I worked at restoring this old set of mahogany Slingerland drums little by little for more than a year. They were worth it to me; we have a history together.
I bought them used in the fall of 1983 in Waterloo, Iowa, at The Music Corner. I stopped dead in my tracks when I first saw them. I thought they were beautiful! At that time, store manager Steve Tillapaugh told me that he sold them new in 1977 and recently took them back in on trade.
Over the next few years, I played many live gigs with them and used them in a couple of recording sessions, and I was never disappointed. One day in 1990, I suffered a lapse in judgment, and I traded them away for a new Pearl drums set. I have nothing against Pearl, but it was a mistake—I missed my Slingerlands.
A few years later, my cousin, Mike (also a drummer), found my former Slingerland set! They were at a St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop in Cedar Falls, IA. He recognized them as my old kit, and the confirmation detail was the two holes I drilled in the bass drum to install an XLR jack and an internal microphone. He bought them for forty bucks!
Sometime later, I saw him playing them at a gig, and lo and behold. The drums were all painted a bunch of wild colors! (Mike said that when he found them, the bass drum had already been painted red.)
Mike had a mismatched combination of drums: Ludwig, Pearl, Rogers, and Slingerland. With only forty bucks invested, he figured he had nothing to lose by experimenting with paint to assemble one big kit with a coordinated finish. It was actually kind of groovy in a weird and funky, hippie sort of way.
Fast forward to the spring of 2018, Mike had other drums, and the Slingerland was taking up space. I mentioned they would be an excellent candidate for a restoration project and would like to buy them from him. He just said, “Cool idea, you can have them!” As it turns out that it was only about four months before he died of a sudden heart attack.
I had the paint stripped before he passed away, and he knew what the plan was. I am sorry he never got to see the finished project. I believe he would have approved.
It was frustrating at times, it took many hours, but I’m glad I did it and am pleased with the results. I hope I’ve added another couple of decades to these drums’ lives.
Here is a summary of my process and the materials that I used:
I consumed many YouTube “how-to” videos on wood finishing, and I read a lot of blogs, product information web sites, and product labels. I consulted with experienced woodworkers, and I visited vintage drum FaceBook pages, where I posted photos and asked questions.
I received excellent advice from my cousin, Elon Flack, a master woodworker, and Mike’s older brother. I wanted to study first because I figured I had only one chance to get it right. Elon kept telling me, “Don’t rush it. Patience is a virtue!” I think that is the best advice that anyone undertaking a project like this could follow. That includes not only the work you’re doing but also the cure time between steps.
One bass drum counter hoop was missing, and I replaced it with an early 1960s Ludwig hoop and some aftermarket Slingerland style claws. I didn’t have the original bass drum hoop inlays, so I used copper metallic paint on the inlay areas after I painted them black. Eventually, I may install a proper inlay material, but I think they look good for now. (The original inlays were metal, with a polished chrome look.)
The rack tom arm was missing, and I replaced it with a reproduction from Maxwell’s Drums—it fits perfectly and works well. I had two of the three original Niles, IL badges, and I bought the third on eBay. The bearing edges are in excellent shape, the shells are round, they tune quickly, and sound great! I use Evans G1 coated heads on top and G1 clear on the bottoms. I am always happy with the Evans 360 drumheads on vintage drums. I use them on my 1972 Rogers kit also.
I filled the microphone holes in the bass drum shell with hardwood discs, but the finish did not match, so I covered them with a US flag graphic outside and a paper tag on the inside. On the paper tags, I printed —
1977 Slingerland Drum. Made in Niles, IL.
Distributor: The Music Corner, Waterloo, IA.
Restored and refinished by Ed Flack, 2019.
To make the paper tags, I printed them on a resume’ quality cream-colored paper stock. Then I coated over the paper on both sides with the same clear gloss polyurethane that I used on the shells. Once dry, I trimmed them with an X-acto knife and a straight edge, then glued them to the drums using rubber contact cement.
I had six new vent hole badge grommets to start. I practiced three different techniques of crimping them and failed every time. They all split or went crooked or both. Not wanting to destroy my last three chromed grommets, I simply used small rubber O-rings on the inside to hold them—that works great! I’ll see how they hold up over time and subject to vibration. I suppose a dab of contact cement will secure them if needed.
I had a junk drum shell that I used to practice with various stripping materials, sandpapers, finishes, and techniques. I highly recommend you practice on a junk drum shell or some old boards first. A thing to be aware of is that drum shells are round, and the wet materials can run, usually at a place not noticed until you’ve waited for it to dry!
PRODUCTS USED:
Dust Mask: try not to breathe in sawdust while sanding; not good for the lungs.
Jasco Stripper: a powerful chemical stripper that works well, but you need to be in a well-ventilated workspace. I also had good results experimenting with a more natural stripper called Citristrip. Citristrip is less toxic, but you might have to go over the same areas a second time. It helps to let it sit and work longer.
Mineral Spirits: for cleanup; and to thin certain kinds of finish if needed. I used mineral spirits to “wash” the shells after stripping.
Masking Tape: when working on the inside with oils, stains, and cover coats, be sure to tape all holes outside, so stuff does not run to the outside and cause problems. When working on the exteriors, tape the inside of all holes.
3M Sandblaster Sandpaper: Don’t waste time and money on cheap sandpaper. For my first rounds of sanding to prepare the wood, I worked with dry sandpaper. I started with an aggressive 80 grit for some of the worst primer/paint areas on the insides. On the outside mahogany, I never went coarser than 150 and worked my way down to 220 and 320 grit.
Tack Cloth: to wipe sanding dust off. However, tack cloth can leave wax behind, so go lightly with it to not smear wax in. I used my ShopVac with a soft bristle brush to vacuum away as much dust as possible. Then I hit it lightly with some tack cloth. You can wash the sawdust off using mineral spirits, but it will need time to dry.
Watco Danish Oil: Once cleaned and satisfied with my final smooth sanding, I decided to use an oil-based finish and not a color stain. I chose Danish Oil from Watco, a “natural” finish with no coloring additives. You just wipe it on with a clean cloth. I let it dry a few days, then I applied another coat of the Danish Oil. However, this time, I wet sanded it in and let it cure for a couple weeks.
Minwax Wipe-On Polyurethane: Next, I started coating them with a clear gloss wipe-on polyurethane. Wipe-on is easy to use, but it is thin. You will need to do several coats — at least 6 coats; I used 8. It’s a drag because you must sand between every layer using a fine grit 220 to 320. Don’t scrub too hard on that sanding. Just lightly haze it up all over. Polyurethane needs a mechanical grip surface. That’s why you must sand. Some finishes “melt” into previous layers but not poly.
Restore-A-Shine: I let the last coat of poly cure for 30 days (so hard to wait.) Then I polished the shells with Restore-A-Shine “polishing compound” (not Restore-A-Finish.) Great stuff, use a soft cloth and a hearty helping of elbow grease!
Meguiar’s Carnuba Paste Wax: Finally, I waxed the shells inside and out with a good quality paste wax. I individually cleaned every chrome hardware piece with Never-Dull wadding, buffed with a terry cloth towel, and waxed them with Meguiar’s. This step was probably unnecessary.
Tip: I learned from my cousin Elon — if you want a satin finish, use gloss on every layer up to the final coat, then put your satin coat on last. Several coats of satin can end up looking milky.
I waited for 24 to 48 hours between each coat of poly. You probably don’t have to wait that long, but you do not want it to be the least bit soft or sticky. My final bit of advice is that when reassembling, be careful not to crank too hard on the screws with wrenches, or you may strip the threads.
