Slingerland Drum Company

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Slingerland Drum Company
Industry Musical instruments
Fate Acquired by Gibson in 2003; 12 years ago (2003)
Founded 1913 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
Founder Henry Heanon Slingerland
Headquarters Conway, Arkansas, USA
Area served
Products Drum kits, electric & acoustic guitars, mandolins, banjos
Parent Gibson
Website Slingerland at Gibson website

Slingerland is an American drum kits brand, currently owned by Gibson. The brand is strongly related to jazz drummers, such as Gene Krupa[1] or Buddy Rich, who used to play signature instruments made by the company.

Slingerland also produced electric and acoustic guitars, mandolins and banjos during the 1930s.


A Slingerland drum kit.

The "Slingerland Drum Company" was founded by Henry Heanon "H.H." Slingerland (1875–1946) in 1912. Slingerland had won a correspondence school of music in a card game aboard one of the gaming boats that once cruised Lake Michigan. He then opened a music school in Chicago, and soon turned to manufacturing instruments as well. The company started out importing ukuleles from Germany, but set up its own production because it could not meet demand. Soon, they produced their own banjos and ukuleles and eventually, also guitars (including electric guitars from 1936 or earlier). Production of drums was started in 1927 in answer to the entry of the Ludwig & Ludwig drum company into the banjo market. The first Slingerland drum kits came out in 1928.

A resourceful and energetic businessman, H.H. established an extensive dealer network throughout the U.S., the then-territory of Hawaii (in the early 1930s) and China. After H.H.'s death from a stroke, the company was run by his wife, Nona, and one of their children, Henry Jr. (known as "Budd"). The company's manufacturing plant was later moved from Chicago proper to the outer suburbs.[2]

As the Slingerland company, best known as a drum manufacturer, also made guitars and banjos.[3] The Songster electric guitar, featured in a 1939 company catalog, pre-dates Les Paul's "log" guitar and is probably the earliest Spanish-style solid-body electric guitar model. The guitar's pickup includes individual string magnets as well as a large horseshoe magnet. Slingerland ceased making electric instruments in 1940 in order to exclusively focus on producing percussion instruments.

The company remained in the Slingerland family until 1970. After introducing the Magnum series in the late 1970s, Slingerland lost its footing, and the company folded. In the 1970s and 1980s, Slingerland changed ownership multiple times until it was acquired from Gretsch by the Gibson musical instruments company in 1994.

In 1998, Slingerland released a model based on its Gene Krupa signature drum kit.[4]


Radio King[edit]

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 and remain the premier product for the Slingerland Drum Company. Older Radio Kings are obsessively collected by vintage drum enthusiasts. Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich were both Radio King endorsers.


Radio King bass drums and tom-toms were made from mahogany, with maple reinforcement hoops. These drums are known for their "thuddy" sound;[citation needed] very warm, with quick decay.


Rolling Bomber[edit]

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 high demand for metals needed for the war effort. These drums were named the "Rolling Bomber" series, and are highly collectible.

Rock and Roll[edit]

The Rock and Roll era of the 1960s and 1970s was good times for many American drum companies, including Slingerland. Slingerland's main competitor, the Ludwig Drum Company, had the advantage of being endorsed by Ringo Starr, but Slingerland, too, produced high-quality drums in that era and had robust sales. Beside long time endorser Buddy Rich, Slingerland in the '70s garnered drummers Danny Seraphine with Chicago and Nigel Olsson still playing with Elton John. Short lived in the '70's were Slingerland's version of Ludwig Vistalite clear drums. They stopped production quickly after their introduction due to a patent infringement suit and a cease and desist warrant from Ludwig regarding Slingerlands foray into acrylic drums. These drums today remain quite collectible.

Marching drums[edit]



For most of the company's pre-1970s history, Slingerland's manufacturing processes were not standardized in the way that modern large-scale manufacturing companies' are. Exceptions to nearly every strict product taxonomy existed. This is due in large part to the fact that parts would often be left over from year to year and would be used by workers even though some of those parts had been officially discontinued from the line. To say unequivocally that "All Radio Kings manufactured between 19xx and 19xx have X finishes and Y lugs" is an invitation to be proven wrong by the existence of an odd hybrid drum.[citation needed]


Louie Bellson in 1980.

For many years, Slingerland drums were associated with such jazz drummers as Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich (1937-40, 1968-77)[2] and Louie Bellson, who had Slingerland drums named after them; another notable jazz drummer from the newer generation was Weather Report's Peter Erskine. Rock drummers who endorsed Slingerland were Clive Bunker of Jethro Tull, Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds; Barry Whitwam with Herman's Hermits; Mike Smith (who all had previously played Ludwig) and later Joe Correro, Jr. with Paul Revere & the Raiders; Dick Dodd of The Standells; Antonio "Fito" de la Parra with Canned Heat; Bev Bevan of Electric Light Orchestra; Bobby Columby of Blood Sweat and Tears; Danny Seraphine of Chicago; Joey Stefko of Meat Loaf; Phil Ehart of Kansas; Artimus Pyle of Lynyrd Skynyrd; Jimmie Fox of The James Gang; Alice Cooper's original drummer, Neal Smith; Richard Hughes with Johnny Winter; and Elton John's drummer, Nigel Olsson. Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick also played them in the late 1970s. Tre Cool of Green Day and Ray Mehlbaum of Automatic 7 endorsed Slingerland drums in the late 1990s. Neil Peart used them without an endorsement from 1974 to 1979. Vinny Appice used Slingerlands in the original Dio lineup. Rick Brainer of Code of Ethics and currently with Tommy Steele, AJ Nester of Foreign Policy still uses Slingerland drums to this day, as does Austin Texas drummer Pat Brown. Yet, Slingerland's "Achilles' heel" was its overall inability to successfully market its drums to the rock 'n' roll market, compared to its main rival, Ludwig. Though not endorsed, Jean-Paul Gaster of the rock band Clutch uses Slingerland drums, and is described as one of the last drummers to play rock using "vintage weapons," besides Neil Hennessy of The Lawrence Arms.[5]

See also[edit]


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