Hello VDF members! I'm in a "ranting mood" right now, so please bear with me! This concerns a set of Slingerland 33F flush-base stands that recently sold on eBay, by established seller "kingsmusic" aka Richard King.
Richard usually sells vintage items in very good condition and always manages to get premium prices after frenzied bidding! One of Richard's key phrases is "brilliantly chrome plated"!
His latest sale was for two Slingerland flush-base cymbal stands, model 33F, that sold for a whopping $427.50!!!
Richard describes these as 1968 vintage. Here's where my rant comes in! I'm well-versed in the minutia of Slingerland drums and hardware from the 60's and 70's and not much can really trick me. Let's start with what these stands truly are; they're from the 70's!! The big tip-off is the middle tube section that narrows down. This didn't come out until around 1971. The die-cast wing screw at the base is also from the same year. Those aluminum tilters? Not original to the stands! Slingerland was using chrome-plated tilters by the late 60's. And, to my knowledge, Slingerland never used that type of thumb screw on the tilter. Next, Richard loves to install his own "Slingerland" labels. While the early 70's labels were Black/gold colored, Richards design is a bit off from the original. I know, I have both. When placed side-by-side, you can easily see the difference! I believe the Red/Silver decals didn't come out until the mid-70's. I've got one of these stands.
Finally, what was it about these stands that caused such a bidding frenzy! I've got a pair of original first-generation stands, in XLNT+ condition, that probably wouldn't sell for half this amount!
OK, my rant is over! I just wanted to vent! LoLoLoLo
-Mark
