No actual answers - just more personal speculation & observations ~

I'd have to concur - the wrap seemed very inconsistent - inkonsistant - enconsidant? - Yeah, kinda like that :p

Back in '07 I searched the web all year collecting pics to figure out my Gold Strata. (resolved here on VDF) Cool1

The primary problems, along with wrap batch variations, I think, range from people misnaming them, to difficulty photographing them, to fading.

It almost seems that the older the drum, the more two-tone the colors are, with the Gold being the only real 3-tone. Over time, they all seem to be 3-tone variations - black, silvery and the base color (name)

One thing, about your "where they cut the wrap" idea ~ this link to Delmar has a cool pick of the giant block of material being shaved for wrap. I don't know if this is the same process as in Strata days, but your blend consistency idea could easily be imagined with such a process - especially with those wacky Stratas.

http://www.delmarproducts.com/OurProducts.htm

Maybe it also depended on which side of the block the wrap was cut from in relation to how the strata colors were poured "Whoops! We had that block upside-down and backwards" Laughing H

[QUOTE=NewDecade;34518]

Back in '07 I searched the web all year collecting pics to figure out my Gold Strata. (resolved here on VDF) Cool1

[QUOTE]

I would love to see some pics you found. This would be an appropriate place to place a selection. Very topical.

[QUOTE=NewDecade;34518]

It almost seems that the older the drum, the more two-tone the colors are, with the Gold being the only real 3-tone. Over time, they all seem to be 3-tone variations - black, silvery and the base color (name)

[QUOTE]

My Blue Strata has Black, a marine pearl, Blue, and various shades of those three where the three colors mixed well. It really doesn't have silver in it nor does it have only three colors.

As far as my pics collection, I recently cleared out a bunch to free up hard drive space - I only have a little Mac laptop w/ a broken CD burner :( - I did keep a few "best" examples of each color.

Since other folks took the pics, I'd not feel right about posting them here - ya know, copyright & respect to the original sellers / owners (plus I didn't always note who took the pic).

I'd share them off VDF though - for educational purposes - Might even be a pic or 2 of drums you've sold or bought :p

This said, It would be a GREAT IDEA for all Strata owning VDF members to submit pics of their booty ...er drums of Strata persuasion. To have that in one place here would be awesome!

Regarding the "pearl" color - me thinks that the marine pearl you speak of *may* be the silver that I'm referring to. My thought is that the color is basically 2 tone, black and the base color - but that the silvery pearl is the medium that carries & brings out the color.

I've noticed on an old Blue tom I have, that under the lugs, the blue is quite striking, but elsewhere the fade gives way to the silvery pearl. Plus, on my Gold Stratas (3) the bronzish shade is what seems to be the gold-orangish color difused by the silvery pearl. (see sunlight snare shell pic to see what I mean)

- - Perhaps the Golds were made a little differently with additional silvery pearl added at a certain point to accent it separately - while the others used more dye color to "overwhelm" the silvery shades with Lemon, Ruby, Blue, Avocodo or Bronze.

If the nature of the color is a dye added to the pearl, that might explain the wide variations (i.e. amount and quality of dye) as well as how the pearl-to-color ratio is effected by fading, leaving more of the pearl to show through.

If the wrap is basically pearl and black with color added to the pearl before blending in the black, that could explain a lot Hmmmm

I don't see it. My guess is the quality of the wrap suffered for MOST of the time. The mix just wasn't there. It was thin which gave way to mostly thin lines with an occasional explosion of named color (blue, avocado, lemon, etc). It is somewhat rare, from what I've seen, to have a deep and wide mixing of the colors. In mathematical terms, the majority of what I've seen are tight line patterns measuring about 3/4 to one inch wide. It is very unusual to have a large area spread with no distinct lines and individual color zones measuring five to twelve inches. That's what I've noticed. The vast majority of the drums that I've seen (very few 'cause I'm new at this particular bit of data gathering) fall into the category of thin lined patterns. That's why I wanted to see more examples. It's also why I've opened up this discussion. I want to know more about this as this will surely help guide collectors and set prices. I'm not a collector and really hope I never become one. I'm more of a puzzler. This has gotten me curious and I'm seeking out data to draw conclusions. My guess is what we find here will impact personal draw and market value a bit. It's similar to the pricing differences between true Oyster and Bowling Ball. There is a difference in the two and there is a difference in collectibility and value. Please note that I said "similar". There are inherent similarities here, but there are other more important variables at play (wood being the main one). Anyway, I agree with your idea of having a place to post pics of finishes...keeping in mind that there will be differences in photo techniques as a major variable in this equation. I'm hoping that more people will step in and share their personal experiences and maybe their pics so that we can get a handle on this. We are right on the cusp. It really won't take much more to open this one up. Some are already hot on the trail.

Hmm... Hard to say about the quality suffering most of the time - Part of it [i think] depends on the aim of what the Strata design was supposed to be. The idea of layers kinda seemed to be the initial plan, so sections larger than "five to twelve inches", I wouldn't think would be intended.

However, your perspective has caused me to "see" the wrap differently. Those "tight line" patterns can be quite narrow, an inch or less, though on my 13" tom, I have line sections that are 3" to 4" inches wide. Also, those bands often open up into wider color swatches further around the drum. - - But, Yeah, quite inconsistent.

The Lemon Strata bass drum pic I sent is maybe an exception, though that may be (again) just a "good" section of the wrap at one time in history - it boggles the mind....

I guess that I've mostly just looked at the wrap on the whole and less in individual sections/layers. - - In all of my hunting down, inquiring and thinking about it - the one thing everyone seems to agree on is that it's just some plain crazy wrap.

To quote O-Lugs from an unrelated post "Standards' standards weren't all that standard."

My background (and degree) is in Biology. I've spent lots of hours gazing at and studying cross sections of tissue and such. That's kind of like what the Strata finishes are. They are cross sections of a larger "thing". The large piece has an area that is well blended (most likely the direct center) and other areas that were not touched. That gives rise to the tight line patterns and the large swirling vortex of color explosions that we see. That also would explain the relative rarity of the large multicolor patterns versus the bi-color tighter lined patterns. They just didn't take enough time (with every batch) to thoroughly blend the colors. That's what I see. I also believe they modified the method for producing it over a very short period of time. There was more than one batch made with only two colors. I don't believe for a minute that they only added the (white/silver) color to only the gold. I have it in abundance on my blue strata kit and I've seen several other examples of it in other colored kits. This is truly mind boggling.

I have another question. Look at the pic I've posted here. What is/are the colors? Which is which? They appear identical, do they not?

What I meant is that they all have 2 basic colors - black and pearl - to which a more transparent, name color is added - but in the Gold, more pearl is allowed to be present without additional color - Just a theory. I agree that they all have 3 elements

In the old catalog samples - Gold *seems* the only distinctly 3 color sample - - In my reading, folks on other forums had similar observations. - - No question that, depending on name color concentration, fade, and how light hits, that silver/pearl is in every color.

If Delmar made this wrap for Ludwig, I have a hard time thinking that they "slacked" off and on over the 4 or so years of production - specifically on the Ludwig Strata wrap - seems odd for the main company that specializes in such products supplying American drum makers - though I can understand experimenting with the recipe.

I'd think that this stuff is all liquid to start and that the pouring and blending (or not blending) mechanisms on the machines are, more or less, consistent - despite the black, pearl and color blend percentages. Probably scads of other variables during the process.

Whoa duuuude - I know that we're both "brainstorming" our imaginations on the process here, but WOW this is fun to speculate on :D.

As far as your 2 pics - comparing them is the essence of my "hair-pulling" - trying to discern between some Golds and Bronzes. - - These could be 2 views of the same drum, 2 different Golds, or Gold on the left and a Bronze variation on the right - - but Yes, they appear fairly identical.

My Gold strata snare shell pic that I posted above looks very much like a Bronze in indoor lighting. (see new pics) 2 more views of the same drum.

I think we need to hear from both Ludwig & Delmar on how this wrap was done - I'd LUV to know the process Yes Sir

I think you're right ~ we are right on the cusp!

Here's a cool link to an early strata forerunner:

http://www.vintage-drum-net.de/collection/ludwig/1960downbeat.htm

Well....I'm just taking a guess here...

The Standard line was a more budget-minded line of drums. It could have very easily been a fact that Ludwig was offered a good deal on some wraps that weren't big sellers and then branded them with some cool-sounding names like "Strata" or "Astro" in order to make them more appealing. This could account for some of the inconsistencies seen in the patterning and also account for some of the color ambiguities.

In any case, they were their own thing. They were an early attempt to compete with the expanding global marketplace. They were relatively short-lived drums. In many ways, they are more rare than the regular Ludwig lines. It's just that, at the time, they were seen as budget. The hardware was extremely simple -the pedals especially. But the lugs, rims, snare stand and cymbal stands were quite nice. The sound is Ludwig. What more can you say? Part of Ludwig's success as a company was the fact they made shrewd business decisions and made creative marketing schemes.

"Strata" implies a pattern of striping or layering. The catalogs showed fairly striped examples in the color swatch section. I think the process of making these wraps was something like pulling taffy. Sometimes, the striping pattern got "off" and the wraps took on a more open and colorful pattern. But, believe it or not, I think those more open patterns that showed more color, were actually the "quirks". I think they were shooting for stripes. It was the Oyster colors that had that more open pattern. Sometimes a Strata would turn out more like an Oyster, but, overall, the idea of the Strata wraps was to have them show stratification.

That being said, I like the more open patterning, too!:2Cents:

I too thought about the stratified look (as in geological formations with various minerals running through - i.e. striations - or the layering effect - i.e. sedimentary), but some of them are so ridiculously tight that no third color makes an appearance. Those are the "errors" that I was speaking of. I also agree that the intense explosions of color and shape are also "errors" in a sense. It's like they used the same formula and method for making the Oysters, but left the final mixing stage out. They are on their way to becoming Oyster finishes but don't quite get there in the processing. Strange.

Yes, but even the Oysters weren't always consistent at times. There were quirks in all those "blended" finishes because they were all essentially hand made. Finished like "Psychedelic Red" or "Mod Orange" or "Citrus Mod" were also like Oyster patterns -except with a different color palette. And I have seen examples of Psych Red that has a lot of green and other examples that have very little green. Some Mod Orange wraps have a lot of purple and some don't. Citrus Mod is so rare, I can't even comment on it!

I think your Blue Stratas are exceptionally nice and have that nice open pattern. But, at the same time, it's less typical than the standard for a Strata wrap. I think the Stratas were the best of the Standards' finish options.

I have always thought the Standards to be the sleepers of the collecting world. To have a nice, Strata complete set with hardware and all is really a cool thing.