1950's Slingerland Radio Kings (restore) - Page 1

I finally finished the restoration project on an old set of Radio Kings. The drums had been sitting in my basement (or in a barn) for about 35 years. I started the project at Thanksgiving and put about 80 hours of work into it.

My goal was NOT to make it as original as possible as it had already been rewrapped (poorly) when I bought it. I just wanted to get the drums looking good and playable. The set didn't have a snare so I worked on a 15x6 scratched up TDR Concert King to go with it.

The kit came with a Buddy Rich throne (which is why I bought it) that I've used since '74. I had forgotten about the drums until a few months ago.

It was my first project...and a lot of fun. The drums sound great! Here are a before and after shot.

Here's a little more about this project...

I started working on these drums at Thanksgiving. The set had been in my barn or basement for the past 35 years.

The drums were in a yard sale in 1974. There was a Buddy Rich throne with it which caught my eye. I offered the man $25 for the throne. He said "Give me $35 and you can have it all." There were 2 9x13, 2 16x16 and a 14x22. The floor toms did not have bottom lugs or rims. The drums had been poorly rewrapped with a black wrap. I don't think I even realized they were SRK at the time...and in 74 that wouldn't have meant much to me any way.

Since I already had a nice Slingerland kit I took the throne (which I've used ever since) and put the drums in storage. I had actually forgot about them until a few months ago. Having recently retired I decided to dig around my basement and "discovered" them.

I decided to use the parts I had to make a nice 4 piece set. I used a scratched up 6x15 Slingerland TDR Concert King as the snare. The restoration certainly isn't for a totally original set of SRKs (that was not my purpose), but all of the shells, rims (SRK engraved), lugs, screws, washers, leg mounts, cymbal mount, bass spur mounts and most of the tension rods are original.

I had to replace the bass hoops, bass spurs, a few bass claws and Trods and of course put on new heads. I used Evans G3s on the toms and Remo Fyberskins on the bass. I added the SRK decal to the front. I decided I wanted a little more modern look to the set so I went with lacquered maple hoops and a red glass wrap. While I was at it, I also had some work done on the Buddy Rich throne. I also decided, since I am going to use the set, to put the 9x13 on a Gibraltor suspension mount instead of on the old rail mount.

In total I have probably spent about 80 hours on this and used a LOT of WD40, Windex, Brasso SOS pads and a few dozen rolls of paper towels.

I plan to use this set with the big band and six piece jazz group I play with. This was my first attempt at restoring a set of drums. It has certainly been a learning experience and a lot of fun. This forum certainly has helped with a lot of info. After a short break, and a chance to enjoy playing this kit, I want to find another one to work on.

Hope you enjoy these before and after pictures. I took about 50 from start to finish that I hope to upload on another site soon. Wish all of my $35 investments worked out this well.