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Latest Drumming News
Although the print magazine isn’t currently in production, the Not So Modern Drummer monthly newsletter/magazine is packed full of fantastic articles written by many people that are experts in the field of vintage drums, retrospectives, and so much more. The best part is that is offered at no cost to you, visit www.NotSoModernDrummer.com today to sign up for this newsletter/magazine emailed to you each month. The Drumming News Network is posting a weekly article from the most recent Newsletter/Magazine as a sample of what you will be able to read each month.
This first article was released February 28th, 2023 titled “1969-1970 Slingerland Green Glass Glitter Duet Set“ written by Bob Cianci.
Like so many collectors, I regularly look through DrumSellers, Reverb, Ebay, Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for vintage drums and cymbals. Early last summer, I came across a 1969-70 Slingerland Duet set in Green Sparkle (actually glass glitter), offered by someone who lived out near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The set consisted of two 20” bass drums, 12” and 13” rack toms, a 16” floor tom, a chrome Krupa snare, hardware, pedals. crappy Japanese cymbals, vinyl covers, and a fiber trap case. In addition, he was also selling his first Slingerland student drum kit, which included the carrying case, a six-lug Sky Blue Pearl snare, snare stand, music stand, a practice pad, sticks, brushes, drum books, and a can of Slingerland Symbal Shine, which contained dried up and now worthless polishing rags. In other words, he was selling everything he owned having to do with drums. The asking price was $3500, which I thought was excessive,but it was certainly a rare configuration in a rare finish, so I watched the sale closely for a few weeks. There were no takers.
Then, the seller started lowering his price in increments; $3000. $2700. $2400, and finally $1700, over fifty percent less than he was originally asking. At that point, I got in touch with the seller, whose name was Bill, a friendly older man who told me the whole story behind the drums.
Bill told me he had taken drum lessons for about a year at a local music school and had gotten the snare drum kit first. Then, his father, for reasons unknown, bought the large Green Sparkle set for him, which he played around with for a year, at which time, he lost interest in the drums, which were packed away in a closet in his father’s house. There they sat until 2017, when Bill brought them back to his house after his father’s death. Now, it was time for him to downsize and the drums had to go. His wife wanted them out of the house.
Over several phone calls, Bill explained to me that he’d had offers of $1700, but they came from buyers in faraway states, like Florida and California. Understandably, Bill did not want to ship this large pile of percussion. Sensing an opportunity, I asked Bill what he needed to get for the drums. He gave me a number. I countered with a substantially lower offer, to which he said no. I then offered a bit more. There was silence on the other end of the phone, and Bill finally said yes. I said, “Done deal! When can I pick them up?” About ten days later, I cleaned out my Subaru Outback (a great car for a drummer, by the way), and made the nearly three-hour drive to Bill’s home in Pottsville, PA, and after a quick inspection, I paid him, and together, we loaded the set into my car. I drove away happy and stopped for a nice Italian dinner in Scranton.
At this point, I must explain why I wanted these drums. When I was getting ready to buy my first Slingerland’s at age fourteen, I wanted a Green Sparkle set. My father, being the forceful character/salesman he was, talked me into Champagne Sparkle, a wrap I never truly liked, even though it was a very popular finish. I always wanted Green Sparkle Slingerland drums. Now, I had them.
Once I got home, I inspected the drums closely; they were immaculate; not a scratch, ding, or dent to been seen, except for the usual wear on the bass drum hoops, and of course, there were no modifications whatsoever. Bill had never taken the drums out of the house. Not once. They were truly “closet queens” in the best sense of the word.
I took one bass drum, and the 13” and 16” toms to an outdoor gig the following week, and at the end of the night, concluded that I would sell them after all. I had been on the fence since bringing the drums home. There was nothing wrong with them. But I couldn’t easily store a big set like this for one thing, and I’m generally not a fan of 20” bass drums. I knew there had to be another collector out there who would appreciate them more, so I listed the set locally on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist (and got the usual idiots, jokers, time wasters and lowballers, all of whom I blew off) and finally listed them on Drumsellers.com, and within two weeks, found a buyer in Waco, Texas. We negotiated a price, he paid me, and I took the drums to a friend, who owns a FedEx pack & ship store. Together, we packed the drums securely and shipped them out. They arrived in one piece, and the buyer, a Slingerland collector, was extremely pleased with his purchase. I held on to the complete student drum kit, the hardware, pedals and trap case, all of which will be put up for sale. The cymbals are already gone.
Do I regret selling these green drums that I had lusted after as a kid? Not at all. I still like Green Glass Glitter drums, which is strange, because green is usually not one of my chosen colors when it comes to cars, household decor and clothes. But there’s just something about green drums that cranks my tractor. Maybe I’ll find another green set someday. In the end, Bill sold his drums, I made a few bucks, and the buyer got a very cool drum set for a nice price. We all won.
Read the original article: HERE
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About the Magazine:
The magazine is currently owned by George Lawrence who is a valued and passionate member of our drumming community. He was the drummer for the band Poco for 12 years, teacher at Memphis Drum Shop, recording session player, producer of the Nashville Drum Show and owner/administrator of DrumSellers.com which is Not So Modern Drummer’s buy and sell site. To get an understanding of his contributions you can learn more about him in an excellent Innovative Percussion Artist Feature HERE
The Not So Modern Drummer magazine was first published in 1988 by John Aldridge who created and ran the magazine until he sold it to Bill Ludwig III in 2005. In 2008 George purchased the magazine from Bill and is the editor, publisher, and photographer of the magazine.
