By Mike Curotto
Hi All,
A few years ago I was contacted by drummer/educator Ed Soph who wanted some information about this drum. I told him what I knew and after a few months I was able to purchase the drum from Ed. Over the years I have discovered three versions of the Slingerland DuAll mechanism: 1. A center post very similar to if not a direct copy of the Super-Ludwig center post (usually equipped with a Tone Flange). 2. An interior “pulley” type mechanism instead of a center post (no Tone Flange). 3. No center post and no “pulley” mechanism (no Tone Flange). This snare drum has the “pulley” mechanism
The Shell: Green Sparkle from the 1930s is notorious for having black “cancer” spots. Fortunately this drum is cancer free. The finish had the normal years of accumulated schmutz but everything cleaned up and polished up nicely. The interior of the solid maple shell was very clean with no re-ring separation other than a 2” section, no big deal. The shell has normal bearing edges top (no Tone Flange) and bottom . The cloud badge is very clean with a tight grommet. Lastly, a nice factory pre-assembly artifact was found on the interior of the shell...”Nickle DuAll”.
The Hardware: The nickel hardware was in great shape and was very easy to clean and polish. There were a few errant tension rods but I had the era-correct replacements in my parts stash.
The internal DuAll “pulley” mechanism is clean, well built and looks kind of artsy. The mechanism is smooth, works well but is not as solid as the center pole version that brought on the patent lawsuit by Ludwig & Ludwig. I’ve included interior and exterior photos of this version of the DuAll mechanism. The reader will clearly see the similarities to the already patented L & L Super-Ludwig mechanism of the same era. The manufacturer’s cartouche markings on the snare gates are “L” and “LL”.
The Slingerland Artist DuAll Model was only in production for approximately two years and due to this very limited production run Slingerland DuAlls are extremely rare. As far as my snare drum collection goes, my un-scientific guesstimate based on the number of Slingerland DuAlls I own vs. the number of L & L Super-Ludwigs I own is about 15:1 meaning for every DuAll I own there are 15 Super-Ludwigs that I own. If we look at the more realistic bigger picture out there in the collecting world my guestimate is more like 100:1. That’s just my very un-scientific observation. As always, feel free to weigh-in on the subject as I look forward to your comments and added information.
A nice Frank’s Drum Shop calf batter head, Slingerland slunk head and the original snares rounded out this cleaning/restoration.
Enjoy! Mike Curotto