Slingerland Review: Concert King Drumset

History:

Purchase: I recently acquired the concert king drumset from MusicYo.com with Free Cymbals, an extra hardware package (for the cymbal stands alone) for the grand total of $850 US. My first kit was a Slingerland and I remember how they sounded. I shopped all the major brands but setttled on the Concert Kings for the simple fact I could get everything I required for the cost of any other brands basic offering.

What I Like About This Slingerland Concert King Drumset: The finish was gorgeous, the sound incredible, just like I remembered for over 20 years. It is on par with my Pearl Session Select kit (I've actually received more comments on the Slingerland kit in 1 week end than I have on the Pearls in two years). The hardware is solid and the chrome nice and bright.

What I Do NOT Like About The Slingerland Concert King Drumset: I'm very happy with the kit although the Hi-hat has no spring adjustments and seems a little stiff, it will take some getting used to... I also miss memory locks on the tom mounts and floor tom legs. It seems these are mandatory items for a quick efficient set up. For the price of the memory locks I don't think this should be overlooked. I managed to scare up some for the tom mounts but need more for the floor tom legs.

Slingerland Concert King Drumset Quality Rating: The construction was very good, an outer ply of maple with inner plys of koko wood (a tropical hardwood similar to phillipine mahogany). The sliding base mount slides into a surface mounted bracket on the bass drum equipped with to wing nuts to lock it into place. The ball & socket tom mounts are quick to adjust and hold firmly in place. The stands are flexible and the legs open and close very easily. The finish is smooth as glass, I chose the natural finish to stand out against my bands black theatrical backdrop. There were no visible blemishes in the wood.

Review Summary: The bottom line is I'm very happy with this kit. So much so I'm thinking of selling the Pearl Session kit and buying another Slingerland kit for the bands recording studio and my general practicing kit. After looking at Pearl, Mapex, Tama and Gretsch Slingerland had the absolute best bang for the buck!

Rating of this Slingerland product: 5

This Slingerland Concert King Drumset Drums Percussion Review Submitted By: Mike Topich

Review Date: 2003-10-28