I put a magnet to it, and it's a steel shell. I won't know about the sound entirely until I take the NOS Ludwig Rocker head off of it. It sounds OK, I just hate snares with power dot heads of any sort.
About where I got it...
I do know from conversation and digging through stuff at the store that they dealt in Ludwig forever, Gretsch a tiny bit in the 60's, Premier in the 70's and 80's, and carried Star and various Star brands as their budget drums for a long time. Ruether is another one they had at one time or another. They guy who was their Ludwig guy also supplied them with their "second line" stuff. They have a bunch of hardware parts that look to be Pearl/Pearl clones from the 70's.
They mainly did band/ orchestra sales and rentals. So they have about 50 acrolite "kits" (bells, bad, drum and stand in case) and some Royal Star snare kits...not sure if they built those or what. Unfortunately, all I've looked through thus far have been well used and wouldn't be a real bargain to pick up. They also have about 200 NOS 15" slingerland batter heads. The box is cool so I may go back and get a few but I don't have a 15" drum.
The best part of the story (albeit sad in a way) is that after 53 years, they are closing the business. Everything is 75% off the ticketed price. The Apollo snare had a ticketed price of $225, so I got it for $62.50 plus tax. I also got a NOS Ludwig Super Sensitive, with the hang tag still attached. It is an Elkhart era one, B/O badge, dead mint, less than $200. I also snagged a couple Premier tri-lock snare stands, a pile of lugs for Acrolites (or other) snare drums, P-85 strainers, and springs, legs, mallets, etc..... for dirt cheap.
I always heard these type stories but this is a first for me.
