The way I look at it is Slingerland had some of the best endorsers and probably the most endorsers. The drums were reasonably priced and the quality was the same.

Ludwig, Rogers and Gretsch also had some great endorsers, but probably not as many. Of course many drummers switched around based on the best deal they could get.

I think Ludwig, Rogers and Gretsch had to differentiate themselves from Slingerland and the best way to do that was make better drums.

When "Rock and Roll" hit, Slingerland was left in the dust to Ludwig, which took over with endorsers and the market in my opinion, while Slingerland was still holding on to what they had at the time. If Slingerland had Ringo, it would have been a different story.

Gretsch snuck in with the smaller jazz kits and had a rock sound all to their own and Slingerland just kept doing what they did and lost a lot of people along the way.

Then the market was flooded with cheap import kits and that really changed the drum business for all of them.

Slingerland is still my favorite and most of my collection and memorabilia is Slingerland based.

I have owned a few Rogers drum, but if I ever see a Wood Dyna at a garage sale for $50, I would buy it!

David

Do you honestly think Rogers and Gretsch made better drums than Slingerland?...In what way?...Other than some RK,S i,ve only seen beautiful bass drums and toms.

I dont think David said that. He said the drums were priced cheaper and the quality was the same.

And I agree with David on that.