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
