Badge and serial are from the end of the Niles era (mid eighties). 5-ply shell without re-rings would be the norm. Two thick plies and three thin. Thin plies on outsides and middle. You're picture is not quite clear enough to verify.

I could post another picture, but I think your answer is correct.

It sounds pretty good to my unsophisticated ear. A basic utility snare, nothing fancy, nothing awful. It tunes well, but in a narrow range, not high or low. The "middle," and that's a fair summary of the drum. IMHO

Thank you!

The shells actually look like 3-ply, which was very common for toms and snare drums. Same construction as 60's and 70's 3-ply shells, but without the solid maple reinforcing hoops. The bass drum would normally be 5 ply. You can see the thick poplar center core in one of your pictures. I'm posting some pictures of an 80's J5 kit I had, showing the shells...3-ply toms and 5-ply bass drum.

-Mark

I think it might be three ply, too. But it's hard to tell. I'll try to post a clearer picture.

Thanks!

Mark is correct. Three ply without re-rings used on the "Spirit" economy line.

How about some extra pictures showing the entire snare drum? Still, I think it's from 1980, which is when they cataloged the J4 and J5 kits. Both came with a wood-shell snare drum, number 146. Interesting enough, this is the same catalog as the famous Hollywood Ace snare drum from the 60's and into the 70's. Other later catalogs show the #146 as a 5-ply shell, but since it was standard equipment with the J4 and J5, it probably had the 3-ply shell, just like the toms. Only the bass drum was a 5-ply.

Here's a link to the J4/J5 kits from the 1980 catalog... http://www.vintagedrumguide.com/images/slingerland_drum_sets/1980-slingerland-drumsets9.jpg

-Mark

According to Dr CJ Wenk the 3-ply ringless shell did not appear till mid '81 and the serial on this drum is 100,000 higher than what would be expected for a 1980 model. The last Niles drums in '86 were 588xxx. At 576xxx this one seems hard to dispute as anything older than '84.