I have also heard it is NOT a RK,unless it is engraved into the rims............

There were drums cataloged as "Radio Kings" that weren't single-ply maple. There were drums cataloged as "Radio Kings" that didn't have the three-point strainer and bridges. There are instances in old Slingerland catalogs that refer to the three-point strainer as the Radio King strainer. Slingerland themselves couldn't seem to decide exactly what defined an RK over the years. They used the name to sell product, not define it. Because they weren't consistent in their application of the name, I don't know how the rest of the drum world could be consistent with it, either.

Personally, I lean toward calling a Slingerland drum by whatever name it was cataloged under. If the catalog calls it a "Radio King", I'll go with that. Or "Concert King" or "Student Model Radio King" or whatever. I'll leave the shell-versus-strainer argument to those who have the inclination to argue about it. ;)

I have a mid-1950s Slingerland kit whose snare drum was made with a solid maple shell, three-point strainer, and bridges. The snare drum is listed in the catalog as a Gene Krupa Radio King. Its rims aren't engraved, but it would seem absurd to argue it isn't a Radio King.

The three point strainer in the earliest slingerland catalogs was called the Professional strainer.

And it's called the Rapid Strainer in a couple of catalogs, I guess mistakenly.....

Weirdo Slingerland stuff all the time, popping up.............

This thread is about the shell not the hardware. Has anyone any info or knowledge on the shell in the pictures?

D

Doug, I asked you to post more pics of the entire drum,I need to see what hardware is on it. I'll gladly give you an answer, It is probably a student model radio king, as I stated on my first reply. does yours look like this one I posted here, the hardware, not the finish etc?

3-ply

maple-pop-mahog

Best I can do with fuzzy pictures

Shortest answer I can give, other than saying "shortest answer I can give".

K

I agree with that........

If the catalog shows it as such and such model.......that's what it is!

Even better....... is if you can produce a pic of the ad showing thats what it says..........then,no disputing it.

Some more pics.

http://gallery.me.com/douglashorner#100106&view=grid&bgcolor=black&sel=7

yes that is a radio king, it is just missing the extended brackets, look at mine