Slingerland Radio King help- ID, date, and/or value

[mystro2b]

Howdy-

I am an elementary school music teacher and found some vintage snare drums in a closet at our school and hope you can help me identify them.

-Slingerland Radio King
Drum Shell- wood?
Finish- white pearl
Badge- Cloud Badge from mid 1928-1941?
Dimensions- 7.5 x 14
Interior Finish- natural
Hardware config.- not sure what to tell you-I hope the pictures help
Strainer type- will the picture be of help
Any defects- it's really in flawless condition. No scratches or rust. Could use a good polish. A drum tech told me there are no extra holes and that the single bent piece of maple is part of the mojo of this drum. I did not see any dates or numbers stamped anywhere.

You can find more high rez pics here: http://homepage.mac.com/mystro2b/mystro2bphotos/PhotoAlbum9.html

See my next post about a Leedy & Ludwig I also found...
many thanks for any insight you can provide!
-mystro2b

[backbeatkeeper]

WOW!!
That Radio King is beautiful!!! Want to sell it??? You're going to hear that question a lot. That L & L looks like a marching snare. Both are fine specimens. I have a Radio King 5 x 14 from about the same era. Those are one ply shell with reinforcing rings, solid maple and beautiful stuff. Great find!! The hoops are what some people call "stick eaters" because they are not curved at the top, like the "stick saver" hoops. The cloud badge is in the 1928-1941 range according to www.vintagesnaredrums.com/slingerland_badges.html. Very nice stuff, keep it covered and don't alter, fold, spindle or mutilate it any way!!

Best Regards,

backbeatkeeper

[Tommyp]

Actually, those style hoops are called "StickChoppers"... certainly similar to "stick eaters", but "StickChoppers" is the correct term. Being an elementary school teacher, I thought you might want to know the correct term! :-) Nice drum!

Tommyp

[70sPinkStrataPearl]

Beautiful...so since they were found at the school are they just going to be considered school property? Or have you, in a way, inherited them? My dad is a music teacher and let me tell you--the equipment some schools have is crazy! From mint early sixties champagne sparkle ludwig kits to telecaster bass guitars, to even 60s strats ive seen...schools are like gold mines!

[mystro2b]

Thanks for all the replies about this great drum. My plan is to sell the drum and put the money back into the music program for other equipment. Elementary kids don't need to be banging on such a beautiful instrument at this age and stage...band3

Any tips on how to market the drum for an ebay listing would be greatly appreciated.

I have some other WFL drums I should post on the forum...
-mystro2b

[Bebop]

THAT is a beautiful snare drum.

[4MoreYearsOhNo]

Radio Kings sell for a lot. Here's a drum that is about the exact same age as yours. It has the same patent pending snare extension gate that attaches with six screws. This one says early 40's; prior to the war when the badge changed color.

http://www.coopersvintagedrums.com/snares/rkdeep.htm

Yours is in better condition: wrap is a much whiter color, and overall looks a lot cleaner. Must have been locked in the closet for a LONG time. So if you luck out (bidder war) yours could go for that or even more; though you never know with ebay.

[mystro2b]

Wow- Cool

Thanks for the link and info on the possible value of this drum. So you think it's early 40's based on the badge color? I haven't taken of the rim to look inside- would I find any other markings of importance? Now that I know it's value, I'm afraid to touch it :p

I'll keep you posted on what my plans are with this drum. Thanks for the insight.