First ones look like the original wires on my '68 supraphonic.

The other is jazzfest I think as downbeat is the plastic

It might help to know the length of these, and if they are for a 13" or 14" or 15" snare drum (for example). That would change the model of snare drum they were for because (for example) Jazz Festivals don't come in 13" or 15".

I believe plastic vs metal ends has to do with the production era rather than what drum model the snares are for.

Snare sets/sizes are in the 1960 and 1964 catalogs with plastic ends. They are given as

12 strands (choice of thin or heavy wire) which are 13 1/2" x 1 1/2"

20 strands which are 13 3/8" x 2 1/4"

for 14" drums. None of the catalogs mention which snare sets go with which drums, except that different snare sets are needed for the P83 system, the Classic strainer system, and the Super Sensitive system.

By 1967 snare sets came out of the main catalog and went into a parts catalog. Both plastic and metal ends are on offer, and I think the sizes for 14" drums are the same. Unfortunately I haven't got a very legible scan from the 1967 parts catalog. This is the best I've got. Perhaps somebody else has a better scan of this, and possibly snare set details from other years. Once you get into the 1970s my catalog scans don't give details like that.

You can look up the patent number 2517124 and see that the patent was filed in Dec. 15, 1945 and granted on Aug. 1, 1950. In theory (that is if everybody is obeying the rules) that means snare sets which say Pat. Pending on the end are from between those dates, and everything after Aug 1, 1950 (give or take) will have the Patent number. Until I looked it up just now I didn't know that the patent was so early.

Hope this helps.

Many years ago my Acrolite had the plastic end snares. I had a house gig so my set didn't move & one night I noticed my snare drum sounding weird. It wasn't until a week later that my wife took a pic of me (another week to develop it, like I said it was many years ago :) ) & I saw that the plastic ends had warped. I remember they were white, not clear. I replaced them with new metal end snares.

I don't know why they warped, I admit to keeping them very tight & I live in the desert, gets hot here :)

My 1969 Acrolite with Keystone badge came to me with snare wires that have plastic ends. I bought the snare drum used so I can't say that's how it was originally shipped from Ludwig.

I have an early 1980s Acrolite that also had the plastic end set of snares. Acros must have shipped with those perhaps? I didn't like the sound of them. I feel like the plastic ends kinda choked the tone significantly. A set of $10 Gibraltars with standard flat metal ends really cleaned up the sound and opened up the dynamic sensitivity significantly.

My early '80s Acrolite also has plastic ends. My early '70s Supra has the metal ends, but not like Rob's. There's only two holes on each end on mine.

Thanks all super helpful as always. I like to know what I have.