Fairly recently, I sold off a set of 6 ply shells I had restored. I actually liked the sound I got from mine. The only issue I ever had with them was that they played stiff. The drum is very solid and the shell does not resonate like thinner shells. When the stick strikes the head, it's a bit stiff. It feels slightly reminiscent of the old electronic pads, though not quite as bad. It was tough for me to warm up to the kit because of the feel of it. Again I say the sound was very nice, but that feel...oooohhhhh. Not good.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I play so softly now, I tend to like the feel of 3-ply drums. Because if the drums feel good to play, then I think I play more interesting things -maybe!

But, when I play my 12-ply Arbiters at home, I play them loudly and I have them tuned just this side of completely flapping low! In keeping with the information stated here in this thread, I find the thicker shells tend to resonate less, sustain more and feel stiff to play at higher tensions.

Maybe it's because, at a certain point, the stiffness of the thick shells tends to "cannon" the sound out of the drums more quickly and thus allow the purer tone on the head to ring out.

Thin, lightweight drums like 3-ply Ludwigs, are the opposite. The thin, non-dense shells "wick off" the input energy from the head and make the whole drums vibrate. The result is a "warmer" tone, less sustain and a "buttery" feel to play (if the tension isn't too tight).

So, if you extrapolate the information, you can see that the 6-ply drums are somewhere in-between those two extreme examples.

Part of the "glory" of 3-ply Ludwigs is that they are the definitive vintage sound. I think 6-ply drums tend to sound more modern and "dialed in", in my opinion. But, people who want a vintage sound, can't really get it with modern shells -again, in my opinion.

I had a custom "Jazzette" kit made for a friend's studio from the Joe Montineiri/Keller mahogany/poplar shells that came out several years ago. At the time, there was a big buzz about these shells because they were supposed to be close to the vintage style shells. So, when the kit arrived, it was a beautiful kit....but it sounded modern. The drums were really heavy and, in a side-by-side comparison, they weren't even close to a real Jazzette, in terms of sound or playability. And, believe me, this custom set is very well-made -not like a factory drum set! And, it sounds great -like a modern drum set. For better or worse, it's a totally different animal than the real thing, though. So, maybe some of the "magic" is held in those old shells. Who knows? :Santa: