I don't think they would have shipped wood over to be made into shells, only to be shipped back for assembly. From what I gathered some were made in the U.S. and then production switched to Taiwan. I'm not 100%, but the cost of shipping doesn't seem like it would be worth that much effort, especially for mid level drums.

That's what I thought too, but in the case of the artist line, which are scarce, they have a controversial badge that reads "USA" but they weren't 100% made in the USA. Like I said, North American wood turned into shells overseas, then shipped here to make drums.

It's amazing how cheaply we can do things in China.

But none of this has anything to do with the op and his kit. I think those are USA made 3 ply spirit drums, like a few others suggested

Hmmmm .....very interesting. I kinda wanna do some serious digging into that. I would really think north american wood ( even mahogany ) would be more expensive here then the Asian version of Luan. And with means to build shells here, why not just import all the cheaper components and assemble here? I really don't know, and It's not the really relevant to the initial question posted. But man my gears are turning. And the U.S.A part doesn't mean much. I've seen newer cheap kits that are certainly asian made with badges that say U.S.A because that's where the parent company is based.

The good doctor C. J. Wenk wrote some great articles on Slingerland history. They are posted in our Drum Guide here on VDF.

And there's Rob cook's book on Slingerland.

Both are great reads and full of information ... :)

guys, thanks a lot for all the feedback. It's really interesting.

but i still have so many questions. some things doesn't add up.

1) im pretty sure it has been assembled in Taiwan, but im not sure where the wood comes from and if it is Luan or Maple/Mahogany shipped from USA...so would like to know what wood composition the shells really are..?

2) some response indicating it's a artist classic, some say it's the spirit line... i still have no idea.

3) why use pre-1980 hardware on a post 1980 kit....made in taiwan?

The tom-holder is definitely much older than 1980 and used for kits dated 60's up until circa1978. overall the hardware on this kit is freekin amazing!!! love the look and it's sooo heavy - really solid.

4) the badges: well there is no USA or Niles indicated on the badges. serial number starting 940... this again is quite late. some say 90's, some say 80 - 85.

im just not as clued up as some of you oaks. i've tried digging and getting answers on the web - but nothing pinpoints any answers for me.

would really like to pinpoint the model and the year(s) of manufacture accurately.

hope we can get some clear answers thanks :)

Mothman....check this thread out. It may be helpful. Good luck.

http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=1530

The more I look into the Spirit mystery, the more confusion I find among players and collectors. I think we need the good DrCJW, who knows more about this strange little Slingy timeline than anyone, to wrap up the Gretsch, HSS, Jasper shells, 3 ply 5 ply, re-ring, Spirit/Artist,Taiwanese assembled, confusion in a neat little package so that those of us who are still questioning the Pasic rudiments and wondering why Pluto isn't a planet anymore can understand exactly what happened during the swan song days of arguably the King of American drum companies. Thanks to Mothman for the stimulating thread and thanks in advance to DrCJW!

I worked at a music store in the 1992/93 we carried Sonor/HSS whom distributed slingerland also. You could order the artist series of drums without the 7/8" Pearl style mounts so you could put RIMS mounts on them. While I never actually ordered a kit like this I did call HSS and verified that it could be ordered that way for a customer. That kit is a spirit kit, it's wrapped and has steel bass drum hoops. Artist series had matching wood hoops. There was also an unofficial Buddy Rich kit with metal hoops 13/16/16/24 sizes in WMP.

Somewhere I may still have the dealer order sheet because I was going to order a blue lacquer kit, because they were a lot cheaper than the sonor force 3000 kits we were selling.

Cut and pasted from this page http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=1530

"matb5:

You have a 1992 Artist Power Custom kit finished in Emerald Green Lacquer. The Artist Custom line, made in Taiwan using wood shipped from North America, was the middle line carried by HSS during the Gretsch period of Slingerland ownership. As a middle line the Artists were sandwiched between the Spirit economy line made in Taiwan and the top line Slingerland Lites made in South Carolina.

The Artist Power Custom line had toms in the 2-inch deeper power sizes for the mounted toms and bass drums. Artist Custom shells were 5-ply with Canadian maple inner and outer plies and three plies of mahogany in the middle. Besides the shell composition, matching lacquered wood bass drum hoops were a feature that differentiated the Artist line from the Spirits, which used metal bass drum hoops. Hardware fixtures, as shown on your drums, were essentially the same on both the Spirits and Artist Customs.

Overall, the sound of the Artist Custom line bass drums and toms was held in high regard by many professional drummers.

Below is an archive brochure photo, picturing your Emerald Green kit.

DrCJW"

YUp, that is the Spirit line. I had one just like it in a yellow sparkle finish, with the Pearl-style tom arms w/ Slingerland logo wing-nuts. The COS snare is like an inexpensive steel copy of their 60's snares, which is strange considering how 80's/90's the rest of the kit is. But it is a great sounding snare that I have added to my list of affordable "sleeper" snare drums.