It makes sense that there were these overlaps and substitutions going on during certain transitional phases in manufacturing.

Even though I prefer the mechanical beauty of the baseball bats, they were problematic...but, still, they are really cool little doodads! Ludwig must have saved pretty penny when they replaced them with those comparably cheap spring steel ones, in 1968-ish. I never used them, in ANY incarnation....but I'd have to give the cool-looking factor to the baseball bats.

Yeah, 'baseball bat' mufflers look cool, but a few too many parts! They must've been relatively expensive, for what they were...just a muffler.

[Attachment: 132878]

And...before anyone asks....in that photo I attached (lifted off ebay), one of the nuts has gotten "stuck" on the end of the "baseball bat," giving it a very strange look.

Lotsa parts! A bit over-engineered, methinks.

Regards, MB

Yes, totally over-engineered...but they have a kind of fidget spinner like fascination because of it. They were, inevitably useless...but in a very gadget kind of way that gave drummers something to fidget with....another button to press so to speak.