Hello and welcome to the forum. Your drums are maple/poplar/mahogany and the Supra is Ludalloy (aluminum alloy).

O-Lugs thanks for the warm welcome and quick answer. Oddly my keystone badges only have 5 digit serial #'s, while my olives have 6#'s. The seller told me they all were bought in the mid 70's. Could the keystones be mid/late 60's? Also, the white paint inside the shells isnt too bad, but Id like to repaint. What do you recommend? Spray paint?...what kind? Should I sand all the old paint off first, or just repaint over it? Thanks again, this is a huge help.

Erik,

As a collector, I must recommend that you do not re-paint the interiors of those drums. Many times, the white-painted interiors are in not-so-great shape, but it's the original condition (including the original paint) that gives these drums their enduring value to collectors. They will ALWAYS sound good no matter if you re-paint or not...but since the drums' interiors are usually obscured by single-ply coated drumheads, it kinda becomes a moot point if the interiors are re-painted or not. See what I mean? :) Therefore, I think it is in your best interest to NOT re-paint the interiors.

To answer your other question regarding the badges....Yes, the drums could be a combination of late 60's (keystone) badges and early 70's (B/O) badges. It is HIGHLY unlikely that they were released from the Ludwig factory with different badges, though. The baseball bat mufflers ended in 1968. After that, they switched to the rotary dial and the drums' interiors were no longer painted white . They were clear maple. Then, in 1970, the badges changed from keystone to B/O. The interiors remained clear maple.

It sounds like what you have is a combination of two separate kits -one is a 60's and the other is a 70's. Pictures would help to further this discussion!

"..but since the drums' interiors are usually obscured by single-ply coated drumheads, it kinda becomes a moot point if the interiors are re-painted or not. "

Agree 100% with O-Lugs on this one. as far as painting over the original ...

I put clear Remo's on my '66 kit specifically so I can admire the "old" paint job and see the date stamps.....

John

I would look into the shells of the keystone badge drums. There is probobly a date right in there. That 5-digit number is probobly 1965 or therabouts. Drums from the eraly 60's have the stamp in red in while drums from late 1965-early 1966 use a black stamp. The dates might be hard to read sometimes so I would take a close look. The 70's drums could possibly have date stamps as well but a lot of them don't.

Another interesting thing to note is that Ludwig used a different glue in the 60's so the seems on those drum are probobly pretty tight. In the 70's they had to switch because of osha laws or something like that. The seems on 70's drums tend to lift. That is very common. Sounds like a nice mix of Ludwigs.

Guys thanks for all your help. Just yesterday I was stripping down the snare drum and Ta-Da! A date stamp! March12 1964! Bam! I couldnt find it on any other drums, but I found it inside the snare. 61/2 x 14 with gold sparkle finish, and baseball bat tone knob. Very good condition. What do you think the snare may be worth?? Just curious...thanks again everyone. I'll work on getting some pics up soon.

you're not the erik martin from Mr. Big are you?

ahhhh-ha! Wow, I didnt know many people remember Erik Martin from Mr. Big. I am not he. This used to be one of my radio names. I'm an on-air personality. So kind of close, yes, we're both on the radio...but he was singing with Mr. Big, and I'm just talking :)

Just curious, he's actually married to my best friend's wife's cousin. He's stiil big in Japan and his wife plays drums for him once in a while from what I hear.....