Well put! I think most of it is the look.I know it influences how I think a set will sound. Like if I see a beat up vintage ludwig with flaking chrome it transfers over to what I will think it will sound like. So when I hear it I think it doesn't have the great vintage tone like a beautiful clean vintage ludwig set.

please keep in mind that these are my stupid opinions!

I think the head is by far the most important component and that there's not much difference between most of the brands.

Gretsch is an exception and it seems the shells are a big factor but I'd put money on the COB hardware. There's dissimilar harmonics in a drum that piggyback on the sound waves much in the same way that radio waves piggyback on other electrical currents. And steel hardware does that and mixes with the wood and that lovely plastic sound of the pearl covering. The frequency combo of wood and brass is harmonically more pleasing than wood and steel. I think it makes more difference than you'd think at first.

Much of it is the memories a certain brand brings, and we are very visual so most of it is the look of the hardware... drums shells look the same.

To me the big factor in vintage drums was that they were made from trees that were really, really old.

That and the social part that in the post war period we were flyin' with positive energy, and that brought out the best in everything.

But there's more difference between one Slinger drum and another Slinger drum than there was across the board between say Slinger and Ludwig.

That being said, there is a "company sound" that gets into products. All the good companies have it, like Sony, Paiste, JBL, Camco... any great company.

I own a 5.5x14 Slingerland Super Gene Krupa, circa 1957 and a 5.5x14 Leedy & Ludwig Broadway, circa 1951-54. They both have extended snare wires... 18 on L&L, 20 on SuperGK, Remo Ambassador batter and reso heads. Metalwork on both is COB. Both are wrapped... WMP on L&L, silver sparkle on Super GK.

I tune them the same... bottom very tight, top tight... as I do all of my snares, for that "sound-in-my-head" I am after.

For all the similarities... dimension, head choice, wire set-up, tuning style... one having been produced within 5 years or less of the other... they sound very different.

Some structural differences are:

1. L&L's metal parts are somewhat lighter weight than the Super GK's

2. L&L has 16 small lugs; Super GK has 8 larger lugs

3. L&L shell is 3 ply(woods?) w/re-rings, painted inside; Super GK shell is slightly thicker one ply maple w/maple re-rings, unfinished inside.

I love them both. If I were forced to choose only one, it would be the L&L, which is also the softer of the two, though it has plenty of dynamic range.