vibeguy56!...

A very interesting and entertaining story on this snare drum!... but the timeline for the year of the drum is suspect., and please take no offense as I'm not degrading your drum in any way here! If the drum is a 1980, it most probably was not built for Buddy as Buddy left Slingerland in the Fall of 1976... from 1977 on it wouldn't have been a "BR Model" as Buddy had already split Slingerland, and not on the best of terms either. Furthermore...

Buddy performed with the Fibes SFT 690/COF snare drum as early as 1973 while still in the middle part of his Slingerland endorsement. Truth is, Slingerland came out with the #190 Buddy Rich/TDR snare drum.. ( 5 ply, no rings ) .. just after catching Buddy playing the Fibes SFT 690/COF in PLAIN SIGHT with his Slingerland set. I have in my BR snare drum collection a LATE 1973 Slingerland #190 Buddy Rich/TDR in WMP with no muffler and StickChoppers which is exactly as BR ordered his drum. This is the model that Slingerland offered Buddy to stop playing the Fibes... and it worked! ... for a while anyway as Buddy liked the drum. But... back to the Fibes he went again!, and that really started the complete breakdown between Buddy and Don Osborn Sr. who was president of Slingerland at the time. Two years later, Buddy was gone from Slingerland... and ended up with... Ludwig! ... for the THIRD time no less, and this was in 1977. Sooo.....

A 1980 Slingerland snare drum was most probably not built for Buddy, and if it truly were, they would have presented him with it much earlier to appease his likes in a snare drum which would have also kept him in the Slingerland fold. Buddy was a snare drum hound!... always looking as he said on numerous occassion's, for the perfect snare drum. According to Buddy, he found it!... a few different times! ... LOL! He really dug the Fibes SFT 690/COF though, and as far back as 1967 when he first played the prototype... but that's another story! Here are a couple pics of my Slingerland #190 Buddy Rich/TDR which is the model that Slingerland came out with to appease Buddy and get him AWAY from the Fibes SFT 690/COF. This is a late 1973, early 1974.

Regardless... I would love to see your drum!

Tommyp

TommyP, I noticed your BR snare has what looks like the stick choppers while mine has the stick savers. Or am I not seeing the flange?

Hello FatherTime!...

You are seeing correctly!... your drum has StickSavers, which to be honest, is how Slingerland built/supplied this model snare drum. The StickChoppers were an option... at no extra charge! The drum was cataloged with flanged StickSavers, even though Buddy most always played his snares set up with Choppers. My snare.. ( pictured ).. was built with no muffler and had StickChoppers, factory installed. That's why this drum is so neat... EXACTLY like Buddy's! Yours is a beauty as well!

Tommyp

Tommy -

thanks for the clarification. Yes - you are right - this was probably not sold, at the time, as the Buddy Rich model, but it was the replacement for the Radio King.

My teacher had a couple Fibes snares, as a matter of fact, he got it after sitting in on Buddy Rich's band and playing the Fibes Buddy was using (along with the Rogers Swiv-o-matic pedal). Buddy gave my teacher the pedal, but not the snares (at least that is what I think). The fibes were great snare drums.

So, yes - my drum is NOT a BR TDR, and I thank you for the clarification.

I will try to get pics up soon. I am not sure I will sell it, but I have several TDRs, and a couple RKs and I am thinking of selling, for the right price. They are great drums.

Thanks again - best to you my friend!

by the way - beautiful drum!

vibeguy56!...

GLAD you liked my '73 Buddy Rich/TDR. That drum also plays very well... because ... the beds and the TDR throw/butt were mounted CORRECTLY! Your teacher is correct on these as most of them had CROOKEDLY MOUNTED throws/butts with bad beds, thus the snares don't sit right, and they BUZZZZZZZZZZZZ. I have heard many of them that played/sounded terrible. Very few were built right. I think I lucked out with mine as it is a very early one, late 1973, and the build quality was very good. Also...

I wasn't saying that your drum was a BR/TDR.. ( as I knew it wasn't, although it could be... explanation to follow ) .. I was saying that it couldn't have been a Buddy Rich model of any type as you had stated it was a 1980. Buddy split Slingerland in late 1976! However... it does sound like you are indeed describing the Slingerland Buddy Rich Model/TDR!, which makes sense as again, that is the drum that Slingerland came out with to get Buddy to STOP playing the Fibes SFT 690/COF, but the date for this drum was late 1973, give or take. The Slingerland Radio King was still in place and still available as late as the 1976 Slingerland catalog though... item #143, 51/2X14, choice of finish. So the BR/TDR didn't replace the Slingerland RK model... at least not initially.

Your drum at 5 plies no rings and the TDR throw/butt, sounds like the Buddy Rich model excepting the fact that the BR/TDR never came with a natural finish shell.. ( or at least that I have ever seen anyway, but you never know! ) Let me ask you: How many air vents on your snare? Three? Put some pics up when you can! :-D

Tommyp

THANKS AGAIN TOMMY

FIRST - your post should be used as a model for how corrections should be handled on this forum. too many people get offensive and defensive because so many people here think they are experts. None of us know it all, so when we help each other, we help everyone.

On SLINGERLAND quality of the time:

When Charlie took the head off, the snare bed on each side was screwy. On one side of the bed it was a normal, but on the other, the bed was a gentle slope for about 4 inches long that started at the bottom of the bed and then extended to the next lug or so. Many of the lug holes had been drilled twice because someone "missed" on the first drill! A few years later, Al Moffet Sr. sold me a set that was natural maple to match this snare. i could never get that set to sound right, so I gave it away.

As you can see from the pics, there are three air holes. the serial number is: 385295. This, according to the website, puts the date of the drum around the mid to late 1970s.

In any case, I should probably put up some sound files as well. I will do that soon.

vibeguy56!...

First... THANKS for your kind words!, and I agree, sometimes posts and/or responses can be a tad, how shall I say... venomous. Never saw the need for that to be honest, coupled with that old adage: "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing" ... indeed! Regarding your drum:

Mystery solved!! It is indeed the Slingerland Buddy Rich Model/TDR as your pics have confirmed. Interestingly though, yours is the FIRST ONE I have ever seen in a natural finish, but that makes perfect sense as you did mention that Slingerland sent a replacement shell which was in it's "raw" and natural state. GREAT on the dating through the serial number too!... and we now know that it is indeed the BR/TDR based on the way the drum is set up and the serial/timeline. I had a feeling that this was the case based entirely on your description of the drum with just the 1980 build date being suspect... Cool! :-D

Tommyp

So, whats the price for this one?