Hi Carl,Its Vinny Bellisario.Hope all is well with you.its been a long time since we spoke..Carl you know I have been a Slingerland guy for a very long time and have handled lots of Slingerland drums,but heres the question that still drives me nuts, and after all these years I still dont have an answer..My cousin Frank just won the Leedy Smokey Sparkle set that was on ebay a week ago.The next day after winning the auction he found a 8x12 in the same color...The 8x12 drum looks like what everyone is calling Smokey Sparkle.It has the same finish as Rich Ks snare that is posted here as well as the finish you have posted in the article and all the other drums I have come across in this color....The moral of the story is that he received the 8x12 before he received the set....The set arrived today and it is a totally different color...The set matches the swatch from the Slingerland catalog which I believe is the real Smokey Sparkle.....Smokey Sparkle looks like Gretsch's Starlight Sparkle which is more like gun gray sparkle......If you look at the swatch on the catalog you will see what I mean.It looks nothing like the drums we are calling Smokey......I believe that the drums we are calling smokey are an un cataloged finish which looks like burgandy sparkle...I did not see the drums in person yet but I was on the phone with him when they arrived today and as soon as he unpacked them I made him remove some lugs to see if there was any fade.....Zero..So I totally believe these are the real smokey sparkle.......What do you think..........Vinny.....PS Carl after we figure out this we have to talk about what we spoke about a few years ago.The Rerings in my Slingerland Purple Sparkle kit has t serial numbers stamped into them........I still have not figured that out either........Vin
Slingerland/Leedy Smokey Sparkle
here is a couple of pics of the set
[COLOR="Navy"]Vinny!
How the heck are you? Long time... we've kind of lost touch. Is there a Connecticut show this year? Or maybe one in New York? And BTW - do you still have that nice Sparkling Red 4x13?
Great catch on the Smokey - actually Slingerland sold both wraps as "versions" of the same finish - you may even run across a kit with a mix. But the amount of Slingerland Smokey out there is really small ? just was not around long, and never caught on. So there is not much history on this finish to talk about, really. However, Smokey was just not different enough from Black Sparkle, which was far more popular. The contemporary Aqua Sparkle Pearl suffered a similar fate, due to its ?competition? with Sparkling Green and Sparkling Blue
Slingerland did not put serial numbers on wood reinforcing rings as a regular practice. I have actually gotten similar questions from others regarding numbers stamped in the wood of shells, and upon inspection it turned out to be code markings made by the manufacturer of the wood stock itself. No way of course to be sure such is true in your case. I would need to see the markings. Actually, I seem to recall that you may have once sent me a picture, or am I mixing your case with another?
DrCJW[/COLOR]
Hi Carl,I am well thanks.......yes there is a Connecticut show this year on 4/22 and I hope you can make it.....Please get in touch with me.......Vinny
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