I find very little difference. The reason being: Ludwig 3-ply drums are mostly solid poplar with the thin veneer of mahogany and/or maple and it's really the poplar that makes up the total contact surface of the bearing edges. 3-ply shells are essentially solid poplar with decorative veneers.

Most 3-ply shells are maple/poplar/mahogany and had painted white interiors.

Then, in the late 60's/early 70's. Ludwig went to non-painted interiors with a clear maple inner ply.

One unusual (maybe) aspect of the 3-ply shells is the weight. I have compared identical 3-ply drums that don't weigh the same. That likely has to do with slight variances in the density of the poplar and possibly slight variances in the cast metal pieces. But a heavier drum will sound slightly 'brighter' and have more sustain than a lighter one.

Interesting... Sounds like not much difference between early 60s to late 60s in terms of shell makeup...being that poplar makes up the larger part of the shell...

I'm not too concerned with clear vs painted, but was mainly curious about the wood makeup, and if that provided any actual sonic difference. Contemplating a late 60s kit.

Ringo had a couple of different kits with different shell layups. No offense, but it is somewhat maddening to me (myself) to bear witness to the "Ringo sound" discussions. There were so many variables and such ... it's a somewhat futile exercise.

Off my soapbox.

As far as the Luddy layups ... the AM/P/AM layup will most always offer a deeper warmer tone than the M/P/M.

O'Man hit the nail. The single biggest change in 60s70s Luddy 3ply sound came when they shifted to the clear maple inners. It not only got rid of the stupid hump, but it opened up the brighter side of the drums.

You wanna examine some cool differences in 3ply sounds, check out Slingerland shells from the 60s through the late 70s. All 3ply but HUGE differences in sounds. Amazing stuff there.

Good info. Sorry for the Ringo reference...lol...Cool Dude

The important thing is that it sounds good...

I have always found that my 3-ply Ludwigs sound more open and brighter than many others because I use Diplomat heads all around on the tom toms and other people prefer Ambassadors.

And I never strike the drums dead-center. I always strike slightly off-center -which will also make a difference in the tone. What I'm getting at is that IF you (or anyone) could duplicate everything else, then the differences between between which veneers were used and in what order the layup was made, are so minute, I don't know how they could even be determined -other than maybe that some people could perceive frequencies that others couldn't....but, I, myself, can't say.

I actually have two red sparkle Jazzette kits and did a kind of loose A/B comparison one time -being that they both had the exact same wrap and the exact same hardware -the only difference being the shell layup; One of them is a mahogany/poplar/maple layup with a white painted interior.

The other Jazzette kit is a 1969 kit with a clear maple interior.

The '69 kit with the clear maple interior sounds a little brighter and has a little more sustain....BUT, when I weighed them, the '69 was also a little heavier. Why? I don't know. Again, probably the difference in that particular batch of plywood and maybe some of the castings were thicker or thinner, etc. Needless to say, there were unseen variances. The hump was gone. Maybe the edges were a little better...hard to say.

As has been mentioned, there are SO many variables to consider, that you either have to worry about them all, or do what I do and just say, "F--- it!" and deal with whatever the particular drum is going to allow you to do and just accept it. Some have better edges than others and thus are able to be tuned through a wider range. Others are so out, they almost allow no leeway at all. But that's what vintage drums are -they are perfectly imperfect. They are inconsistent and even when you think you're getting what should be__________, you end up getting one that sounds more like_________!

Welcome to the wonderful world of vintage drums! ;)

Big-O, I am so grateful you've stuck it out and remained an active member here. Thank you.