The 1958 Slingerland Drum Set

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In his youth my father played the drums in a band based out of the St. Louis area back in the late 1950’s and through the late 1960’s.  Even though he took an incredible amount of pride in being a drummer, after I was born the drums hit the closet, only to be brought out a few times over the next few decades.  Sadly dad passed away about 8 years ago, and we haven’t had the heart to do anything with the drums beyond keep them safe in the closet.  Finally my sister has given me permission to get them out, set them up, beat on them, sell them, or whatever I decide. 

 

By reading through the vintage drum forum and researching online, looks like this is a Slingerland set from between 1956-1959.  I based this on comparing the Slingerland logo/tag on the drums to the info on the forums and reviewing copies of Slingerland catalogs from that time period.  There is also date-stamp inside the snare but it is faint… I am pretty sure it is November 1958. This timeframe makes sense as it is around when he started playing; he was most likely the original and only owner as even though he was only in junior high then, my mom repeatedly teased him what a lucky spoiled brat only-child he was so I don’t doubt that my grandparents bought this set for him.   He probably played in more than one band though high school and college and the army, but I believe the primary band was “The Barons”, and I think they played primarily in the country clubs / bars / events/ weddings / etc.

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I wanted to be a drummer as a kid but the band in grade school already had too many kids wanting to be drummers so they made me follow my uncle’s footsteps and play the trumpet.  (albeit poorly :) ). Ho hum… if only I was more assertive when I was 9 I may have become a star drummer… then again maybe it’s best I didn’t because if I had become a star in a rock band it could have ended tragically for me… with all the money and resources available to a successful young musician back then I surely would have made even MORE poor choices in my youth and possibly died from disease or drug overdose or some other tragic story. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Anyway back to the point of the post…  so as you will see from the pictures, an engineer tried to set these drums up - not a drummer.  I struggled to get them even set up as well as they are – I had no idea what I was doing and if dad was looking down on me doing this, he was surely both laughing hysterically and cursing as I was doing foolish things that risked breaking elements of his beloved drum set.  Thus, I surely have some things wrong, but this should capture the essence and shape the set it in.

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As you can see in the pictures this was a set that was used heavily in it’s heyday, but is in fabulous shape for the age and I have chosen not to try to modify or clean them up at all in order to preserve their state for a serious collector.

 

If I split all this up, similar items on eBay and reverb are totaling well over $3000.   Everything you see pictured here is for sale – but I am strongly inclined to sell as a full set to keep it all together.  I will sell it to the highest bidder or best respectable offer.  I’ve researched these extensively and I know a set of this type, in this condition, all together is a very rare find; don’t waste your time with low-ball offers as they will not be responded to.

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1958 Slingerland 14x5.5 Snare - Blue/White Duco 
1958 Slingerland 16” Floor Tom - Blue/White Duco
1958 SLingerlant 20” Bass Drum – Blue/White Duco
1958 SLingerlant 12” Tom – Blue/White Docl
Slingerland Snare Stand
Slingerland High Hat Stand
Premier Cymbal Stand
Cymbal Stand – Not sure the brand
Zildjan 20” crash cymbal
Zyn 16” sizzle cymbal
Ufip 14” high hat cymbals
Metal Music Stand
Sticks, Brushes, Cowbell, Wood block, all the misc drumming items in the pictures
All hardware shown in pictures for assembly 
Premier Drummers Seat/Stool w/a spare seat top
All the original cloth drum cases & wheeled drum gear box shown in images
 

 

Thanks for getting this far in my overly-lengthy post, hopefully at a minimum you enjoy the images of a classic old drum set that was loved and played frequently in its heyday.

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