Saving The Old Slingerland Single-Headed Kit!

The completed Slingerland kit, picture taken February 27, 2026.  

So, against my better judgement, it was time to buy yet another drum kit.  Found this old Slingerland kit on Craigslist, for not a whole bunch of money, so I had to have it!  By the way, I love these little projects, especially now since I retired from corporate life, and this is a great hobby!  The picture showed this red five-piece kit, with the old (70s) style single-headed toms.  Now, for you that may not be familiar with this style of tom-toms, they became popular in late 1960s, early 1970s, and essentially consisted of just the top heads, and no hardware or drumhead on the bottom.  They were also called Concert Toms, and, since they were slightly less expensive than the usual double-headed toms, they allowed us drummers to get a bunch of more toms, for not a crazy amount of money.  Back in 1978, I myself started buying a Tama kit with single-headed toms, which eventually turned into a monster kit, with 10”, 12”, 13” 14”, 15” and 16” concert toms, with an 18” floor tom, and a 24” bass drum.  Also, for transport, the toms nestled in each other, which meant that you only had to buy half the number of cases!  (the 10” fit into the 12”, the 13” fit into the 14”, and the 15” fit into the 16” for a total of three cases instead of six).   In reality it was crazy, since I never brought the whole kit to any gig, but it sure looked cool!   

Tama Imperial Star with concert toms, picture taken from the 1976 TAMA Imperial Star catalogue.  My kit kinda looked like this, minus the 6” and 8” concert toms, and minus the second bass drum.  Still a monster kit!  I also used Tama hardware, such as the heavy cymbal stands with counter weights.  Heavy!

However, by the 1980s, the single-headed toms had pretty much fallen out of favor, with Genesis drummer Phil Collins being one of the few drummers that still played single-headed toms (and from what I understand, his son now plays Phil’s old set in the new Genesis lineup). 

Fellow Leftie drummer Phil Collins behind his Gretsch single-headed tom drum kit.

So, back to the old red Slingerlands.  Now mind you, I had already owned a similar Slingerland kit some 15 years ago; a white kit with almost the same sizes, with the exception of a 15” floor tom instead of a 16”, which is part of the current red kit.  I even had the old white Slingerlands recovered in a sort of psychedelic blue, done by Orange County Drums and Percussion, when they were located in Laguna Hills, CA.  I later donated the old psychedelic blue Slingerlands to my kids’ grade school, and they may still have them, for all I know. 

As you can tell, I digress a lot, but finally let’s get back to the old red Slingerlands, the subject of this little story.  The Craigslist add had originally listed Newport Beach as the home of the drums, but when I contacted the seller, he informed me that the drums were indeed located in Anaheim Hills, CA, some 30 miles away from our house in San Clemente.  Never mind, on Saturday we got into the Jeep, along with our little grandson, who we were babysitting to go and pick up the Slingerlands, because at $150 for a five-piece kit, I just couldn’t resist, and I had to have them!  The address where we were to pick up the drums was weird; instead of the usual residential place, this was some sort of commercial / light industrial building, and I was a bit concerned.  Concerned enough that I actually texted our son Matthew and let him know where we were headed, just in case.  Never mind, everything was fine; we were greeted by an old drummer (well, he was probably a few years younger than me, ha, ha, ha) who was renting a space in this industrial building.  In the space he had a bunch of equipment, and he told me that he used the space for band rehearsals, and that he was playing with three bands, which I’m sure kept him very busy.  Well, $150 changed hands, and I was now the proud owner of an old Slingerland kit with single-headed toms; a 12” x 8” mounted tom, a 13” x 9” mounted tom, a 16” x 14” floor tom, a 22” x 14” bass drum, and a 14” x 5” steel snare.

Here is the five-piece Slingerland kit, all pretty.

 

Interestingly enough, all of the toms and the bass drum are outfitted with an aluminum strip, which covers the wrap seam.  I’m sure this was done to eliminate any delamination at the seam, but it is pretty unusual.  Also, the bottoms of the toms have a protective aluminum strip attached, which protects the tom just in case the drum is dropped (which does indeed happen, speaking from experience).

Here is a little YouTube video about the Slingerland kit I made for my channel (www.youtube.com/@peterlindwall8875): 

Slingerland kit, just bought and brought home!  

For all of you real Slingerland geeks, here are the serial numbers of the drums:

12” x 8” Serial Number: 405000

 

13” x 9” Serial Number:  409323

 

16” x 14” Serial Number:  404277

 

14” x 5” Snare Serial Number:  404268

However, even though the bass drum had a sound hole drilled, the folks at Slingerland did not bother to attach a badge, which may speak to the drum’s status as a budget kit, or maybe they thought that just having the Slingerland tom holder with the Slingerland badge was enough, who really knows? 

So, as far as I’m concerned, this is a super cool vintage kit, and I started in on the refurbishing pretty much right away.  The refurbishing is pretty much disassembly, cleaning and chrome polishing, and then putting it all back together, which is something that I really enjoy!  Fortunately, the wrap is all tight on all the drums, and there are no cracks in the wraps, which is pretty unusual for a kit of this vintage.  I also decided to attach the Rims mounts on the two mounted toms, so that they drums are pretty modular.  So, here is a little YouTube update, where I explain the progress of the refurbishment:

Slingerland kit refurbishment update.  

And here is a video for the bass drum refurbishment and upgrading (I attached a Yamaha bass drum mounted tom holder, and a Gibraltar tom holder for my Tommy Lee cowbell):

Slingerland bass drum refurbishment and upgrade.  

And last but not least (as far as the individual drums goes) here is a little video that explains the snare refurbishment, where I explain the replacement of the hoop and also the new drumhead:

Slingerland snare, ready for action! 

And here is a full detailed tour of the kit:

Finished Slingerland kit and cymbal tour. 

And finally, here is a little sound check video for your enjoyment, recorded in my garage (playing along with Journey’s Don’t Stop Belivin):

Banging away in the garage on my "new" Slingerland kit!  Super fun, now I just need vintage cases, and off to gigs we go!