Hey guys.. Interesting and cool thread up here..When i got my Ludwig orphans to make my custom set, i thought of doing it in the BP wrap, and hoping to acquire some vinyl from an upholstery shop right up the street from where i live..They had all kinds of neat colors, and i almost did mine in a seafoam green !..How cool would that have been ?? I got the initial idea from the BP, and at one point contemplated in doing it in the original color..Never got around to it..If i ever find a cool player's Ludwig kit in need of some TLC, i'm definitely doing it in that finish..

Also, I believe the vinyl Ludwig used was the same type of vinyl that was used to cover guitar and bass amps, which is called "Tolex" vinyl, or sort of a naugahyde type leather..

FYI-- I think there were some of you who wondering about the Mitchell kit, and i found some Youtube footage of i believe to be the very kit in question.. Complete with Keystone badges and swivomatic mods..

Cheers !

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9irsg1vBmq0"]Jimi Hendrix --- Voodoo Child, Live '69 - YouTube[/ame]

Black Panther is not even remotely close to "Tolex". Tolex is a very coarse and open grain, very heavy in texture as well. The material used by Ludwig was/is very similar in grain pattern to what both Ford and Chrysler used to use for vinyl roofs on their cars of the same period and is a very smooth textured material. I can't say for sure that it was one in the same material that the car companies used, but it is the closest that anyone has found to date.

As far as the Mitch Mitchell kit in the youtube video, yes that is the infamous one we have all spoken about in this thread. I believe this is from the Lulu show on the BBC in the UK, and possibly the earliest performance with Mitch using the kit.

Being a black panther owner and a 45 year veteran in the auto upholstery business, I have found the closests thing to black panther wrap. It is a Ford vinyl. The grain is called Corinthian, and Chrysler has never used this grain. This vinyl has also never been original for any vehicle's Vinyl tops. It was used on the interiors of Fords in the 70's. Gm resurrected this grain in the last decade or so. GM used it on Hummers and Cadillacs. The vinyl has a good stretch and isn't the same as Black Panther. Here are pics of Bp and Corinthian. The one with the ludwig badge is BP the other is Corinthian I wraped a snare out of.

Another fact. The Tolex used to cover guitar amps has a grain exactly like the grain on Levant grain vinyl tops. Gm and Ford used the Levant grain on their vinyl tops Chrysler had their Boar Grain back then.

Pics order.1st Vinyl top- 2nd tolex-3rd boar grain