These are a few of my canister thrones. I have had most of them for many years. I have always used them on every set I own - they all match the finish of a set. All drums and snares match making very complete vintage drum sets.
Read moreSlingerland WWII Bomber orphans kit restoration
These drums are without a doubt the cleanest most reliable "Players grade" Bomber set of unborn together drums out there. Every screw nut bolt and bits as well as interior moisturized and protected shells has been addressed. All of the drums will have medium modern batter heads and thinner reso heads that are a combination of Aquarian vintage and remo ambassadors.. The BD has an Aquarian SKIII batter head and the Fiberskyn Reso head. The snare has been modified for maximum performance with in its original design. Calfskin could be an option for a reflected price and of course results are not guaranteed. (SOLD)
Read more1928 Slingerland “Speed Sticks” Counter Top Drumstick Display.
You don’t find “Speed Sticks” advertised in Slingerland catalogs after the early 1930s.
I believe that this is one of two still in existence today, and also one of the very first if not the first dealer display items ever made by the Slingerland company.
1970s Slingerland Rock Outfit 50N
The kit I am featuring is a 1970s Slingerland Rock Outfit 50 N with Maple outer ply. The kit is outstanding with a 22X14 bass drum, 12X8 , 13X9, and 16X16 toms. They are just perfect for most playing situations. I love the Set-O-Matic tom mount and all the mounting hardware.
Read more40s-50s Slingerland 4x13 BeBop RKs
Two more blasts from the past that I never did articles on. The 4 x 13 Sparkling Gold RK “Be Bop” model was one of my earliest purchases (1995) from Ned Ingberman, The Vintage Drum Center and the WMP 4 x 13 RK Bop model was purchased from a fellow musician in SF about 20 years ago. A special thanks goes to my good friend and fellow collector Mark Cooper for helping me to date these two drums.
Read more1940s Slingerland Gene Krupa Deluxe Radio King Ensemble 1-N
This set I'm featuring this month is the 1940s Slingerland Radio King set I bought from Brian Scoggins. It has a lovely white marine pearl finish. I think marine pearl looks so good on these vintage drum sets. Even if the finish "yellows" I still love the way it looks. To me, these drums are yellowed to perfection. One must consider these drums are over 70 years old. The Beavertail lugs, and all the hardware is nickel plated. The badges are beautiful brass clouds. The drum sizes are 24X14 bass drum, 16X16, and 13X9 toms, and a matching 14X5 snare. There are two cymbal mounts on the bass drum shell. The high tom mounts on the bass drum hoop with a clip-on holder. The bass drum spurs fit into a mount on the bass drum shell. The shells are 3 ply mahogany poplar mahogany with large maple re-rings. I opened the 13 tom to peek inside. The smell inside was just heavenly. The workmanship is second to none.
Read moreClown Vomit/Frog-in-a Blender finishes, past and present
I saw this one at a NAMM Show in the late 1990s, maybe early 2000s. At that time Leedy was trying for some type of comeback. I got the drum from Sam Bacco who at the time was associated with Leedy. He told me that he located one long-lost piece of this material from Slingerland and there was enough material left over to make a Leedy Broadway Standard snare drum. Sam told me that the finish was made with melted guitar picks (you can see some un-melted guitar picks in the finish).
Read moreThe One I Thought Got Away! 1950 Radio King
The story of the snare was vague, but from the extended family members of the original owner from whom I purchased it, it goes something like this; he bought it and never played it for whatever reason, and the later generations always respected the drum and never touched it. Not a lot of details but a very graceful unembellished straight-to-the-point explanation. They didn’t mince words or get into an epic narrative.
I am so grateful that it was left unscathed.
So now, here, is my unplayed, unused, 100% original MINT 1950 Slingerland Krupa Model Radio King No. 143 WMP 5.5” x 14” Solid One Piece Shell “Radio King” Engraved Nickel over Brass Rim 3-Point Strainer Tin Straps Snare Drum in it’s original Canvas Bag.
Vintage Duco Family
One would think that the less expensive drums would have the DuCo finishes but these four snares are perfect examples of higher end (and somewhat rare) drums whose owners chose the less expensive shell finish option. In my opinion this is like putting Sears tires on a Ferrari…but I still will not pass up a rare snare drum with an inexpensive finish.
Read moreTHE RARE SLINGERLAND BROADCASTER TRI-COLOR SNARE DRUM
Unfortunately, Gretsch had a drum model with a similar name. Their Broadcaster was spelled with a K instead of a C. When Gretsch realized the similarities, they felt it was an infringement on their own drum products and rights. A lawsuit ensued and the court ruled in favor of Gretsch, so Slingerland had to drop the Broadcaster name, so it was only produced from 1934 to 1935.
Read moreDon Mcaulay sells items from Gene Krupa's drum collection.
“Hey George. Hope you and yours are doing well. I was prepared to approach drum magazines and other publications about this historic discovery that I found for my boss, Charlie Watts in which he gave me a portion of the items as my commission. I have decided to sell some of these pieces. But the same week I finished the website the entire world went straight into lockdown.. So I’ve been waiting until the time seems right, which seems like a month from now? Would you like to show this story on NSMD? Ideally I want to present this in all the appropriate magazines at the same time so the word gets out all at once and every collector has the opportunity to purchase. check it out!”
Read more1948-1953 Slingerland Radio King 5-Piece Drum Set in Original Black Diamond Pearl.
Allow me to introduce you to my 1948-1953 Slingerland Radio King 5-Piece Drum Set in Original Black Diamond Pearl. The set consists of: 9” x 13” Tom, 12” x 14” Tom/Floor, 16” x 16” Floor, 14” x 24” Bass, 7” x 14” Snare, Hi-Hat Stand, Pedal, Snare Stand, Cowbells & Woodblock. This set is 100% original and near flawless.
All NOB rims, original paint and inlay on the hoops. The exterior wrap and interiors are mint. The set arrived with ALL the original unblemished heads in place and intact. I kept the original calfskin resonant heads on, archiving the batters (see pic of the original batters and you will see why this set is so nice). A friend contacted me about this set in 2019 showing me a few photos and asking what I thought. After much back and forth discussion and consultation I mentioned that if he sells now or in the future that I am most definitely Interested.
The back story on this set is that the original owner had passed away and the children and grandchildren were sorting out his estate. When they went up to the attic of his home they discovered this set. Apparently they never heard or knew anything about it, or that at one time he may have been a drummer. From the near immaculate condition of this set and the original Radio King calfskin heads one can only come to the conclusion that he purchased this set and never really played it at all or very little. We will never know.
This set was in another part of the country so my friend had a friend pick it from the original owners family and ship it to him. When it arrived at my friends house he called me and said that he thought I should handle the cleaning of this set and that he wanted me to be the new temporary custodian (we are all only interim owners in the end). I was extremely excited to welcome this set into Studio 3T as one of the Crown Jewels of my collection for not only myself but for my clients.
After arriving at the studio I was astounded at the incredible condition that can only be appreciated in person. It was very dusty and the nickel hardware needed to be polished, but that was it. Zero fade, zero modifications, wrap is mint, interiors mint, the set and hardware are flawless. This is the finest example of this era Radio King set I have ever encountered in my lifetime.
As with all our sets and snares at Studio 3T, these drums will be put to work, I am not a fan of shelf queens or placing instruments under glass like an amusement attraction. They should be, and are, played, recorded and toured with as intended and allowed to sing, and please believe me when I tell you, these beauties SING!
You can see a few photos right after the initial disassembly and clean and how they look now set up in the studio. I added a few Radio King cymbal stands and cymbals.
Thank you for reading my column, I very much appreciate all the comments and interaction with everyone.
Stay tuned...🥁
Edward Tucker
Fate Up
Studio 3T
1960 Slingerland Gene Krupa Deluxe Ensemble 1-N
When we got to my friend's home, he had the Slingerland set on the porch and also a big 26" Ludwig clear maple bass drum and 14"mounted tom there also. Along with these he had a few extra goodies that he was willing to sell as well. Well, what to do? Buy it all even if it's going to be tight in the car getting it home, that's what. My wife is a good sport, but this was trying her patience with me. I briefly thought about leaving her with my friend. No, I'm kidding, I was determined to get her and the drums home and not make the three-hour trip back to get all the drums. We were crushed in the front seats, but we made it safely back home
Read more1932-33 SLINGERLAND DUALL “RADIO” MODEL ALL METAL DRUM No. 40 (VERSION 1)
DUALLS are very rare. The Slingerland DUALL Model was manufactured from 1932-34 as compared to the L & L Super-Ludwig Model that was around from 1924 to the late 1930s.
Read moreSlingerland Artist Model Tone Flange Snare
This is an probably an early [c.1930] Slingerland Tone Flange 5" x 14" [5&1/2" with the aluminum tone flange] in solid walnut with solid maple glue rings.
Read moreSlingerland 1979 "Limited Edition" Radio King snare #002
In 1978-79 Slingerland put together a new campaign to reissue the Radio King model. This time, the new Radio King was made exclusively as a limited edition snare drum model.
Read moreSlingerland Broadcaster? Oops, Radio King
In 1934-5 Slingerland came out with the Broadcaster. Then oops, Gretsch said that’s our brand name, so Slingerland dropped that model name and the Radio King snare drum was born c.1935-6.
Read moreThey are still out there!!! 1963 Slingerland Gene Krupa Deluxe Outfit No. 1N
Sometimes a set just thrills you to no end and gets your heart racing, this is one of those sets. Allow me to introduce my latest addition to the Studio 3T arsenal. 1963 Slingerland Gene Krupa Deluxe Outfit No. 1N with the upgraded Solid Shell 1-Ply Radio King 3-Point Strainer Snare all in Sparkling Blue Pearl.
13”, 16”, 22”, 5.5” x 14” RK.
Were American Drum Manufacturers Required by Law to Use Serial Numbers During the 1960s?
Many vintage drum enthusiasts have taken advantage of the existence of serial numbers on drums as a relatively reliable tool for estimation of manufacturing dates. Many have compiled lists of drums’ serial numbers and date stamps to understand and exploit the relationship between them. Most cared little about why the serial numbers were there, but were just happy that the serial numbers were there to provide a rough tool for use in dating drums. As one learns more about how drum manufacturers used serial numbers, one begins to question the reason that serial numbers were used at all.
Read more1929 SLINGERLAND 6.5 x 14 ROSE PEARL/ARTGOLD TONE FLANGE ARTIST MODEL
Rob Cook’s Rebeats Color Book states that Rose Pearl was only around in 1929. 4 x 14 Tone Flange Artist Models are extremely rare. I know of only 3. I’d love to see photos of any others that may be out there.
Read more