Nice drums. Here is my 3 ply mahogany slingy 15x8 concert king. I bought it shell only off of Craigslist and slowly bought all of the correct nickel hardware for it. Mostly from other mates on this site. Killer sounding drums!

Sorry nittanyperc-they aren't mine but are proeprty of a school district in suburban Baltimore. If mime, I'd only need one and help you out. I will keep an eye for others like this. d.

Nice work. The nickle on it looks great. That is one big snare. Love to play some Sousa marches on that baby!

Anxious to put these back together to hear what they sound like. They were too beat to even try. Thanks for sharing. d.

The cut off badge does indeed have raised lettering. So I'm confident with the dates thanks to you guys. Can't wait to get that ugly cut badge off of there. Is there a tutorial on here that shows replacing badges? I have no clue how to work with the grommet thing......d.

At the top of the drum forum page click "Restoration and Help" then click "How to refinish a drum" and then "Removing the hardware and grommet". Good luck.

A black/silver Niles badge with a serial under 100,000 should be appropriate.

Guys, here's one of the 15 inch Sling shells restored using all of your combined advice. As recommended, I used a wood cleaner and then applied several wood paste wax applications. I must say, being a "shiny-new" type of guy, I'm most impressed with the results---and glad for no sanding/re-spraying, etc.

As always, thank you guys, for your super advice. I will follow with more resto pics shortly. Dean

Onto the next step, can you Sling guys tell me if the butt plates are original Sling? The snares had Ludwig strainers hastily applied somewhere in the past and I could not tell if the butt plates were messed with too. Dean

The one pictured on the right is correct Slingerland.

I'm with Creighton on all issues. Why bother with what's underneath the chrome plating on the bottom hoop if the drum is going to be displayed behind glass and viewed from a distance of 3'? Either way it's not original.

Since those drums used the same strainer and butt as the steel shell Festival snare, which may be had for cheap, and also get parted out with some frequency, your prospects are good for finding what you need on eBay.

The wear marks and patina are part of their history of use at the school. Cool project!