Hello;
I'm a new member and have been looking for a forum like this for quite some time. I hope I can contribute a little and learn a lot.
I'd like to start off with a question. I have just acquired a 5"x14" Slingerland Copper snare. This poor drum has seen a huge amount of stupid bad use. Why anybody would treat a musical instrument like this, I will never understand. Enough ranting. The Slingerland badge seems to indicate that it was built in the early 70's at the Niles facility. The black & Aluminum badge has raised letters but does not have the loop in the "S" of Slingerland. According to your badge profile and chart, it should have a serial number somewhere in the 400,000 or 500,000 range. I get the impression, however, that those numbers are for wood shelled snares. Does this Copper snare fall into the "Special drum" category on the list?
The serial number is 21778 or possibly 2177B ??? It has 10 lugs finished in Chrome. The original snare strainer is missing . (probably beat to death by a previous owner.) Where the strainer should have been there is a hole about 5/8" in diameter with a 1/8" hole on either side, plus an 1/8" hole approx. 3" below. The same hole pattern is on the butt side of the drum. I get the impression that there may have been a rod through the drum for a dual drop system.????? The poor thing had a Ludwig strainer bolted on & a simple (cheap) horizontal butt plate on the opposite side. Unfortunately, even the original Slingerland hoops had been replace by some Die-cast hoops. OR- Did this drum come with them?? The die-cast hoops look a lot like the Ludwig style with the drop at the snare gate.
Does any one have any info on this poor old relic??? It is so tarnished that I don't even know how or where to begin to clean it up. I would like to restore it be as close to original as possible. I seriously doubt that it will ever clean up to look like the original. Which brings up another question. Is it better to try to bring it back to "Factory New" condition or let it have lots of "Character" ???
Believe me, any & all information will be most welcome. Thank you all in advance for your help.
Upstroke
