Well, I received the first package today that contained the snare drum. The rest should arrive Monday. Somehow it got a day behind.

I am a pretty understanding guy when it comes to eBay and I understand there's always a risk involved. Some people describe a drum as mint while another might consider it fair.

With eBay, sometimes you get the elevator and sometimes you get the shaft. Unless something is totally broken or misrepresented, I never go back on an auction. I just take my lumps and move on. Sometimes I'm a big winner so it seems to even out in the end.

These are the things I would have mentioned if I were selling this drum...

The bad news:

The clam on one side is dented real bad

The clam on the other side has the throw broken off

The wrap is lifting very slightly at the seam

All chrome is pitted but nothing is badly rusted

The die cast rims are scratched pretty bad

These are all things that were not clearly defined or shown in the pictures.

I think all these things are OK and I'm not upset at all.

Am I being too easy?

The good news is:

The wrap is a beautiful and even ginger ale. Very nice and will shine up real well.

The inside of the drum is perfect and the lug attachment screws have zero rust. I think the drum will clean up nicely overall.

And, last but not least, I think the snare is a Single Ply (RK).

Would someone please take a look at this last picture and tell me if they think it's a single ply?

The other shells are pictured in the auction and they look mahogany. I don't think they ever made single ply mahogany so those are probably 3 ply.

Thanks and kudos to the contributors here. It's been a great resource for me.

Congrats on the outfit, you got a great price on it in my opinion, despite the damages.

Yes, I think those issues should have been addressed in the listing.

I recently had a clamshell repaired back to near original condition by Joe Partridge at Famous Drum Company in Mississippi.. He's partners there with George Lawrence.

Link...................

He did a great job for a fair price.

Yep, your snare is a solid maple shell and the rest are 3-ply.

Again, congrats on a wonderful outfit !!

Kevin

Thanks

I know George. His shop is right down the street. I may take it there if I can't find a replacement. He may even have one. He has a pretty good stash of old parts. I have bought vintage pieces/parts from him in the past.

Being that this strainer was used from 1956 to 1962 it shouldn't be hard to find one on eBay, yes? (although I just checked and didn't see any).

Thanks again for the shell ID. You certainly are knowledgeable about vintage drums. I'll bet your a great drummer as well.

Bowing

Well, thanks for that.... 98% of what I know I have learned from the good folks here at this forum over the past year and a half. I just got back into drumming after a drug and alcohol induced hiatus that lasted 30 years, but I got the old fever back pretty quick for this passion!! Clean and sober for 6+ years now, thank God.

As for being a great drummer.... no way, no how at present, but I'm getting some of the old chops back. I'm awesome in my mind, but you wouldn't want to hear it right now..............Laughing H

I was checking out the catalog pages in the reference area and the only thing I see that resembles this snare is the Gene Krupa snare and it looks like it only comes with the standard "rimshot" hoops. (I think that's what we also call the "sticksaver" hoops.)

So, I can assume that these are some aftermarket hoops.

Personally, I like the look and feel of Slingerland's standard hoops and I'll probably replace these (at least on the snare).

Any ID on these hoops? I didn't see any markings. The corrosion alone would indicate that they are pretty old. LMAO

Thanks again.

Well, I finally received the rest of this set today. Wow, this should have been listed as a project. LOL

Seams are lifting everywhere. The kick has had re-ring repairs and the re-ring on the floor tom is loose.

The kick edge (batter) needs repaired (IMO) as there are a number of cracks around the perimeter and the ring has been fixed once (and, not very well).

I'm no expert (in fact, I'm a newb) but I would guess that this set has simply been played a lot.

Still, I think the single ply snare makes this a pretty good deal and I'll learn a ton repairing these. I already read up on re-gluing the rings.

The wrap has aged to a beautiful ginger ale and looks like it still might have a lot of shine left.

The consolette is rusted pretty bad but I think I can get it acceptably clean.

So far of all the vintage sets I have bought, this will be my biggest challenge.

I'll be looking here for tips on repairing it so thanks in advance, once again to all who make this forum work and make it a useful resource for the rest of us.

:)

Here is a preliminary pic.

Tomorrow night when I take it out to play, I'll take some nice pictures.

It will have the cymbals and hardware and the stage lights will be glittering off the sparkle wrap. Probably make for some nice pics.

Still...sure looks better than I got it.

The rails consolettes on these Slingerlands never seems to hold the drum up properly. Even my good condition Slingerland jazz kit needed to be modified. On both my 196x Slingys I needed to swap out the short center piece on the tom mount and exchange it for the longer piece like Ludwig uses. It's only an inch or so longer but it's just enough to hold the tom up off the bass drum. Plus, this set appeared to be well gigged before I got it and all the tom hardware is worn and a little sloppy. I have it supported by a snare stand in this pic and that's probably how I'll play it tomorrow if I can't get the mount swapped out. I have the parts. I'm just not sure I'll have the time to clean and polish and wax them in time.

I'll see how it sounds tomorrow night.

Nice looking outfit !!

At least your consolette is positioned a little higher up and towards the center than my two outfits from the fifties. Mine are in between the first and second lugs to the left...... very awkward to me.

I couldn't use the consolette last night because the mount on the tom is a little bent and the spade on the consolette mount slipped down too much and wouldn't hold the drum up. I used a snare stand last night. I think I have a couple extra mounts. Otherwise they are readily available. Should be an easy fix.

Here are a couple pics from last night. Unfortunately, I took these early before the stage lights were on and before (obviously) I put the spurs down. LOL

I grabbed these pics and promised myself I would take more latter and....never did. :(

Anyway, here are a couple more pics.