Ludwig- 10 drums, 5 snares; 15 total

I'm another one. Living in Oz, close proximity to Asia, we got lots of MIJ and because (I reckon anyway) of the British connection here we got lots of Premier stuff as well. I played MIJ with a Premier snare for a good 25 years before I managed to get my hands on a Ludwig. Not that Luddy's weren't available, but they were way out of my price range. They also weren't exactly falling out of the sky, so it took me a while to finally get what I'd wanted ever since I was a young'un! Great poll question, Dan!

I'm sure you US guys will have a different slant on it though, and personally I'd like to hear your stories!

:)

I've just read back over the complete thread and find it was actually you Mike (mchair) that predicted things would fall along the lines of the percentage of drums manufactured in those days. Looks like you are going to be very close to prediction. I got to thinking why I thought Gretsch would outrun Rogers and it's probably because we didn't have a Rogers dealer in my local area. Does anybody from the general Boston area know of a Rogers dealer to the north in the 60's. I know that Al Drew's was big on the south shore and amazingly they are still in business after all these years. They even have a one owner blue onyx set on the floor right now.

Camco==sets 3 Snares 2

Blaemire==sets 1, snares 1

Slingerland==sets 1, snares 1

Rogers==sets 3, snares 5

Ludwig==sets 1, snares 1

Hayman==sets 1, snares 2

Fibes==sets 1, snares 1

Craviotto==sets 1, snares 1

Gretsch==sets 1, snares 1

Jenkins-Martin==sets 1, snares 3

Slingerland/Gretsch Radio King Snare==1

Longro Snare==1

All bop kits except 2 of them

7 complete sets of US made 50s and 60s Kent drums

11 Kent snare drums

7 random Kent orphan toms , floor toms , and a bass drum . And always searching for more .....

89 Ludwig, 38 Slingerland,13 Rogers (+a Rogers canister throne) and 20 or so misc brands.

Oops, I just found some more! 4 Ludwig, 2 Gretsch, 1 Leedy, 1 Leedy&Ludwig.

Ludwig- around 40 sets, 4 drums per set and 125 snare drums.

Wow, can I come over and play your drums!

I had no business doing so, but I started off on a huge white Slingerland set in 1977 (what would come to be known as the Country Road 671T in the 1979 catalog). It was used, but practically new; about a month after I bought it my dad and I had to go to the drum shop where the first owner purchased it to pick up the throne and Dynamo HH stand that were on back order. Set cost $950 in 1977 dollars ( I paid $500, Dad covered the rest) and included a POS Camber 18", an exquisite A Zildjian 16" thin crash that a friend broke about five years later, and the 14" New Beat hats that I'm using to this day.

But this only happened because my cousin would not sell me his Gretsch 12-14-20. I'm sure I'd be a different drummer today if I'd learned on that—seeing those kits side by side is like seeing a 737 parked next to a 747.

Al