Actually there is no comparison here since its a kind of an "apples and oranges" thing here. Keller's "vintage maple" shells are ALL maple, unlike the legacy shells which are a true maple/poplar/maple combo. The Ludwig shells are 3-ply (like the originals were) and the Keller shells are a thin 6-ply shell.

Keller's vintage maple shells are probably closer to the sound of the pre-XP8 Rogers shellss more than anything else. The Legacy shells sound much closer to the vintage Ludwig 3-ply shells than anything Keller offers.

No, the Keller Vintage maples are indeed maple/poplar/maple mix....not sure exactly the layup...but they are 6-ply shells. AND...the reinforcement rings are MUCH wider than their vintage counterparts'.

The Legacy's are 3-ply maple/poplar/maple with a thicker poplar core ply, but they are made "tighter" than the true old school vintage 3-ply shells. They are probably the closest to a true vintage shell that modern construction methods allow. I don't think they are available for sale by themselves.

Yes you are correct....they have changed the layup in recent times....they USED to be all maple. Now they are in fact a maple/poplar combo, yet they don't say how many plies of each or the order of layup....my bad. :D

Thanks Y'all. The Keller site states 6 ply construction of 'equal combination' of maple/poplar. I bought one of the snare shells and like the sound which is whats prompted to me to look further. I also remember the sound of a Sonor kit, all poplar, which I liked. I have a shell pack of the Keller Vintage Mahogany shells, impressed with the sound and build and (all costs included) they certainly cost a lot less than DW Classics!

I've got a bop kit that was custom built by Rob Kampa and he used some of the Joe Montineiri prototype shells that were used in the development of the Vintage Mahogany line. I like them, in general, but I HATE those extra-wide reinforcement rings. The rings, UNlike their vintage counterparts, are made from ply wood. The vintage ones are much thinner and solid maple. The modern shells are heavier, stiffer and they project more of the sound out of the shell. True vintage shells are looser and more resonant, in my opinion.

I think they still offer their older all-maple shells, too. But the "Vintage" Maple line includes poplar in the layup. Now, again, I don't know the order of the ply layup on them, but IF they are smart, they will put the poplar plies toward the center of the layup to better mimic the way vintage shells had a thicker poplar core ply.

Actually, vintage 3-ply shells owe their sound to the solid poplar cores. Those inner and outer veneers are very thin on vintage drum -like >1/16th of an inch! The poplar core ply is 1/4" thick. That makes up a total shell thickness of >3/8ths of an inch! And poplar is the reason those vintage shells are lightweight and easy to move around, too. Poplar is a really great wood. It's lightweight, flexible and strong and bonds well to other woods. It's also fairly inexpensive.

all good points O Lugs; I did a cost analysis between a kit from Keller/Precision and a Legacy Classic, the difference being at least $2000, plus I can have a natural wood finish with the Keller shells and my choice of lugs from Precision. But what I gather is the Ludwig's are closer to the original specs. My Vintage Mahoganies sound awesome in a heavy rock band I'm currently playing in currently.

Ludwig is now offering the Legacy series in "Thermogloss" aka natural maple finish.

I *really* want to try the Keller Vintage Mahogany shells. If I can't find the components to put together my dream Ludwig & Ludwig set, I'll be doing a repro using those shells with original vintage Imperial lugs. I play heavy rock too, I think it'd be a good fit.