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Correct Slingerland Kit I.d.? Last viewed: 2 hours ago

Posts: 3165 Threads: 969

I've got a WMP Slingerland kit that I've been calling a "Radio King" for personal cataloging purposes. The kit consists of a Chicago-badged 22" bass drum, date stamped 1958 on the interior shell, a "badgeless" 13" rack tom, date stamped 1958 on the interior shell, and a "badgeless" 16' floor tom, with no date stamp on the interior shell. At the current time I don't have the matching snare drum.

Although I made the assumption (always risky!) that this was, indeed, a Radio King kit I'm now starting to wonder whether Slingerland labeled any of its kits in 1958 as Radio Kings. The closest one I could find to mine was cataloged as "The Gene Krupa Deluxe Ensemble (Ensemble - 1)". Is that actually what I've got in lieu of a Radio King kit?

Also, did Slingerland engrave any of its tom rims as Radio Kings in 1958 or was this practice stopped years before this time?

Any and all words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated. THANKS!

Posted on 12 years ago
#1
Posts: 556 Threads: 39

I'm fairly certain that the engraved/stamped hoops were long gone by 1958.

Posted on 12 years ago
#2
Posts: 728 Threads: 92

Hi Old School,

I'm not positive, but I believe Slingerland stopped officially using the term "Radio King" in 1957, but it returned in 1963.

Lets see what the others have to say too....

James

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one most adaptable to change.” - Charles Darwin
Posted on 12 years ago
#3
Posts: 49 Threads: 8

There is a Student Radio King snare in the 59 catalog.

Philip LaDue
Empire State Light and Sound
Posted on 12 years ago
#4
Posts: 728 Threads: 92

According to Coopers vintage drums website Slingerland stopped using the Radio

King name around 1959-1960, with the exception of the delux student model Radio King snare.

Hope that helps a bit,

James

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one most adaptable to change.” - Charles Darwin
Posted on 12 years ago
#5
Posts: 3165 Threads: 969

Rocketman, james, avguy: Thanks for the input! I appreciate the information provided.

I've continued my research on this subject and it seems that although Slingerland still produced kits in 1958 which included bass drums and toms catalogued as "Radio Kings", the kits as a whole were no longer catalagued as such. From what I've found, the affected kits were issued with "The Super Krupa" snare, formally known as the "Radio King Super Krupa" snare. Apparently the phrase "Radio King" was dropped from this particular snare model in 1957.

It also appears that the engraved "Radio King" hoops were no longer being issued in 1958, as previously stated by Rocketman. Neither one of my toms has engraved rims, so I'm thinking that they're era-correct.

In summary, I've come to the conclusion that what I've got is, in fact, a 1958 Slingerland "Gene Krupa Deluxe Ensemble" kit, Ensemble-1, which features Radio King toms and bass drum. If anyone out there disagrees or if anyone out there can actually confirm this, please feel free to chime in. I'd love to hear from you.

THANKS!Cool Dude

Posted on 12 years ago
#6
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