Cooper’s Vintage Drums

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1940’s Slingerland Radio King White Marine Pearl Drum Set

Here is a 1940’s Slingerland Radio King five piece drum set, finished in original White Marine Pearl with nice nickel plated hardware. This set is quite unique! The drums were acquired from the son of the original owner who played with the United States Naval band in the 1940’s. I have a few theories about this set….

While the drums appear to be from different eras, I believe they all came together as a set, either from the Slingerland factory or the music store. The color of the pearl is an exact match in color and pearl pattern. During World War Two, the U.S. government imposed restrictions on drum production, especially in the use of metals. Drum production resumed after the war but parts were still difficult to obtain. It was common for drum companies like Slingerland to assemble drum sets from existing old stock along with newer drums. Nothing was wasted, so it is common to see drums with older hardware and badges mixed with relatively new parts. This Radio King set has a bass drum with the older pre-war badge and hardware. The snare drum has the first post war badge (large brass oval). The 9x13 tom tom has newer 1948 lugs. The 12x14 tom has pre-war hardware. Strangest of all is the 16x16 floor tom: It is actually a World War Two Rolling Bomber. The wooden lugs were removed and replaced with new 1948 lugs. Also, the original wooden leg brackets were replaced with 1947-48 brackets.

I honestly think that this set was definitely assembled with a combination of older shells and newer hardware. Please look at the photos and judge for yourself.

DETAILS

· 14x26 Bass Drum: Shell was drilled for newer spurs in the 1970’s. These were removed and bolts were put in to fill the holes. A cymbal mount was also added in the 1970’s. This caused some splitting in the pearl which has been re-glued. The correct 1940’s cymbal holder has been put in place and hides most of the evidence of the 70’s mount. A newer 1960’s tom holder was added at some point. This drum has three HUGE, MASSIVE solid maple reinforcing rings inside. Most importantly…..this Radio King bass drum sounds like THUNDER!

· 9X13 Tom Tom: Original two hole tom mount was updated to a 4 hole diamond plate version.

· 12x14 Tom Tom: Original two hole tom mount was updated to a 4 hole diamond plate version.

· 16x16 Floor Tom Tom: Twelve “beaver tail” lugs replaced the old wooden lugs. All extra holes are hidden and only visible from inside. Three solid maple reinforcing rings inside. Radio King leg holders with ingenious spring loaded parts added (probably WFL).

· 7x14 Solid maple Radio King snare drum: FANTASTIC CONDITION! 16 lugs, three point strainer, “engraved” hoop. Some separation of reinforcing rings. This could be re-glued but I prefer not to do this and feel it is unnecessary. Ring separation is a natural occurrence.

$1795