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1948-49 SLINGERLAND GENE KRUPA DELUXE RADIO KING ENSEMBLE 1N

DRUMS:
24x14" Bass Drum - Radio King Undrilled Original Slingerland Calf Heads
16x16" Floor Tom Tom - Radio King Original Slingerland Calf Heads
13x9" Tom Tom - Radio King Original Slingerland Calf Heads

Shells: 3-Ply Mahogany / Poplar / Mahogany with Reinforcing Rings
Finish: Original White Marine Pearl

SNARE:
14x5" Super Gene Krupa Radio King
'Cigar' Streamline Lugs and 'Clam Shell' Strainer

Shells: 1-Ply Maple with Reinforcing Rings
Finish: Original White Marine Pearl

CYMBALS:
Avedis Zildjian 15"
Avedis Zildjian 13" Hi-hats
13" Un-named Crash
Zenjian 11" Splash

ADDITIONAL ITEMS:
Slingerland 727 Clamp on Spurs
Slingerland 801 Professional Snare Stand
Slingerland 836 Epic High Life Sock Pedal Hi-Hat Stand
Slingerland 857W Drummer's Folding Chair
Slingerland 935 Shur Grip Muffler
Slingerland 939 Epic Bass Drum Pedal
Slingerland 1285 Tom Tom Clamp On Holder
2 x Cymbal Arms
Cowbell
Leedy Cowbell Mount

BACKGROUND:
I purchased this kit on the 11th May, 2016.

When I recently finally acquired a vintage Slingerland kit, it opened my eyes, but more importantly my ears to a very familiar sound that I had been searching for close on 50 years.

That sound was the sound of my youth, a period of my life where I had yet to form my own taste in music, but when I was regularly surrounded by the music of my father’s favourite bands.

Now half a decade on, they are of course all musical legends, the likes of Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Woody Herman, Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson to name but a few.

Until this year, I had sadly never dug deep enough to discover that almost every drummer in those bands to a man, were Slingerland Radio King drummers.

Gene Krupa & Buddy Rich naturally led the line up of legendary drummers, with Gene being my father’s personal favourite, perhaps due to my father, like his father before, was also a drummer...so perhaps naturally, I became at least the third generation of family drummers. 

It therefore became a mission to source a drum kit that my father first heard as a teenager in the mid to late 1940s via the American Forces Network radio broadcasts, which very ironically, was broadcast back then via a radio mast which I have just discovered this very month, is actually located less than three miles from my now home, over 70 years later!

I mentioned this to Mark Jeffs at Rusty Drums knowing that these kits do not float to the surface on a regular basis, yet here we are, just under 3 months later and Mark has not only sourced a Radio King from America, he has delivered a dream request to me.


The kit in Missouri, America prior to shipping to the UK, April 2016.

The outfit is a stunning and complete, 1948/49 Slingerland Gene Krupa Deluxe Radio King Ensemble 1N which includes not only the original hardware, but also the original 1940's cymbals to give that full Big Band and Jazz sound, just as Gene delivered it.

To add further to my delight, this is almost identical to a kit that Gene actually used himself (with the exception of his additional trade mark 20" floor tom) and I am finding more and more images and videos of it in action, which makes for fascinating research and viewing!

Gene on the kit at the Last Frontier Hotel Lounge, Las Vegas 1954.

The tom toms and bass drum all feature the original #561 nickel 1948-1954 'Super beaver tail lugs', while the snare has the #547-S nickel lugs.

Although Slingerland officially released this kit in 1948, Gene Krupa himself was not seen to perform with his until post 1951 and by 1954, he was already mixing elements of the kit with the new Slingerland 'Sound King' hardware, no doubt at the request of the Slingerland marketing team.

The outfit would go on to appear at shows with his trio and quartet as well as featuring in concerts and TV shows with Benny Goodman.

At this time, the last currently confirmed appearance of the kit was with the Benny Goodman Trio in 1956, although even as late as 1958, Slingerland were using images of Gene with the outfit.


Quite amusingly, the marketing team seemed oblivious to the non Slingerland modification Gene had made!

It really means so much to me to own this kit and I cannot thank Mark enough for his help to make this a reality. If you are ever looking for something similar or in fact any vintage drums, check out Rusty Drums at www.rustydrums.co.uk.

I just hope Gene and my father are now sat side by side shooting the breeze and watching me play these iconic drums with a mix of pride, pleasure and perhaps amusement. This is for you Dad. x

If you have any additional information about the kit or indeed any questions, please contact me.





















If you have any additional information about the kit or indeed any questions, please contact me.