You're exactly right. In the mid-60s in Britain, the vast majority of young musicians wanted American instruments, which were perceived as being better than anything that you could get in England. There was a trade embargo for years that prevented US manufacturers from selling instruments to English retailers, so when American gear finally became available, the race was on to get a Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker or Gretsch guitar. Same with drums. Ludwig ruled the roost as a result of The Beatles' popularity. Ringo was proud to have an American drumkit, so he had the store where he bought them re-paint and enlarge the Ludwig logo so people could see he played American drums. Ringo was also happy to be able to buy Avedis Zildjian cymbals. Prior that that, he'd been using other brands. Ringo has stayed with Ludwig drums all his life, obviously. I'd say Ringo was the best salesman Ludwig ever had. Between Ringo and Buddy, they probably sold more drums for that company than anyone else. Gene Krupa did the same for Slingerland for decades.You may notice that 60's British drummers are rarely seen playing Slingerland or Gretsch drums. Ludwig was the dominant name back then along with Premier. English Rogers drums were fundamentally different than American Rogers. If I'm not mistaken, English Rogers drums were made by Premier. I'm sure someone can either confirm or deny that.

Great, let's see Slingerlug?

You're exactly right. In the mid-60s in Britain, the vast majority of young musicians wanted American instruments, which were perceived as being better than anything that you could get in England. There was a trade embargo for years that prevented US manufacturers from selling instruments to English retailers, so when American gear finally became available, the race was on to get a Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker or Gretsch guitar. Same with drums. Ludwig ruled the roost as a result of The Beatles' popularity. Ringo was proud to have an American drumkit, so he had the store where he bought them re-paint and enlarge the Ludwig logo so people could see he played American drums. Ringo was also happy to be able to buy Avedis Zildjian cymbals. Prior that that, he'd been using other brands. Ringo has stayed with Ludwig drums all his life, obviously. I'd say Ringo was the best salesman Ludwig ever had. Between Ringo and Buddy, they probably sold more drums for that company than anyone else. Gene Krupa did the same for Slingerland for decades.You may notice that 60's British drummers are rarely seen playing Slingerland or Gretsch drums. Ludwig was the dominant name back then along with Premier. English Rogers drums were fundamentally different than American Rogers. If I'm not mistaken, English Rogers drums were made by Premier. I'm sure someone can either confirm or deny that.

Indeed but during and after the Fab 4 craze Ludwig could not ship fast enough to meet the demand worldwide so quality control went south for a while and they did pump out some real lemons. I own and play Ludwigs from the 50's, 60's and 70's and love them but when buying old ones, you have to inspect every drum. Not because the badge says Ludwig that they are perfect.