Hi,
Here's another one all cleaned up and entered into the collection. I bought this drum from Mark Cooper of Cooper's Vintage Drums at the 2010 Chicago Vintage Drum Show.
1934-35 SLINGERLAND 6.5 x 14 NOB *BROADCASTER MODEL
*The Broadcaster Model was very short-lived so for those of you that may not be familiar with this model here is a short history and background data regarding the Slingerland Broadcaster Model. The following is from Rob Cook's Slingerland Book (first edition): "The Broadcaster was evidently a forerunner of the Radio King, the strainer is a very early Radio King style strainer and the lugs do not have inserts. (The tension rods thread directly into the lugs.) The muffler was the single-pad style Harold R. Todd muffler." Thanks again to Rob Cook. I have also read that Slingerland was legally forced to discontinue using the word "Broadcaster" (with a "c") as the Fred Gretsch Co. had been using the name "Broadkaster" (with a "k") on their drums way before Slingerland and therefore the court ruled in favor of Gretsch that Slingerland's Broadcaster was too close sounding/looking to Gretsch's Broadkaster.
The Shell:
This all original drum was already in great shape but I still wanted to add my finishing touch to it. The nob shell had a few very small dents that were easy to fix. The area where both of the snare bridges are attached to the shell was a tad bent in so I smoothed everything out with my trusty hammer. Mark had already done a nice polishing job on the shell so I just went over the shell with a clean cloth to remove any finger prints, left over rouge and assorted smudges. All in all, the shell came out great but it still looks its correct age. Both snare bridges are identical meaning that the butt side is not drilled for that tightening plate that you would normally see on the soon to follow Radio King models but instead there is a centered hole approximately 1/8" above the bead where what looks like a center post for a 1920s-30s bass drum is attached and this is where the snare cord attaches to keep the wires tensioned on the butt side of the drum. This center post has a smaller diameter than the post of a double post tube lug so that is why I think it is an older bass drum center post. The washer is my idea as the knots tighten better with the washer. At first I thought that this was a crude after market addition but with a little research I've found two more examples of wood Broadcasters with this exact same set up. My guess is that my drum is an earlier Broadcaster because I also own two other wood Broadcasters with butt side snare bridges that are drilled and do have the tensioning plates. That's just my logical guess, so feel free to weigh in if you have anything else to add to this. As a final observation, I noticed on my 1936 Slingerland nob Radio King that there is a similar hole that is centered 1" above the bead at the butt plate side of the shell, this is obviously an air hole but the similarity is still there. The air hole on the Broadcaster is one panel to the right of the butt side snare bridge and 1" above the bead.
The Hardware:
All of the nob hardware was clean and in great shape but I still did my cleaning and polishing routine. The tapped (no inserts) Streamline lugs are chrome plated and are in decent shape. I know for some reason, on occasion, that Slingerland outfitted their snare drums with nickel plated hardware and chrome plated Streamline lugs. I've seen this on numerous drums and I am well aware that this is correct but it still bugs the hell out of me as I like stuff that matches. So in the interest of a faithful preservation, I've left the Streamline lugs as is on this snare drum but I was holding my nose all the way through as I reassembled the drum. The top rim has a nice deep cut Slingerland Broadcaster logo and the bottom rim has the usual "manufacturer's cartouche" at both ends where the snare gates attach. Another observation that I have noticed on my other Broadcaster and DuAll Models has to do with these
"manufacturer's cartouches". One end of the bottom rim where the gate attaches and one gate will have only one stamped letter, e. g. "D", while the other end of the rim will have two stamped letters, e. g. "D D" as does the other gate, so "D" matches "D" and "D D" matches "D D". Both gates are identical, fit perfectly and are interchangeable on either side. So another question arises; what is the reason for the single vs. double stamping if both sides are identical?
A nice pair of era-correct calf heads and snare wires rounded out this cleaning/restoration.
I have added a few photos of my 1936 6.5 x 14 nob Radio King so you can see the similarities and differences of these two closely related drums.
Enjoy!
Mike Curotto
