Advice needed with '70s Slingerland (and transportation too)

[gabriel_au]

I'm going back to Brazil where drums are hard to find and cost 5 times as much and I want to take a drum kit from Australia. I'm currently in between a Slingerland from a vintage drum shop or a Premier Genista from a private seller. I know they're completely different, and I would prefer a vintage slinger but a few things I'm thinking of:

- The Premier has much better hardware and is in perfect conditions
- I don't know how much fine tuning and restoring the slingerland would need for it to sound great, which is something I have no experience at (although the shop owner said it's in perfect conditions)

Here is a picture of the Slingerland kit, would appreciate it if anyone could give some input and opinions:






There's also a Gretsch 70's kit but I haven't contacted the seller yet and it was published a few months ago, so it might have been sold. But it's 800 AUD more, which makes it quite expensive, it does look great though. Actually, I'll contact him right now and ask. Here's the Gretsch:






Another issue is transporting it back to Brazil. Taking into consideration that I pay 150 AUD per extra piece of luggage after the second one (each drum would count as an extra piece), could I get a hard case for the kick and try to fit the floor tom and the smaller tom inside it with lots of bubble wrap? Is there any risk of damaging the shells if the drums aren't handled properly?

Any help greatly appreciated..
Thanks in advance!

[yumdrum]

Grab the Gretsch kit, buy some used (or new) plastic hard cases, pad them with a little foam rubber around the shell and be done.

I have shipped shells in shells before, but it's a lot of work. Does save on shipping tho. and usually takes two or three boxes anyway.

[gabriel_au]

I'm pretty sure by now that the Gretsch has been sold.
If it has, can I grab the slingerland with the same amount of certainty?

What questions should I ask the drum shop about the Slingerland to be sure about it's condition? The owner seems like a cool guy, he wouldn't lie about anything.

[yumdrum]

Usually, let your ears decide. If he has them tuned nicely, they should give a nice round, warm sound.
listen for tones that wane or sound out of tune from each drum individually. If they do see how the drum responds to tuning at small incremental turns of the key.

Take a look at the bearing edges if you have any question of the condition of the shells, this will tell you a lot.

Just take off one off the heads and look for any cracks, repairs or uneveness of the edges. This will also give you and idication of the condition of the wrap.

I have two sets of Slings. One was bought from a local store and I fell in love with them when I played them. Still my favorite kit I own.

Then my second I bought off e-bay without hearing first. Let's just say that this is my practice kit.

So listen to the drums one at a time. One hit at a time. If they ring true and are in round, your good to go.

[gabriel_au]

That's just it, I can't listen to them, they are in another city.

Not sure if it's worth the "risk" of getting the slingerland as opposed to the premier genista.

[yumdrum]

If the dealer is repuatable there should be no issues. Vintage slings have a very open warm sound. Genista's sound is very nice as well, but more focused.
I would go with the dealer, just in case anything happen to go wrong.

[chrisso]

70's Slingerland was not a golden period for the company.
I saw the Gretsch kit, it didn't have the best tom sizes IMO (13", 14" mounted and 16" floor), plus it was very over priced.
I'm not generally a huge fan of Premier, although they have made some great kits.
I say keep looking.
I'm not sure about Brazil, but I find Australia VERY expensive for vintage drums.
What about returning to Brazil and buying a kit off EbayUSA?

[gabriel_au]

Can't import into Brazil... Better to buy off ebay usa here and take them myself to Brazil. But isn't there a no wooden products allowed here in Australia when buying stuff overseas?

I think the gretsch is overpriced too. But any of those options is way better than buying from Brazil. How well do the Gretsch new classics rate? If they are worth the price it might be a good idea considering I won't have to worry about restoring a bad vintage kit.

[yumdrum]

New Gretsch Renown sounds good, but not the same vibe as the Vintage (IMO).

That Gretsch kit listed looks very clean, and I doubt any restoration would be involved.

However yes, I thought maybe it was a weird camera angle, but the toms do look a bit large compared to the kick. Do you have the actaul sizes from the seller?

12", 13" and 16" floor are nice versatile sizes.

[chrisso]

The vintage Gretsch does appear to be in good condition and most likely wouldn't need anything doing to it.
However the price is close to $2,000(US).
The sizes are 13", 14" & 16" toms, 22" bass drum and 5 x 14" COB snare.

A kit like that is high-end and would last you a lifetime.
You could pretty easily find a 12" tom from the same era and in the same finish to make the kit more balanced (12, 14 & 16, 22).
I just think the price is over the top.

There is no problem importing wooden drums into Australia.
It is classed as treated wood and wont be harboring any agricultural pests.
Make sure the item is properly declared and described though (to avoid any hassle).

[pasta]

Why not pick up some RMV drums once you get to Brazil? They're so cheap (or were) in the US I can't believe they'd be that expensive in Brazil.