There will be many differing opinions here but it is generally accepted that the last year the "Radio King" name was used for bass, toms and snare drums was around 1956. From about '57 - '62 Slingerland did not use the "Radio King" name for any of it's drums. In '63 the name reappeared on certain snare drum models which continued to be offered throughout the Niles era. During the HSS and Gibson eras (90's - 2000's) the "Radio King" name was periodically used for certain higher end kits as well as snares. It would be nice to hear from some "Radio King" collectors as to what they feel are true "Radio Kings". Is it the '55 and earlier drums with the larger re-rings? Perhaps '54 and earlier before the introduction of the new (later called Sound King) lug?

Thanks very much. That's very interesting. I too would be keen to hear from the SK experts on what actually defined a Radio King drum.

No expert. A hoop with Radio King on it does not make the drum a RK. A drum without any RK markings could very well be a RK. Snares were RK's for quite awhile. If huge maple re-rings no doubt RK. Sound King lug kits out there with RK hoops. It is a toss up at best. Hope others chime in.

Creighton

So what makes a RK?

Solid shell?

Extended snares past the bed?

Engraved/stamped rim?

Dual muffler?

I've heard and read a lot on the topic, and have come to a conclusion, but I am interested in other opinions.

While the use of the name stopped in the mid-late 50's, the models and configurations were relatively the same. So , why not call it what it is? I guess to be historically correct?

Don't forget there are Rks that are 3 ply shells. There are Rk's with no extended gates, There are solid shell models that aren't Rk's .

Correct, many variables to be considered when identifying Radio Kings. Radio King is a name. A marketing name, with considerable cache, used by Slingerland on many of their drums. Regardless of their features, drums that were not called Radio Kings when they were originally sold are simply NOT Radio Kings.

Thanks guys. This is all fascinating stuff and I think that it's important that we all understand this topic. I say this because clearly it's not as cut and dried as many (including me) might have thought. This is because I see a lot of drums advertised as RKs, without any real understanding of whether they are or not. I also suspect that in many cases, the vendor doesn't know either. They simply use the RK label because it attracts a higher value or they assume that all Slingerland drums produced between certain dates are automatically RKs. This is obviously not the case and I'm really keen to see how this thread develops so that some of the apparent ambiguity is removed.

Just another bit of info that is often skipped over in these discussions, the name "Sound King" did not show up until the 1963 catalog. The 1960 catalog shows the short-lived "Stereo Toms".

Yes. Drums from the '57-'62 (plus or minus) era are often erroneously called Radio Kings or Sound Kings.