Weaklefthand4ever

Well at least I got the die-nasty correct. That's awesome to hear that the Tamas are coming in light. You really don't need much shell strength with free floaters. Beech and Birch would make far more sense than Maple. They are light and very resonant. Plus I would almost be willing go bet that any Maple used for plys would be soft maple. Hardness wise they're probably within 200 of being the same on the janka scale (sorry I am not going to look it up.) But weight wise maple if far heavier. Maybe they've gone to all Birch and Beech shells by now. I'm way behind in my drum building chops.

All very true. The old 80s challengers weren't really any heavier than the Pearl Criterions were. I feel like the Yamahas were maybe a tad lighter and the Premier Resonators were a good bit lighter. The biggest beef I had with Ludwig Challengers was the snare strainer. It was horrid to tune and the cam would wear out half way through the season. Drum set wise, Ludwig sets were pretty darn good. Big sound, lots of size options and just REALLY consistent from set to set. Hardware is definitely where the weight comes in. Tamas marching snares are the new beast weight wise IMHO. Heavier than Dynasty. Pearl and Yamaha haven't changed much in many years. Yeah yeah yeah carbon fiber blah blah blah. I tinker with a LOT of carbon fiber because I build low deflection pool cue shafts with it. It sounds like.....well....nothing. It has no tone, no warmth and no feel. It's a dead material. But we have to remember we're playing on table tops now so tone isn't that crucial. Now the WORST material ever was good ol' Vistalite. A close second goes to North and Stingray for bringing us the hell that is fiberglass. That's my vision of hell. 6th grade drumlines outfitted with an entire battery of Remo Legato drums. /shiver

Yes old Ludwig Challenger. Aptly named because it was a challenge to keep them in tune for more than 5 minutes. I can tell you there were MANY a collapsed shell at Spirit Camps in the late 80s. Double and triple hooping Kevlar = bad day for ludwig drums.

We have to have something to do, right brother? We already had the deep discussion of the how the "dut" came to be and somewhere in this forum is probably a thread about something silly like "Why are there 106 ways to play the same hybrid rudiment?" We are simple creatures and pretty drum colors excite us. P.S. - Show of hands, how many of us used contact paper to "re-skin" the drums with one of our high school lines we taught because we had a budget of $19.73 for the entire season

I had a Ludwig kit in pewter (stainless) wrap at one point. I always hated their marching drums (which seemed to follow me from high school to drum corps) but loved their kits.

Clearwater and then down into Orlando. Palmetto Bugs and Bananna Spiders.

That aged onyx is interesting. For a very short time, there was a blue marine pearl which almost immediately changed the name to that onyx color. For the life of me I can't remember if they used the onyx name. A blue marine pearl with black hardware would look AMAZING on marching percussion. I also wish Ludwig would go back to the super sensitive snare strainer for concert snares. Fantastic concert strainer. Hard to imagine that I fall into the "legacy" range of drums lol.

Mine came with calfskin heads on the kick drum. Interesting set with a really big sound. I also loved the cabana kits.

That's very true Keystone. I have a late 50's Radio King 4 piece club kit. I know it's a Buddy Rich model because the Gene Krupa versions during that time were silver sparkle. The kick drum is massive (24".) It is, indeed, very yellowed lol.

It's supposed to imitate oyster shell. There was also a black marine pearl. I would think they go back to at least the 30's when laminate became a thing. Slingerland used a "small fleck" version where the pattern was smaller and tighter. Keystones image in his post is a good example of the Ludwig version. Regular, long strips or bands of pattern with some pretty clear horizontal lines. The black marine pearl from Ludwig was different than either of the other two.

I actually have a few drums worth of the Slingerland white marine pearl covering somewhere upstairs. Ward Wilson (Punkinator Drums formerly Wilson Customs) and I bought some after the factory fire if I remember correctly. Very different from the oyster pearl that Ludwig used. I think the Glassmen used the black oyster pearl one season. The drums now are simply gorgeous.

Aaannnndddd mental note. Asian Giant Hornet = NOPE

Oh you're so right! I forgot about the champagne sparkle Pearl's. I want to say 1985 they used Premiers.

I want to see ONE CORPS do a magnificent champagne sparkle or better yet white marine pearl. Even if it only lasted a week, the old school nod would be amazing. I haven't seen champagne sparkle since SCV 1985. We marched white marine pearl in 87' but I haven't seen it since.

Love the sparkle into a fade. Hip look

I was just thinking "Where's the chain?? What am supposed to bite down on?? What happens if I shako shake and the thing flies off and impales a guardie??"

Very true. But would you agree that in general, the demand on playing was lower when the drill demand was high? Now I am talking only from a mid to late 80s experience so it could be different generationally (is that a word?)

OK Suta...follow me here. We have seen the dinosaurs hiding the props. We have the dinosaur T-Shirt. And the headgear doessssss kinda look like a Parasaurolophus. I'm kinda diggin' on this vibe man.

He was also in my favorite band of all time, Toto.

I was about to say that look like 12 lug Slingerland TDR's. I marched those exact tenors in HS but converted them to quints in like 1985 or so. Ludwigs in DCI and Corders (barf) in college until we got Pearls.

My favorite site for motivational (de-motivational) posters and calendars. When I worked on site, I had these up all over my office LOL.

I will never complain about a 19lbs Premier marching snare again. (Ok that's a lie....I will still complain about them)

I voted for that Asteroid for president in 2020......

My take on people wanting woodwinds in drum corps that have brought it up to the rules congress 1.37 zillion times

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