What's going on with Slingerland?

striker said:
I do not mean to veer off the subject of this thread which is specific to Slingerland too much. As far as I can tell, with Roland acquiring DW, Gretsch, and Slingerland, the fate of both Gretsch and Slingerland are unknown at this point.

If you see Rogers drums, are you seeing the used models or the new models? I do not know how any company these days can attract a large following in a new generation of drummers who can not spend much without having an "economy class" drum set. It looks to me that the new Rogers drums is not playing in that segment of the market and they are going for the "mid range" and "high end".
https://rogersdrumsusa.com/
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Roland and DW don’t own Gretsch . Fred Gretsch owns Gretsch and DW/Roland own the license to manufacture and distribute Gretsch drums . A brilliant business move by Fred . His former staff still make all the drums but all the headaches of selling and distributing the drums goes to DW/Roland . Fred can back out of this agreement whenever he wants to .

Another company has the license to make the offshore Gretsch drums (Renown, Catalina) and I cannot recall who it is .
 
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RickP said:
Roland not DW own Gretsch . Fred Gretsch owns Gretsch and DW/Roland own the license to manufacture and distribute Gretsch drums . A brilliant business move by Fred . His former staff still make all the drums but all the headaches of selling and distributing the drums goes to DW/Roland . Fred can back out of this agreement whenever he wants to .

Another company has the license to make the offshore Gretsch drums (Renown, Catalina) and ai cannot recall who it is .
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Thanks for sharing. The news reports that I read did not go into all these details about Gretsch. So, Gretsch seems to be in safe grounds compared to Slingerland.
 
BobC said:
hopefully, it'll go to someone who wants to bring the brand back properly, but the problem is, who is going to buy them? The market of older, veteran drummers is shrinking. Young people, for the most part, have no idea about Slingerland or their history.
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Spot on. Sadly, I saw a YouTube comment on a drum video from a young kid getting into the game say, "Slingerland...isn't that the old brand the orchestra guys used to play?"

That one comment alone showed me that any brand not played by their heroes will go the way of the Dodo. Sad for sure.
 
I was at a drum camp taught by Greg Bissonette a few years ago and he told me that when he was endorsing Slingerland very briefly they were bought by Gibson: the reason he left was because the Gibson CEOs approach to fixing Slingerland's problems was to...er...double the retail of everything, figuring in a gloriously Gibsonesque way that this would increase revenue AND sales without having to do anything to improve the drums.
As an aside, I bought a Slingerland Spirit 1000 back in the mid eighties, and it was one of the best kits I have ever owned. it was their "Budget" kit - ( it still wasn't cheap new, they went for about 800 quid sans hardware, I got a used bargain with a Ludwig 400 and a full set of Paiste 505s and hardware including a Speed King for 300 UKP which even in 86 was outrageously cheap ) and was basically 3 ply shells without the re rings and with horrible generic Pearl type tom holders. Sounded astonishing though. Since then my experience with them has been variable. I hold the view that Slingerland have always been inconsistent, but when you got a good one, you got a good one.
 
DrumEatDrum said:
And it's not like any new products with the Slingerland name would be actual Slingerland drums. They'd just be DW shells with the Slingerland name on them.
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PorkPieGuy said:
I was curious to see what DW was going to do with them, but I was worried that it would be just a re-badged DW or PDP.
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I hope that whoever begins making them again (whether DW, or if a different manufacturer/distributor acquires it a la Rogers), IF that ever happens, would make the older model names true to their specs, and anything new would carry new model names.
 
Sometimes I like old names being revived and sometimes I don’t. Gretsch and Ludwig fall into this category but they’ve never really gone away like Rogers and Slingerland has. As much as I applaud Rogers for making their comeback, they will never be who they once were - heck people still argue that Rogers drums from Dayton, OH are somehow superior to the ones from Fullerton CA before they sold out to CBS and the bean counters that eventually killed them. Unless some huge new names help market Rogers as a new major player, they’ll forever be the nostalgia drum company. Slingerland would suffer the same fate since it’s changed hands a few times since its death and the purists may never accept it unless it came from the Niles, IL factory. That’s when those companies experienced their heyday and they can’t compete with the hugely popular companies now, so Rogers will remain a niche brand catering to those players who can’t move forward. Slingerland will have to the same.

So sometimes I think it’s ok for certain things to die and leave room for the new kids. However much I’d want those old names to be a market force like they used to be, I totally get that there’s a point where things become irrelevant. This is like those Rat Pack tribute acts playing to the blue hair crowds - at a certain point your audience dies off and you find yourself searching for a new audience. Just like I play to the adults that were kids in the 80s, eventually the end will happen to my era. I’d rather remember the days when I was a kid with my new Niles, IL Slingerlands instead of buying new Slingerlands that maybe technically perfect but just a shadow of what it once was.
 
A few months back DW's Don Lombardi said that they would be releasing the new Slingerland Radio King snare drums at the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023, and that kits would follow. He said that covid had slowed the development of the Slingerland line, but that it was still happening. (He made these remarks not long before the sale to Roland was announced.)

During the DW 50th Anniversary celebration when they were showing the new DWe technology, he said that they had a couple of major product launches coming up soon. I'm guessing (hoping) that one of these is the Slingerland re-launch.

I'm speculating that Covid, the development of DWe, and the Roland deal all did their part to slow down the re-launch of Slingerland. On the other hand, if they have gotten far along in the design and tooling of a new Slingerland, one would hope that it will still happen. (At least I'm still hoping.)
 
Jeremy Bender said:
I tried out a new Slingerland snare back in the '90s at a music store in TX that was 14x5 and WMP with a Nashville TN badge on it.
It sounded absolutely fantastic. I couldn't aford the price tag at the time but it's sound never left my memory.
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Do you remember how much it was?
 
BobC said:
If Johnny Craviotto had released a Radio King, it would have splendid; it would have outclassed the old RK's by a mile. The Nashville Studio King snare I have is miles better than any Radio King I have owned.

I've owned a few old Radio King snares, and compared to modern drums, they look like some high school freshman's wood shop project. The level of craftsmanship today is so much higher than it was in the 1930's-40's. Old Radio Kings have a mystique that drew me in, but personally, I wasn't blown away by any I owned, in fact, the third one was awful; just very boxy-sounding and dry. I know other drummers claim to own incredible Radio Kings, and maybe that's true, but as much as I like their looks, their old school vibe, and find myself admiring them when they come up for sale, the ones I have owned simply were not worth the money

Of course, there are always delusional characters who think just because the snare says "Radio King," that they re worth a small fortune. They usually find out fast when nobody wants them at that price. Some sellers do, and some don't, and those who don't, often see their drums languishing for sale for months or longer. Right now, anything Slingerland, unless it's a vintage set in a rare wrap or configuration, is a slow moving item. Slingerland drums simply aren't in great demand right now. Like anything in the drum world, that could change, or things could cycle around as they always do, and Slingerland gear will increase in value. Steve Maxwell recently mentioned this to me in an email, so don't take it from me; take it it from a leading vintage drum dealer.
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I agree with you, I also bought some new ones and they are not at all like the old ones were.. it seems to be a scam;
The evolution of drum craftsmanship over the years is undeniable, and the comparison between old Radio King snares and modern drums is a valid point. While some drummers may cherish the mystique and vintage appeal of Radio Kings, personal experiences can vary greatly. It's understandable that your own encounters with old Radio Kings left you underwhelmed, with some even falling short in terms of sound quality.
It's also worth noting that inflated prices based solely on the "Radio King" label can be unrealistic, as market demand fluctuates. Vintage Slingerland drums, unless they possess unique attributes, might not be currently sought-after items. However, the drum market is known for its cyclic nature, so it's possible that perceptions and values may change in the future. Besides that if to mention that it is a replica of a student, I would not focus on the fact that students are young and that would mean stupid, because I know many students who use https://paperell.net/, it really is a very powerful help as far as this website to help you write an essay is concerned; I think that this way students develop a lot and even now I feel this generation gap between me and the older ones, it really has become a big problem and I think that a student can really be smarter than many other people who finished college very well.
 
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adamosmianski said:
Maybe not, but old drums/brands seem to be rather hip at the moment. I'm starting to see Rogers everywhere now.
Fingers crossed!
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That's Rogers. For whatever reason, Slingerland has never gotten the $ that vintage Rogers or Ludwigs have. I really don't see that changing. Good news for anyone looking for Slingerlands though.
 
I got zero interest in gigging vintage drums, unless a tech comes with them.
 
a, 1966-1967 Gretsch set today..

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they wear well.
that's 57 years ..young ; )
 
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wow when they built em.
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snare doesn't have knurled design across the center. knock off $10.
 
from the same restorer/ fella's a 70s Slingerland set

reverb.com

Slingerland Sound King 1970s 24 - 16 - 13 White Marine Pearl w/Extras | Reverb

This 1970s Slingerland Sound King is in great condition, and includes several special extras!In addition to the 3pc kit: original Slingerland 70s cymbal stands, cymbal bass drum arms, ‘Yellow Jacket’ pedal and Protection Racket cases are all included - perfectly set for the gigging drummer.Shells...
reverb.com reverb.com

and a 40s

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not enough Taiwan parts in the Universe to duplicate that (unless they really want to replicate the Ts)

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the quality of

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those were your great- great-grandfather's drums; skill and labor, local labor rarely global, some.
 
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I don’t understand the interest. Slingerland is nothing but a name at this point. The folks who managed and worked at the company are long gone. The factory is surely gone as well and another drum builder bought the molds and other equipment. Any future drum produced by a new division of DW using the Slingerland name will be a replica at best. I can appreciate nostalgia, but any future Slingerland won’t really be a Slingerland. Just a product from some other company that did nothing more than buy the rights to a name.
 
steadypocket said:
I don’t understand the interest. Slingerland is nothing but a name at this point. The folks who managed and worked at the company are long gone. The factory is surely gone as well and another drum builder bought the molds and other equipment. Any future drum produced by a new division of DW using the Slingerland name will be a replica at best. I can appreciate nostalgia, but any future Slingerland won’t really be a Slingerland. Just a product from some other company that did nothing more than buy the rights to a name.
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So I should stop eating Chips Ahoy because someone different than the founder owns Nabisco now?
 
2 hit wonder said:
I got zero interest in gigging vintage drums, unless a tech comes with them.
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That's a really generalized statement. Many vintage drums-the better stuff-hold up very well today, because they were built well in the first place.
 
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