[COLOR="Navy"]8EZslings:

No, these drums are from a classic Magnum kit circa early 1982. The seller simply misread the first digit as a 6 when in fact all the serials begin with 5. The 5 on Slingerland early 80s drums sometimes has an odd shape depending on the stamping and is often mistaken for a 6 from even a little distance.

Slingerland started officially shipping kits with Magnum hardware in March 1982 - this is one of the early kits. Being an early shipped Magnum, some mixed hardware occurred, which may have been the case here. The pictures are small and a bit unclear from here, but things basically seem O.K.

But tell us about your foil badge drum with a 6... Have a picture?

DrCJW[/COLOR]

Unfortunately no picture. The drum was on EBay.

While the seller didn't spell out the serial number in this case, a misread 5 is quite possible!

But... A few things that struck me about the drum. Again, the black interior lug screws and the TDR - very square faceplate - like the Gibson style reworking, and no gates. The drum was in pristine condition.

I have been under the impression that a small amount of marching snares were farmed out to a small independent builder during the HSS/Gretsch era - in the lag time before the imported Spirit line was reintroduced to the public.

This is mentioned in Rob Cook's interview with Buzz King. As well, in the 1988 Modern Drummer Annual Product Price Guide, Slingerland had no drum listing to offer, but the fine print suggests that Magnum snare drums could be custom ordered - with either TDR or Slapshot throws.

I am speculating when I suggest that this party could have been supplied with NOS Niles parts, as well as HSS parts if the above was indeed the case.

Wish I had that picture.

Thanks Dr.