First post. Fascinating board.
Was Black Beauty available in 1955 from Slingerland? The color chart on this board shows Black Beauty lacquer in 1953 and I have seen 1955 Black Beauties advertised on the net? Black was always a standard color not just for drums but for many other musical instruments.
If black lacquer was available, was the lacquer a nitrocellulose type?
Thank you in advance for any replies.
From what I have learned and seen, even if a finish was not catalogued it was still available by request. So anything is possible with Slingerland.
There is no definitive line when it comes to finishes and hardware or drums. For all we know the shells could have been lying around for a few years before they finally used them.
In regards to the type of paint I can think of a few people that might have the answer and one is our Super Moderater TommyP.
David
Webmaster
Thank you David for the reply. I posted another thank you note but it never appeared on the thread.
I may have been mistaken by using the words "Black Beauty" in regard to Slingerland. Ludwig definitely carried a line called "Black Beauty." I thought I saw the words "Black Beauty" on the 1953 Slingerland color chart but now I have lost the link to the color chart.
Thank you again.
HowdeeDoodee/David...
To the best of my knowledge, Slingerland stopped manufacturing metal shell drums for the war effort ( WWII ) as brass and other metals were rationed at the time. Of interest is that Slingerland chose not to make any metal shell drums until well after the war was over... ( for whatever reason )... and didn't start up again with metal snare drum production until almost 1958, if memory serves. Thus, NO... there was no steel/brass shelled Slingerland drum available in 1955.
Hope this helps!
Tommyp
Thank you TommyP. I do believe I have misspoke. I think I want to know if Slingerland produced a black lacquer in 1955. Can someone repost the link to the drum catalogs so I can refresh my drum beaten mind. I know in 1953 Slingerland listed Black "whatever" as one of their finishes. I cannot recall whether the catalog listed Black Beauty (now I doubt) but Black Lacquer which is more likely. The best bet would be to look in the catalogs of 1953 to 1956 if any of them are around. Thank you in advance for any replies.
In the late '50s through the '70s, Slingerland made a black wrap that was sometimes called black beauty pearl. I have also seen an original radio king from the late '50s that was black lacquer. Slingerland also had black lacquer drums from the '20s to the '40s. Usually they were lower end drums, but they also used the black lacquer as a backround for their "full dress" drums. There was just a "full dress" Radio King like that on ebay...try this:
In the late '20s through the '30s, Slingerland made a drum called the "Black Beauty" which was a brass drum, plated in black nickel, engraved and finished with gold colored parts. Ludwig had a similar drum which they originally called a DeLuxe, then in the early '30s they changed the name to "Black Beauty" as well.
(Leedy had a similar drum which they called an Elite.)
Make sense? You'll be tested...
Well Howdee...
Now that makes more sense... When someone says: "Black Beauty", be it Ludwig, Slingerland, etc... one immediately thinks METAL SHELL. So your clarification puts it all in perspective...
Rich K. has supplied a fine answer, and I concur. Had I known you were talking about Black Lacquer or Black Beauty Pearl wrap, I would have answered in kind!
Tommyp
Thank you all for the replies.
We are getting very close to an absolute FINAL answer. On the following page
http://www.vintagesnaredrums.com/slingerland_snare_page.html
there is a 1950 and a 1955 snare drum with two colors on the finish.
The info on each listing is as follows...
5 1/2" X 14" Lacquer Maple Duco Finish Radio King
Single Ply Wood Shell
3-point Strainer 1950
5 1/2" X 14" Black/Silver Deco 3-ply with reinforcement hoops
Nickel Hardware 1955
Questions:
1. Is the second snare also a Radio King?
2. Is the second finish also Lacquer Duco Finish?
[IMG]http://www.vintagesnaredrums.com/images/snare_slingerland/slingerland_black_silver_deco_large_thumb.jpg[/IMG]
Yes, and Yes
The second drum was called the "Special Student Drum" at one time. Also called the Student Model Radio King in prior years
The situation is that the name "Radio King" changed for different drums and different years.
The Deco is a typo and should be Duco and I will go and fix that on that page.
Here is a "Works in progress" page that never was completed. I might go ahead and finish it. The text came from a non-member from another forum that was helping me about 2 years ago.
http://www.vintagesnaredrums.com/radio_king_history.html
Here is the link to the Slingerland Finish page and the 53 catalog has a finish called "Black Beauty"
http://www.vintagesnaredrums.com/slingerland_finishes.html
Hope that helps
Excellent!!!! Excellent!!!! Thank you David, I have my answer at least I have my answer for this part of the process. Thank you again. You do a great job on the pic postings and the descriptions!
