by taikonoatama » Wed Feb 27, 2008 2:50 am
Ha,
I was bidding on this drum as well, but didn't make a serious push because of the rusty lugs and potential issue I saw with the bearing edge, which from the closeup shot of the head looked like it might be damaged (and I don't have the figerglassing chops to deal with it).
When I saw this on ebay I ran it by several friends who have Kings (I have all four sizes) and we couldn't say for sure what it was/is. The shape, crown and lugs are very clearly Kings, or copies, or possibly even something that the guy who built Kings copied (he's a bit of a mystery guy). Those side plates, though, are nothing we've ever seen on Kings. The side plate on Kings are very heavy duty, so it's unlikely someone would have had the need to replace them with these.
In the ebay ad it said this drum was wrapped in 1950's newspaper. This doesn't fit with them being fiberglass, unless some unknown maker was doing it at the same time as Echo Tones - not a lot of fiberglass congas being made back then. And Kings supposedly didn't hit the scene until the late 60's. That newspaper angle really confuses things.
I ran the graphic design on the drum by two graphic designer friends to get an earliest-possible date, and both of them say late 60's to early 70's vintage based on that. Who knows.
I've researched the hell out of finding replacement lugs for Kings - marine supply shops, aviation supplies, custom car engine, machine shops, etc. Got some leads but nothing quite like these, especially the exact size of coupler. The lug is a two-part setup - coupler/clevis/swage/aircraft fork + threaded rod. Hope the lugs are usable on this drum - they're a weak point with Kings.
I've never seen a King with the tripod legs. I wonder if they're original or add-ons ...
It's possible it's an early King Conga model or prototype. Anyone else have any ideas?
James
Edited By taikonoatama on 1204095728