Radio King Slingerland's most famous product line is the Radio King series of drums. These drums were introduced in 1936–37, and remained Slingerland's flagship snare drums and drum sets until 1957, when the Radio King model briefly disappeared from the product line. Between 1960 and 1962, Radio Kings were reintroduced. Older Radio Kings are obsessively collected by vintage drum enthusiasts.
Gene Krupa and
Buddy Rich were both Radio King endorsers. The original Radio King snare drum is distinguished by its construction: rather than several plies of
mahogany, like most snare drums of the era, a Radio King drum was created from a single piece of steam-bent
maple with solid maple reinforcement rings to assist in keeping the drum round under the pressure of the metal hardware attached to it. Single-ply wood drums are known for their resonance and bright tone. Radio King bass drums and tom-toms were made from mahogany, with maple reinforcement hoops. These drums are known for their "thuddy" sound; very warm, with quick decay. The popularity of the old Slingerland Radio King snare drum is evidenced by myriad professional drummers who still used the
snare in 2017, despite endorsing other brands.
Rolling Bomber A departure from the standard Slingerland product line occurred during
World War II when wood was used to manufacture drum parts that had traditionally been made of
brass,
chrome,
nickel, and
steel. This was due to the high demand for metals needed for the
war effort. These drums were named the "Rolling Bomber" series, and are highly collectible.
Rock and Roll The
Rock and Roll era of the 1960s and 1970s was a good time for many American drum companies, including Slingerland, although its main competitor,
Ludwig, had the advantage of being endorsed by
Ringo Starr, but Slingerland, too, produced drums in that era and had robust sales. Beside long time endorser
Buddy Rich, Slingerland in the 1970s garnered drummers
Danny Seraphine with
Chicago and
Nigel Olsson, the drummer for
Elton John, and
Neil Peart of
Rush. Short-lived in the 1970s was Slingerland's version of Ludwig
Vistalite drums. They stopped production quickly after their introduction due to a patent infringement suit and a cease and desist warrant from Ludwig regarding Slingerland's foray into acrylic drums. These drums today remain collectible.
Marching drums Slingerland marching drums were produced as early as the 1920s. By the 1970s, the Slingerland line of marching equipment had become very popular in marching bands, colleges, and drum corps. During the late 1970s, Slingerland introduced its TDR marching snare drum, with a novel strainer and synthetic-gut snare that produced a distinctive sound. Another late-70s innovation was the Slingerland cutaway multi-tenors that were carried in trio, quad, or quint arrangements. The cutaway design was first used in 1977 by the
Santa Clara Vanguard under drum captain
Fred Sanford and the Oakland Crusaders under Tom Float. Famous drum corps such as the
27th Lancers Drum and Bugle Corps of
Revere, Massachusetts under Charlie Poole, the Bridgemen of Bayonne, New Jersey under Dennis Delucia, the
Chicago Cavaliers under Gus Barbaro and Brian Callahan, the Pittsburgh Royal Crusaders and the General Butler Vagabonds all used Slingerland equipment in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In the early 1980s, Slingerland was gaining significant market share, but the company was sold, and corporate finances fell apart. By the late 1980s, Slingerland had fallen behind technologically, and
Ludwig-Musser, and especially
Pearl drums, began to pick up its market share. ==Manufacturing==