The painted or stained shells have a little larger outside circumference wise than the wrapped shells do.

There is a difference in wood finished 3 ply Slingerland shells. Speaking VERY generally (and not taking into consideration bearing edges), prior to the late 60s early 70s the shell was a bit thicker (poplar and maple and/or mahogany). During the late 60s and early 70s they were very thin (maple was very thin, as was the poplar). By mid 70s to 79 they were a bit thicker (not as thick as 60s shells). The build kept the poplar relatively thin and added a bit of thickness to the inner maple ply. The outside ply remained thin. Some wood finishes actually changed during this time. For instance, the mahogany went from a very thin real mahogany to a more uniform and darker mahogany stained maple. The maple finish also went through some adjustments. It became more yellow to orange as the 70s leaked into the 80s.

All in all, Slingerland built some amazing drums with some of the most "alive" shells I've ever played. But you do need to be choosy. The timeframe does make a difference.

Thanks to both vintagemore2000 and RogerSling for the help.

The earlier set was marked and was just about late 65/66 with gold/black badge, rail consolette and it was clearly mahogany on the outer ply. Traded away now. Serial numbers were:

Bass - 124891

Tom - 123997

Floor - 105594

But I also have a set that is black/silver badge into early 70's with set-o-matic - don't know approx. dates just yet as they are unmarked and I haven't checked into serial numbers - but these are a much darker tone and I'll have to go back and look now to see if they are mahogany or maple that has been stained on the outer ply. Serial numbers as follows:

Bass - 89546

Tom - 88349

Floor - 87626

Again, thanks for the guidance and I will appreciate any further comment if these serial numbers bear any additional clues. I would upload the pics, but not sure how to locate them to a http: address/location. If you know, let me know too please. I've uploaded my Leedy satin flame to the gallery, because that area allows selection from the hard drive and was straight forward.

Dan

This will help somewhat with dating by serial numbers.

http://www.vintagedrumguide.com/drcjw/article_2_serial_numbers_page3.html

Cheers!

Strider

Thanks Strider,

I have seen that curve and estimated the second set listed to have been built between 70-1/2 and 72.

Best,

Dan

It has nothing to do with the thickness of the wood, there is an adjustment on the shell machines for wrapped vs. wood drums.

There is a difference in shell thicknesses in these timeframes ... wrapped or not. That's all I was speaking to in the realm of thicknesses. I was adding a bit more info for the man. It's what we do.

also to add to this the two different shell diameters of a wrapped vs a stained/painted shell. this was performed at the factory by using two different size forms one for the smaller diameter wrapped shell and one for the larger diameter painted or stained shells.

Yes indeedy. Spot on.