most obvious difference on the Slingy floor tom is the twin rows of lugs, not the different lug profile.

It looks great as is...

Paul,

Great photos on Facebook, and congrats on finding that Slingy FT in matching wrap. You know you have a rare set, but you may not know how rare! That finish was discontinued in 1963 and doesn't appear in the 1964 catalog at all, so to have Sky Blue Ripple with factory installed Beavertails (which didn't come out until late 1963) is extremely hard to find! And I should know...

I had a 20" Cleveland bass in Blue Ripple with factory installed Beavertails, and I waited for years to find a matching 12" or 13" tom with no success. Most Blue Ripples that surface all have B&B lugs. I finally sold the bass to a member here a couple years ago, and what just popped up on eBay last month... a 13" Blue Ripple tom with Beavertails! Uhhggg! I would have easily paid the ridiculous asking price of $425 just to have a matched "Viking" setup.

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Good decision not to mess with the Slingy FT. Any chance you can show the interior tags on those Blue Ripples, or at least list the numbers? Since we know your drums have to be late 1963 or early 1964, it could help with dating.

Mike

Thank you for all the responses! Yes, as far as I know, this is a Tower kit in the cheaper "Comet" outfit, which is why it has a Luxor snare and no floor tom. I gave up on finding a matching center-lug floor tom a looooong time ago. But, a Holiday-looking floor tom would have been cool, hence the initial post. But, yes I'm quite happy with the Slingy, even if I did pay $371 for it in auction. The last Rogers Sky-Blue Ripple floor tom I saw on ebay went for $800!!!! So, by comparison, the Slingerland was a great deal! And, here are the requested Rogers numbers:

Tower 8x12 - 4922

Tower 14x20 - 4954

Luxor 5x14 - 8125

What do they mean!?

Also, the Slingerland tom was painted brown, two owners ago. The guy I bought it from stripped that paint off. The finish seems to be much less glossy than I would expect. Is there a product to restore the gloss? Thanks!

-Paul

I was in the local Mom and Pop drum store today looking for some odd size tension rods. Had not been there in ages and the shop owner has all kinds of odds and ends and I was looking through his old orphans and there is a lone 9"x13" blue ripple Slingerland Tom there. The wrap is great on it. No hardware though. Except the muffler is on it. There are two small extra holes where the diamond mount goes but the mount would cover them. I am sure I could get it cheap from him. Matches your kit perfect and you could use it with it or have a good start on a Slingerland blue ripple kit. I have to run back over there in the morning to get one more tension rod I need and will make some pics of it.

Hey, there! Thanks for the info, and for offering to get that drum to me! I can't seem to justify it in my head now, though. It's good to be a part of an online community where people can watch out for each other's hard-to-find drums! Speaking of, there was a 16" Rogers red sparkle floor tom at a local drum shop here in KY. I think I could get it for under $75, if anyone is interested.

$75??!!!! If it's in decent shape, just buy it! Someone here will take it off your hands (me included) at that price.