I have a set of mid 70's Slingerlands and mid 60's Ludwigs. I found a mid 60's Slingerland floor tom that matched the ludwigs. Ludwig and Slingerland must have been getting their Silver sparkle wrap from the same vendor because it's identical. With new heads on all the drums and tuned the Slingerland 14" floor tom sounds just like the same vintage ludwigs, we have 12, 13, 14, 16, 22, 20. An Ed Shaunessey kit with mis matched kick drums. They were both great sounding drums. Just for the record when I was at a DCI contest a couple of years ago, I ran into the Yamaha guy. What he told me was that the old drums sound the way they do because of the glue the shells are made with. It had formaldehyde in it and they cant use that kind of glue any more. Any way I'm a died in the wool Slingerland guy and my son is playing the Ludwigs. But in a head to head, generation to generation beat out I can't tell any difference between them.

I've been a Slingerland fan since my music teacher gave me a brand new 1968 Slingerland catalog back in high school. That being said, my BEST kits over the decades have been Slingerland 80N and 4N, Rogers Celebrity (my first Pro kit in 1972, and a few Ludwig Super Classic kits. As to the dozens of kits I've had, I must say that I've NEVER had a bad Rogers kit! I certainly can't say that for Ludwig or Slingerland. Don't even get me started on the poor quality of my first, brand new, Slingerland kit! Still, I love all of them. Sadly, I've never owned a Gretsch kit.

Calfskin,

Bit sweeping, no?

Seems Ringo did a bunch of stuff to suit his own self and setups. Some swivo hardware by times. Calfskin heads in later years. Those decisions don't seem driven by vanity, rather practical and/or artistic motives seem more likely.

cheers,

Patrick