good time for many American drum companies, including Slingerland, although its main competitor, Ludwig, had the advantage of being endorsed by Ringo Starr, but Slingerland, too, produced drums in that era and had robust sales. Beside long time endorser Buddy Rich, Slingerland in the 1970s garnered drummers Danny Seraphine with Chicago and Nigel Olsson, the drummer for Elton John, and Neil Peart of Rush. Short-lived in the 1970s was Slingerland's version of Ludwig Vistalite drums. They stopped production quickly after their introduction due to a patent infringement suit and a cease and desist warrant from Ludwig regarding Slingerland's foray into acrylic drums. These drums today remain collectible. Marching drums Slingerland marching drums were produced as early as the 1920s. By the 1970s, the Slingerland line of marching equipment had become very popular in marching bands, colleges, and drum corps. During the late 1970s, Slingerland introduced its TDR marching snare drum, with a novel strainer and synthetic-gut snare that produced a distinctive sound. Another late-70s innovation was the Slingerland cutaway multi-tenors that were carried in trio, quad, or quint arrangements. The cutaway design was first used in 1977 by the Santa Clara Vanguard under drum captain Fred Sanford and the Oakland Crusaders under Tom Float. Famous drum corps such as the 27th Lancers Drum and Bugle Corps of Revere, Massachusetts under Charlie Poole, the Bridgemen of Bayonne, New Jersey under Dennis Delucia, the Chicago Cavaliers under Gus Barbaro and Brian Callahan, the Pittsburgh Royal Crusaders and the General Butler Vagabonds all used Slingerland equipment in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In the early 1980s, Slingerland was gaining significant market share, but the company was sold, and corporate finances fell apart. By the late 1980s, Slingerland had fallen behind technologically, and Ludwig-Musser, and especially Pearl drums, began to pick up its market share. Manufacturing For most of the company's pre-1970s history, Slingerland's manufacturing processes were not standardized in the way that modern large-scale manufacturing companies' are. Exceptions to nearly every strict product taxonomy existed. This is due in large part to the fact that parts would often be left over from year to year and would be used by workers even though some of those parts had been officially discontinued from the line. Legacy Jean-Paul Gaster of the American rock band Clutch uses Slingerland drums, and is described as one of the last drummers to play rock using "vintage weapons," besides