I have always loved Slingerland drums having learned to play on them in my school band. When I started collecting in the 90s Slingerland Radio KIngs were in great demand. The collectors were after any Radio King snare or set and the prices were very high. Although they are still desirable and in demand their market has cooled some and now is a better time to buy a set if one becomes available. I have bought two Radio King sets recently so my itch to own some Radio King drums has been scratched.
The 1950s Slingerland Radio King set I am featuring this month is a green sparkle 22, 16, 13, with matching 5.5X14 snare. I love green sparkle drums. Even faded to a golden hue these drums look beautiful to me. When I purchase drums I always run it by my wife to get her approval. I showed her the photos of this set that was posted on Facebook. She usually just nods and says, "if you think they're worth it, then do it." This time she said, "those are faded!" I had taught her faded is not good, now I had to tell her faded was ok with this set. She was puzzled by my explanation about the beauty of patina, but seemed to accept my explanation.
My good friend Matt Brennan owned this set. He had purchased it at the Chicago drum show a few years ago. He fell in love with them just like I did when I saw them for sale on Facebook. He had enjoyed having them and had replaced the heads. He had cleaned them up to a very nice level and had also played them some. They are not the set you would gig on every week, but for special occasions they are the ticket. Matt had bought a car that he wanted to restore and he looked around at his treasures to see what he could turn in to cash for the project. I have done it many times myself. I have also sold things I wish I had kept.
I want to thank another good friend, David Keith, owner of Gintown Recording Studio and an excellent drummer for pointing out this set to me. I was careful to make sure he was not going to buy them before I started talking to Matt. The NSMD community is big but not so big that news of an underhanded deal won't get around.
(editor’s note: When he was a teenager in the eighties, Matt Brennan used to hang out in my George’s Drum Shop in our hometown of Jackson Mississippi. Maybe that’s where he caught the vintage drum bug.)