Yeah, the list is made. Gotta do some sanding and gluing of some loose plies and there’s gonna be a ton of elbow grease polishing up the chrome, but it’ll be nice in the end. It’s a Slingy Charlie Watts kit: 8x12/16x16/14x22. Super heavy maple shells thanks to the black chrome wrap they used - explains why it’s never bubbled over the decades!
Great score! I love drum restoration stories, there’s just not enough of them.
All the hoops are gonna be replaced, as are all the tension rods. After some sanding to the shells and some flying and cleaning, the kit’ll be in pretty good shape. At this point, I should be done in a week or so.
I’m not sure. I’ve restored old Slingerlands before and back then it just pointed out to me why I’ve moved on to better engineered gear. I’ll see how the nostalgia hits me when it’s done. It would be ironic if I started my career on Slingerland and ended my career with Slingerlands. My dad would be laughing.
Yessr I hear ya.
I still really like the sound of Slingerland's shell and bearing edge combo, but I agree the hardware leaves a lot to be desired. Modern quality control + modern hardware + the Slingerland shell dimensions would be a winner, I believe.
I’ve got them all dismantled and started polishing the parts. The lugs are in good shape, Spurs, floor tom leg mounts - all good shape. If I just don’t use the tom mount, the kit will be very playable and maintenance-free. With plated pedal technology, I think the original spurs will be fine (like how Charlie Watts still uses those old Gretsch spurs that don’t work at all). Once I get all the replacement parts we’ll see how it ends up. I can’t wait to give the family the before and after pictures!
Now that you mention it, I have seen that company mentioned here.Home - Stone Custom Drum Co.
www.stonecustomdrum.com
Yeah - they had a nice booth at NAMM last year. With both them and Martin guitar, you felt like it was 1977.Now that you mention it, I have seen that company mentioned here.
They look good - I'm just very reluctant to buy boutique drums, myself. (Not that I'm in the market at the moment) I wish the company luck, because it seems he's making exactly what I said.
