Hello Board! New member here. As an introduction, I am a 53 year old drumming enthusiast. I have been playing for under two years, and have owned my first set for one year. Having much fun and mostly teaching myself, enjoying the pleasures associated with the success one occasionaly experiences in such efforts.
I own a Black Beauty and use it daily with my kit. I recently decided to purchase a wooden snare and thought I'd purchase a vintage model. Found an old Slingerland Hollywood Ace at ebay the other day and made the purchase for $202.50 plus $25 shipping. I have no intention of becoming a collector, just wanted to purchase something that might give me a nice old-time wooden shell sound. The drum was shipped promptly and looks and sounds quite nice. There isn't too much money involved in this small investment, so I'm quite certain I haven't been taken to the cleaners or anything of the sort. I was hoping that some of you would take the time to comment on the price I paid, value received, and the drum I purchased. Here is a link to the ebay page.
I read some of the articles and apparently I do have a 1960's original Hollywood Ace. I have no idea how much of it, or if any, has been replaced with parts, original or reproduced. It does have the "chocolate milk" paint on the inside and around the rims, so I can't really tell the ply depth. The badge is Niles, black and bronze/gold.
I have a couple questions. Curiosly, the rims do hold a very small, but very strong, magnet. I am surprised as I thought brass would not attract a magnet. Perhaps there is a bit of steel in the rims? Again, it is only a small hold, not a large click as it would to a piece of steel, but it does hold to gravity, and not drop as say when I attach it to a cymbal or the shell of the Black Beauty. Also, the lug-holes in the rims are not perfectly round, rather, they are some what elongated, but the rims do turn in and appear to be stick savers.
The two-point Rapid Strainer is in nice shape, well lubricated and in working order. It has no ID markings of any sort. Same with the butt plate. The strainer has three holes for the strings. The 16 wire snare seems to work fine. It also has no ID markings. The screws that hold the lugs each appear to have a small "G" stamped in the screws ... at exactly the point where the slot for the screwdriver heads fit. I only point this out if any of you wanted to comment regarding these are original screws.
The bearing edges are rounded. There are two areas where there appears to have been some putty-fill used, and they have not been properly sanded, so there is a few spots that I might carefully sand off. The paint is over these spots, so I got to thinking maybe I should mention it here. If you look closely, you can somewhat see what I am speaking about in the close up pic showing the muffler, just above the muffler. I have no idea if it will affect the sound I get from the drum. I plan to put some nice heads on this weekend, after I purchase the same.
My final inquiry relates to the re-rings. Top and bottom appear to be loose from the shell at two points. I do not hear a rattle or anything. Should I expect a complete loosening and seperation in the future? Can this, should it be, fixed? Again, not collecting here, only playing.
Well, apologies around for the long first post. I thank you in advance for your comments and input. I look forward to particpating in the board in the future.
Joey
