Like this example.

Great question. I have never seen this finish, thanks for posting it.

I think that the blue color was applied to the back side of the clear top ply before that ply was laminated to the bottom ply. The limited reissue of the Salesman's Sample drums in 2018 differed from the original salesman's sample drums from several decades earlier. The 1951 WFL in the picture on the left had individual narrow strips of the various sparkle wraps butted against each other and glued to the shell. The 2018 drums pictured on the right had the various colors and the black lines separating the colors painted on the inside of the clear top ply before that ply was laminated to the bottom ply upon which were the silver metallic flakes.

Thanks, Howie. I think you are probably correct. This is one of those times when I wish Bill Ludwig was still around so I could ask him personally. Did you know that Bill III is now marketing custom-made drums under the name III? We're friends on FB.

C&C does a modern version of this but they spray lacquer over the top of the wrap.

I think this is most likely what Ludwig did back in the day.

Pearl wrap is made in large blocks, a bit bigger than 24" x 50" and then thin slices were made. This slice was laminated with the clear front and a backing layer. The resulting sheet is 24" x 50". This was produced by outside suppliers, not the drum companies.

Unless the wrap manufacturer was making individual pieces of wrap sized for a drum with the fade color, which is doubtful, the added color would have to be on the top of the clear layer, non under it.

The drum company would wrap the drum as usual, and spray the tinted lacquer just like they sprayed the Duco drums.

Isn't it also possible that a second ultra-thin clear ply with the color on the back side could be laminated on top of the original clear layer? It seems to me that paint on the outside of the top ply wouldn't hold up very well.

I think it's very unlikely that any of the drum manufacturers would have had the ability to laminate another layer onto the wrap. That would be a pretty specialized process and given how rare these fade wrap finishes were, I don't think they would have spent the money for the equipment to do that. They did, however, have the equipment to spray a translucent tinted lacquer as that would be the same equipment that they sprayed the Duco finishes with.

I'm not saying it's not possible, and I have no documentation to prove either case, but a sprayed finish does seem much more likely.

Paint on the outside of the outer ply would make the finish on those drums way too fragile--more so than a satin flame wrap. Just think about putting a drum in a bag or a case and scraping it lightly with a fingernail. OUCH!