Not So Modern Drummer

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Since 1988, a treasure trove of info about vintage drums, custom drums & legendary drummers

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The first vintage & Custom Drum Magazine, since 1988

Not So Modern Drummer

Database of Articles 11/13 to current

1965 Leedy Shelly Manne Outfit no. 11 in Sparkling Champagne Pearl

September 18, 2018 Mark Steven

This installment of Vintage Happiness is on my first Leedy love. This was the first Leedy set in my collection and the one that made me buy several more Leedy sets!

I became a big fan of the art deco lugs and T-rods from this era. This is the era that many collectors refer to as the “Slingerleedy” period when Slingerland owned Leedy and manufactured these drums as well as Slingerlands from 1955 through 1966. This is a 1965 Leedy Shelly Manne Outfit No. 11 in Sparkling Champagne Pearl.

The set consists of a 14x20 bass drum, 9x13 tom, 16x16 floor tom, and the fantastic 5.5x14 Shelly Manne snare with the Broadway throw off. The drums also have the “chocolate milk” interiors, which is consistent with Slingerland manufacturing.

1954 Leedy & Ludwig & "SlingerLeedy" set in sparkling blue

May 13, 2018 Phil Wilson

The floor tom is the real story with this set. I don't know the history concerning this set first hand, so I am going to put forth a guess as to why the floor tom is a matching Slingerland made Leedy drum. We all know that Bud Slingerland bought Leedy from Conn at the same time William F. Ludwig bought the Ludwig brand from Conn. This was in the mid 1950s. I believe someone had purchased this Leedy and Ludwig set in 1954 as a three piece set. That was not uncommon at all in those days. He later went back to the music store, maybe in 1956 and asked if he could purchase a matching floor tom for his set. By this time Slingerland was able to fill the order for the store to sell to the customer.