I have two candidates: my George Way kit and a '59 Ludwig transition badge kit I recently re-wrapped. Both kits are amazing sounding drums. The '59 Luddy is especially impressive, best sounding set of Luddy toms & bass drum I've ever owned.
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John
Love the sound of my 50's Gretsch 3 ply best!
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I do have to also give a nod to the verminator and those 80's Imperialstars. I also have a partial set of those that sound really awesome.
My 67` Rogers Holidays are my favs.
Wayne
Every single set of mid 60's Slingerland or Leedy drums of the many that I have owned. The two I have now are definitely among the best sounding drum sets I've ever had.
1963 Leedy---9x13, 16x16, 14x20, matching Shelly Manne snare drum
late 1960's (68?) Slingerland---8x12, 14x14, 14x20. Various snares, but I favor my pre WW2 4x13 Radio King
So far my `68 Rogers has probably been the best sounding kit. I have a set of new Ludwig Classic Maples that are a close second.
Just something about Rogers in black that is super classy. Nice kit!
That would have to be a set of 1958 WFL Super Classics I had back in the 70's.
1971 Ludwig Rock Duo set in Blue Oyster Pearl
early Mapex dual bass drum Saturn kit
1964 Leedy Ray Mosca kit in Blue Sparkle
1959 Slingerland Super Gene Krupa snare in WMP
1968 Slingerland Hollywood Ace Snare Drum
1969 and 1977 Ludwig 400 Supraphonic snares
1965 Acrolite snare
Ludwig Coliseum snare
'68 Rogers Dynasonic snare
Pearl free floating piccolo snare
13" Mapex piccolo snare
6.5" deep Mapex steel snare
Mapex 6.5" Brass snare
I know there's more snares than that.
UFIP cymbals / Avedis Zildjians
Ghost pedals or Tama King Beats
you kids get off my lawn
1977 Yamaha YD9000 kit which I should never have sold .
My current kit - '67 Rogers Holiday, sweet sounding kit, the 20" bass drum is particularly great.
My late 50's gold sparkle Gretsch 3ply kit is my favourite to play and sounds great. I think my 2011 DropG badged 3pc (18/12/14) with my 125th Anniversary 4.5x14 Vineyard model Round badged snare (all in Champagne Sparkle) is my best sounding kit and fun to play also. It's also a little easier to tune than the late 50's kit.
This does not count collectability as a factor. For example I had a set of early 80's Tama Imperialstars that sounded unbelievable. My favorite sounding drum set I have ever owned is one that I regret selling last year. It was a 1970 Ludwig Standard in Bronze Strata. They just could not be tuned improperly. They sounded great with the crappy heads that came when I bought them. They sounded better with coated ambassadors top and bottom and I know that they sound awesome for the guy who bought them (i need a moment here . . . . ). Anyway, second fave would be a mid 70's Big R Rogers kit.
Best sounding kit i ever had, by far was my Ludwig Bowling Ball Black Oyster kit, in standard 22-12-13-16.. It sounded so good that i used to literally weep after i would hear the recordings i did with them years later..Lol ! My current goal is to find the same kit in either Black or Blue bowling ball oyster, and i will not stop until i do find it.. ;)
