Hello Dave!... and THANKS for the nice words regarding my drums. Glad you like 'em!... and the background for your desktop too?! The drums are flattered!! :-DBeing the huge BR fan I am, I am very well versed on his many drums/endorsements, but have to admit that Rogers, and specifically Buddy's Rogers endorsement period, are my personal favorite and the one's I know cold off the top of my head, although I have snare drums/sets from BR's career spanning the years between 1949 to 1979... so that said: I will tell you that Buddy's 2nd WFL/Ludwig endorsement period was from 1946 to 1959, and that is the exact era we are talking about here... so then I went back and checked WFL/Ludwig catalogs up to 1957 as that is the latest one I have before 1960, and YES!... the #900P 51/2X14 snare drum was still in fact called the "Buddy Rich Model Super Classic". After Buddy split to go to Rogers in 1960, the Ludwig #900P snare drum was renamed just the "Super Classic", and the 61/2X14 Ray McKinley became the "Symphonic Model", which is how most guys remember it today. So yes, that is correct Dave!!The "problem" across the board with ORIGINAL WMP has always been the yellowing/fading, and my WFL's are no different in that regard. They have changed over the years, but not too horribly, as the pics I showed you would attest. My 1955 BR Model snare drum is a very close if not almost perfect match to the rest of the set, which worked out real well! I keep these drums cased at all times unless they're being played/gigged of course, so that does keep the "yellowing" at bay. With that said, I prefer playing the Rogers and use those 99.9% of the time for gigging, although I have brought the WFL's out here and there depending on the gig/venue, but always inside venues so as not to suffer a lot more in the way of UV damage, which of course just speeds along the yellowing of WMP.Speaking of your Aqua 1955 WFL's: I have the 1949 3X13 Buddy Rich Be-bop model snare drum in WMP with the "beer-tap" strainer which is the father to yours! :-D Buddy requested Ludwig build that drum for him, and he played it with a lot of the smaller groups he was working with at the time. Again at three plies w/rings, it also has a relatively low fundamental, but the 3X13 size actually works in this regard, and the drum has a nice "higher" pitch to it, but retains a lot of that "woody warmth" that the WFL/Ludwig drums of this era were known for!I'll attach another pic of the WFL BR model set, but this time you can see what the WMP really looks like as there is a lot more depth of color in this pic. Because of the low stage light... ( these were taken right after sound check ) ... the cymbals have almost completely disappeared!... but the WMP wrap is pretty accurate in color. Not too "white" anymore... but not that yellow either! :-DTommyp
flowers2Wow man you sure know your stuff! Very cool Tommy. Do you also have the same Buddy sizes in Rogers? 24 Bass? If you have time at some point,I sure would like to see a picture or three. Have you tried out the Earthtones at all? Tommy I just found your pictures in the Gallery, Again very very impressive!Thanks again, DaveCool Dude
