Slingerland did not use vents or badges on toms until June '66. We would like to see pictures of your kit. Are you sure the date stamp isn't Mar '63? Welcome to the forum.

Thanks Slingerfan I will take another look at that date stamp- could be 1963. I will post a pic soon! I know the bass drum spurs have been replaced with Ludwig and the same with floor tom legs. Also tom mount has been removed and replaced with newer type of tom mount on cymbal stand however I believe most of the hardware is the original Slingerland but I could be wrong on that. Will post a pic soon to get your feedback!

Here are some pics of the kit- very well could be 1963 as you see it is a bit hard to tell! Thanks for any other info you care to reply. I will try to sell this kit for a friend!

Sorry for the upside down pics- a little new at this!

I would also suspect the 1963 date rather than 1983 for this great looking drum set.

I think this is likely a Mar. 1963 kit. If you could take a closeup of the badge on the snare, that would help I think. Hardware on the bass drum looks 60's to me. You can also check the badge timeline and pictures at the Slingerland Drums link in the "Vintage Drum Identification" tab above. Based on the timeline there, the serial number you provided would fit with early 60's. Do your toms and bass drum have re-rings? If early 60's they should. In the 80's there are no re-rings. Cool kit!

James

With the mahogany inner ply... must be '63 surely..

Cheers

John

March 1963 it is. Badge, serial and date stamp make sense and the mahogany interior ply, keenly noted by longjohn, seals the deal. Interior ply was mahogany until June of '63. Small tone control knob on snare and what appears to be holes for a rail consolette on the bass fit nicely also. Toms should have same mahogany inner ply if they are original to the set (with re-rings as mentioned by james). Interior of snare could be mahogany or maple. I would guess maple. Neat kit. If you are selling it you can list it on this site, certainly someone here may be interested.

I hope this doesn't look like I'm trying to hijack this tread but I think it's relevant. [Attachment: 111166]. I'm trying to find a more accurate date for my snare. SN 5603. I'm wondering if this would be 63 or 62? I've looked at the slingerland serial number guide but still not 100% sure.