slingerland expresso

[martin_likes_beer]

I really want to get myself one of these because they look so much fun and are about the only cocktail kit I can afford,
I can't help thinking they look too low though. Has anyone ever played one, and is it possible to play them while standing up?

[Bruce (the K)]

Hi Martin.

I believe the Slingerland Expresso is meant to be played sitting down. The only reason they call it a cocktail kit (in my opinion) is because it uses the floor tom bottom head as the kick and it is made very compact by mounting the snare to the floor tom. It seems more like what people call a "micro kit" to me.

If you're looking for an affordable stand-up cocktail kit, check out the Peace Manhattan cocktail drum. They go for $500 brand new from Music123.com but right now they have a returned kit for $400. I've been playing one for 6 months now and I love it. Needed a little (very minor) tweaking but it has a great snare sound and is designed to be played standing up. Here's the web site where you can check out a picture of it:

http://www.music123.com/search/?src=pea ... age22.y=13

Best of luck.

Bruce the K

[Famous Willy]

I was thinking--if you have another drumset, all you'd need to do is spend $50 for a chain drive, non-offset cam pedal to turn into a cocktail pedal, get a 3" x 20" board (drill two holes in it to put the floor tom legs through) as a pedal bracket, and make an espresso kit with the floor tom, snare, and high tom. You might need a powerstroke 3 bottom head and a little muffling on the floor tom, but you'd end up with something that would at least be as good as what's passing for Slingerland right now. The espresso is just Phillipine mahogany and plastic wrap--nothing about it makes it the Slingerland of old. If you like playing it, you're done, and if you want a more traditional cocktail set, the Peace Manhattan is cool.

[Dinkus]

If you want to spend I tiny bit more, Phattie has a cocktail kit at their In Stock Specials
http://www.phattiedrums.com/InStockSpecials.htm for $750.00

[martin_likes_beer]

Thanks for your advice people, I really appreciate it.
I think the Peace Manhattan looks great.
I just have to find somewhere that will ship it to England! Music 123 said that they cannot ship drums internationally. I have found a few other places though so i'll keep trying.

[Bruce (the K)]

This web site is where I first saw a Peace Manhattan, almost 9 months ago. I don't know if they still have it but the price they quote isn't too bad (450 euros). I would think you could get one from them, since you're in the EU. Check it out. (Hope you speak a little German.) ;^)

http://www.troyandrumshop.de/drumsetsangebote.htm

Bruce the K

[martin_likes_beer]

With the help of an internet translation site I have just ordered the Peace Manhattan (I hope!)

Thanks for spotting that site for me. The shipping was really cheap, only 30 euros!

I just have to wait now , I'm really excited about getting it.

[Bruce (the K)]

Hey, congrats on your new set. You won't be disappointed. I just wanted to tell you about the modifications I did to mine. Most crucial (in my opinion) was drilling a couple of holes in the bass drum pedal bracket and mounting a 3/8" thick piece of wood for the pedal to clamp on to. You can clamp the pedal directly on to the metal bracket but I found it was much more secure when it was clamped to a piece of wood that it could bite into.

I also bent the rod that the tom tom mounts onto so the head of the tom was angled more toward me. I just stuck it in a vise and pulled on it. Not easy but I was able to bend it just enough. I also bent the arm that the high hats go on so it had close to right angle (90 degree) bends because I didn't like how high up they sat. (Did I mention that I'm only 5'7'' tall?) Oh, I just remembered. Didn't you guys go metric on us? ;^)

Hope you like yours as much as I like mine, cause you'll be one happy dude!

[palacki808]

I had a chance to try playing that cocktail kit that peace makes. A music store in monroeville PA had one set up in the window. I had to go in and try it. The snare sound was good and the bass was solid. The tom was a little tinny sounding, but better heads could make the entire set sound so much better. Its a nice cocktail kit for the money.

The only thing I didn't like is that the snare completely covers the top head of the main drum. If you could side mount the snare somehow so you could play the top head of the cocktail drum, I think it would make the kit even better.

Personally I like it. When it comes time for me to buy a cocktail drum kit I think I'll go with the peace cocktail kit if I can't afford a phattie cocktail drum kit.

[Bruce (the K)]

In my earlier "Peace Manhattan cocktail kit" post, I described how, for about $20, I added two extra clamps (one on the snare and one on the kick drum). They allowed me to mount my snare to the side of my kick drum so I could play the top of the kick drum as a floor tom. Works ok but does make the kit a bit awkward to play because of where I mounted everything. Maybe there's a better way. I wish I could post my digital photos so people could see what I'm talking about. (I don't have a web site.) Hey John, can you give me any advice on posting photos?

I put a second Remo head on the bottom of my tom and tuned it fairly low. It has a great, punchy, amazingly deep sound that works well. The only problem with my tom is that the rims aren't very accurately made and it's a bit tough to get a drum key on the tuners. The snare and bass rims don't seem to have that problem.