I've also been trying to find examples of the 70's 6.5" Vistalite snare drums. There's just not that many of them and, those that I've found have been single color, not multi-band color. So, yes, the drum in question does appear to be on the rare side.

What is the depth of the top and bottom panels? If they're each the same depth, then this is probably a case of measuring issues from the start. Let me know those depths.

-Mark

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I don't believe that the shells were made in-house, so there was probably a mistake from the manufacturer. I think Ludwig did the edges and drilling.

I'm looking through all my pictures of 70's Vistalite 6.5" snare drums and none are multi-band. All are single color. So, again, your drum appears to be rare. Odd panel sizes and lug drilling...but rare!

-Mark

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Here are pictures of the only 4 Vistalite 70's snare drums I have on my computer. They're all 5x14. However, if you look closely at those that have original tension rods, it appears as if the depth varies from shell to shell. Is it just me?!! All the lugs appear to be centered on the shell.

-Mark

I believe that Ludwig used the same lugs on both 5" and 6.5" snare drums. This is also evidenced by the fact that the same size lugs, whether Imperial or Classic, were used on the traditional 5" and 6.5" snare drums. I believe the longer lug was used on 8" snare drums.

-Mark

Here you go! Check out this YouTube video of a 70's Vistalite snare drum, 6.5", with Classic lugs!

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72dkVxqEFdE"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72dkVxqEFdE[/ame]

-Mark

Just found this picture on the internet! Same color bands as yours, but the lugs are properly centered!

-Mark

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That is funny!!

I was also thinking the same about the position of lugs, knowing that centering them on your shell would cause structural issues.

-Mark