Myself I would go vintage. I even had a kit custom made from me out of 30 year shells and in the end I could have picked up a vintage kit. I learned this the hard way.

That being said expect to put a little bit of work into a vintage kit to be gig ready. The resale value of Slingerlands these days are maybe the only draw back. FWIW I picked up my 67 club date for $500. Needed some work but I think I might be $300 total into a full restoration to make it fully gig ready.

I think the Slingerland set is a very good deal-it even has a canister throne! They look to be brass/black Niles badges. The modern Club Dates-meh...

There was quite a bit of chatter on another forum about that Slingerland kit. Great deal for the price and includes a canister throne. Those alone can fetch pretty good money. I thought that kit would be long gone by now. Kinda surprised to still see it there for sale. Looked nice in the pics.

Cool, thanks for the quick replies. Going to check out the Slingerland in a couple hours. If there are any defects or things to look for that should lead me to run away from the kit, it would be good to know what I should look out for. I do trust the drum tech there, so I am confident he would not sell me a total POS, but rarely do I totally trust a salesman. Obv cracked shells are a turnoff.

Thanks again

A link to that thread would be awesome! I am still trying to search for it, but not having any luck. Info on the kit itself is also appreciated. Thanks

It not in this forum but on DFO.

http://www.drumforum.org/index.php?/topic/90696-60s-slingy-at-gc/

Those are before the Set-O-Matic tom holders came out so 66-67 or earlier maybe? The tom mount is correct and original. Below the VDF header here you'll see "Vintage Drum Identifcation" click on the "slingerland drums" and review the badges and also take a look at the shell section. This will give you a crash course. If the interior of the drums have a pinkish or chocolate milk paint/stain look to them it's factory. Before that will just be plain natural interiors. For that timeframe I think maple. Not sure when mahogany interiors stopped. Do take some heads off and poke around inside. Look at the grommet inside that holds the badge on. If it looks like scratches around it or some wood splintered/missing they could have been removed. In that case the wrap (silver sparkle) might have been replaced. You should see some fade of the silver sparkle when you take the heads off. Some age and patina is expected. For all original Slingerland kit it's not a bad deal. If it's been rewrapped I'm not sure what a good price is as it does lower the value somewhat. Anyway good luck.

from what I can see in the pictures that Slingerland set looks mighty nice for the money (if were local to me I don't think I could resist, even if only to get the canister throne).

The tom holder might be the one weak spot for modern gigging but I wouldn't let that deter you from snagging them as there would be plenty of options to work around that (if it is indeed necessary).

:Santa:those Slingerlands look nice, and Silver Sparkle looks great. They should sound as good as anything out there today. If the shells and wrap are in good shape I would go for it. They should clean up really nice. What size is that 8 lug bass drum?

Maybe a 20" with 8 lugs. Looks like the Modern Solo Kit with 2 12's in the 67 catalog scans.