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Needing some help valuing my 1920's-1941? Slingerland bass and snares (Albums inside)

Posts: 3 Threads: 1

I've included a link for an album of each drum under each drums description.

I found these marching drums at an estate sale about a week ago and immediately fell in love with the bass which came in a set with two snares and I'm having a hard time figuring out what these may be worth, if I should put new heads on them and if it would be worth repairing the snare that's in rather poor condition.

The bass drum is in the best condition, none of the rims are cracked and the only damage seems to be little bumps and scratches on the shell and the rather unattractive heads. It measures 26 by 11 inches. It has a really cool "America" decal on it and has the Slingerland badge that is supposedly from the 1920's to 1941.

http://imgur.com/a/Cfmj2#0

The better of the two snares seems to be in good condition. The shell has minor surface damage. One of the rims is in good condition however the second is split in an odd way thats enabling it to stay on and actually remain hidden behind a tension rod that has been moved over from where it should be to the spot of the split. All of the hardware including the original strainer and snare wires is included although I'm not familiar with mounting hardware that I may not realize is missing.

http://imgur.com/a/wlN8y#0

The snare in lesser condition seems to have a shell that's in better condition than the first however there is white paint coming out from under the hardware and a patch near the spot of the missing strainer. Both rims have splits in them, the top has a large one that has a chunk missing out of it that has been "repaired" with wire. The bottom rim has two cracks, one that was repaired with glue and another big one that was repaired with wire. Like I mentioned above the strainer is missing, the snare wires are new wires that where just sloppily slapped onto the drum with plastic wire tied to the strainer mount. Sadly one of the tension rods is missing, I'm guessing removed after the rim split and in its place is a rod that looks like it was designed for use on a cracked rim rather than just a general replacement.. but that's just my novice guess.

http://imgur.com/a/XKwg5#0

All types of comments and suggestions are very appreciated.. I am going to sell these and would be thrilled with absolutely any information you may have including if I should sell them separately or as a set, value, if I should even attempt to replace any of the hardware, if replacing the heads on the bass with quality heads would be worth doing while selling them or if I should let the person intending to use the drum pick out their own heads after they buy it..

Thank you so much, any info is very appreciated.

Posted on 13 years ago
#1
Posts: 3 Threads: 1

Ouuch.. They were asking $150 at the sale I bought them at but talked them down to $120. If you're right it looks like I may have to sell to some hipsters for aesthetic appeal as decoration rather than at market value.

Thanks for taking your time to write that, it hurts a tad but at least now I have a better idea as to what my selling strategy is going to be.

Posted on 13 years ago
#2
Posts: 3 Threads: 1

Yeah, I'll probably put calfskin heads onto the bass and list it on etsy as art or hopefully find a drummer who liked it as much as I did who will buy some clamp on legs for it and make it part of a set.

I'll attempt to sell the better snare as is on ebay, to me it would be a shame to have to tear it apart, and if that doesn't work I'll come back here, ebay and attempt to sell the parts.

I'll probably either turn the lesser quality snare into an end table for etsy or remove the metal parts and modify it into something that less picky civil war reenactors may be interested in using.

Thanks again!

Posted on 13 years ago
#3
Posts: 351 Threads: 14

Old marching drums don't seem to get much love, which is a shame because they are often in the forefront in terms of technology and finish for the era. The bass drum will probably sell for around $100, the better snare for that or a little less. The worse snare has next to no value. Sorry.

Posted on 13 years ago
#4
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