I'll try to keep a long story short. I'm not a drummer (yet) but a guitar player. My daughter has asked for a drum set for sometime now but due to a lack of follow thru on her part with other instruments I just couldn't justify the cost of a new kit for a few weeks of playing. A few weeks ago,just a few days before her birthday, I noticed a bass drum sitting in a box @ a thrift shop near my office. I walked over and found a small Slingerland kit that needed some new heads and cleaning. Thinking that I would replace the heads and have her a great Birthday present without breaking the bank I paid my 40 dollars and took the kit to my office. Later that afternoon I googled Slingerland drums for info on getting new heads and ended up at this great site. I now know that I have a set of vintage drums, not a cheap beginer set. What I ended up with is the Windsor ensemble 6-n from the 1959 Slingerland catalog. I have all the hardware including cymbal stand, hi hat stand, even the original throne. The only part missing is the wood block that went with the cow bell. Here's what I've got: 14 x 22 BD,dated Jan 10,1959; 5.5 x 14 Snare,single ply shell w/clamshell strainer, 8 lugs; 9 x 13 Tom dated Jan 15,1959. The drums are Aqua sparkle, however the bass & tom have faded some and look more like silver sparkle. Cymbals are 14" K Zildjian Istanbul hi hats,each weighing 737g. One still has the paper made in Turkey label;a 16" A Zildjian weighing 992g w/50's type II large stamp and an 18" A Zildjian weighing 1,616g w/50's small stamp. The cymbals look like they have never been played, no issues what so ever. The whole kit is cleaning up nicely with no issues as well. This kit looks like it was played very little and just set aside.
Now for my dilema. Put the kit together and play it or sell it and buy my daughter a newer kit to learn on (if she'll stick with it). One part of me says keep it and the other part says sell it to someone who will make better use of a vintage set of drums.
Old wise ones, advice on what to do and value would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
