Yes. They actually did this. As odd as it sounds, they made drums out of it.

DO NOT THROW THEM AWAY.

Keep the drums for a true historian. They will want them as specimens. As you can imagine, there aren't a lot of those that have survived. Thanks.

They did this in the early 80's according to the Rob Cook book.

It is referred to as a "new low".

Can you post some pictures?

I know during WWII Deagan started using cardboard resonators on their mallet instruments. (http://www.wadeculbreath.com/deagan/images/36.jpg) Metal was rationed for tanks, bullets, airplanes, etc. so cardboard was really the only thing they used. I even have an old Leedy drum that came with a Barry Bass Drum that is made of really hard fiberboard. It sounds like total crap.

A few timpani were even manufactured out of wood. Here's an example of a Schnellar timpani most likely from around WWI, made of wood for the metal rationing.

http://malletshop.com/museum_detail.cfm?prod=258

I'm surprised that Slingerland was doing that so late in the game, with no war on . . . or at least no rationing or war effort.

Were these meant to be budget lines or student models of some sort?

Yeah, pics please. They are kind of a mythical beast, as horrible as they are.

No. They were meant to be a "profit" line. They thought that they could get away with using Sonatube instead of wood plies. It was cheaper and seemed like a good idea at the time. Low manufacturing cost equaled higher profit margin. That works out great if you actually sell the product...and then don't have to give the money back due to returns. One of the last great lessons of the American Drum Industry.

Isn't that basically what Remo's "Acousicon" shells are?

[COLOR="DarkRed"]They are like that, sort of a masonite in their beginning/raw state...but they are then finished w/ a resin-coating (which I discovered, is a surface which does not take contact cement well at all....). The result is a very dense shell surface.

Remo at least did some R & D to try to come up with something decent sounding....their edges are actually fairly precise.....(and honestly, Acousticons don't sound bad, nor are they constructed badly....)[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Silver"]I, too...have never actually laid eyeballs on the infamous Slingy cardboard shells....I already get too depressed whenever I come across their gross, thick, "inside-out" 3-ply poplar shells......[/COLOR]

Not even close. REMO's shells are actually quite nice. They are very dense and have an excellent sound overall. I would play a REMO kit with the new shells in a heartbeat. I love the snare. VERY sensitive and lively. It's kind of like a fiberglass, but with a serious amount of warmth. Fiberglass was always just a bit too ... undrumlike for my tastes. What REMO did was take the liveliness of the fiberglass drum, mixed it with the characteristics of a thin maple wood drum, and added a lot of sensitivity to it. The mix is undeniably good. They also have excellent hardware on the drums. Pretty cool stuff.

[COLOR="DarkRed"]It's the Quadura shells which are the cheapies....the Acousticons are upper line.....if memory serves, the Acousticons actually did a hella number on our table-saw blade...that resin is really in there....[/COLOR]