Here's a 1963 Ludwig 5.5" x 14" Oyster Black Pearl snare drum from my personal collection.

It has been established that Ringo owned and used five Ludwig kits during his career with The Beatles:

1. Oyster Black Pearl Downbeat kit, purchased in 1963 (8x12 T, 14x14 FT, 14x20 BD)
2. Oyster Black Pearl Downbeat kit, purchased in NYC in February 1964 (8x12 T, 14x14 FT, 14x20 BD)
3. Oyster Black Pearl Super Classic kit, purchased in 1964 (9x13 T, 16x16 FT, 14x22 BD)
4. Oyster Black Pearl Super Classic kit, purchased in 1965 (9x13 T, 16x16 FT, 14x22 BD)
5. Hollywood Maple kit, purchased in 1968 (8x12T, 9x13 T, 16x16 FT, 14x22 BD)

The snare that always shows up in photos with all of Ringo’s kits, while with The Beatles, is the snare that came with his first kit (see attached photos below.) This can be determined by looking at the specifics of his snare. One easy way of detecting Ringo’s OBP snare is the positioning sequence of the hardware and its own distinctive swirl pattern that is its fingerprint.

There appears to be two separate professional opinions on what model snare Ringo used. John Aldridge, author of A Guide To Vintage Drums, indicates that the Super Classic model had a 5.5" shell depth and the Jazz Festival had a 5" shell depth. According to The Ludwig Book, written by Rob Cook, Ludwig’s Barrett Deems model snare (5.5" d) was renamed Jazz Festival in 1960 and was manufactured through 1970. This model underwent a number of changes over this time. The Jazz Festival’s size was changed from 5.5x14 to 5x14 and the hardware configuration was changed in 1964.  Both the keystone badge, (which began displaying a serial number in 1964) and the “Baseball Bat” tone control (now sporting a white felt muffler in mid-'64) were jointly moved one space away from the P-83 Strainer as seen below.

Some changes made in 1964 included repositioning the tone controller and keystone badge, and adding a serial number.

After The Beatles Ed Sullivan Show appearance on February 9, 1964, orders for OBP kits exploded at Ludwig’s manufacturing plant in Chicago.

Most Ludwig OBP kits sold came with the standard Supraphonic Snare Drum. Yet another reason why Ringo's snare model is such a prized possession.

Ludwig early 60’s Oyster Black Pearl Sample

 NOTE: Oyster Black Pearl (OBP) wrap is made up of varying shades of black, gray, white and transparent portions in which the mahogany wood shell shows through. The swirl pattern also varies considerably from one drum to another.

This is a close-up photo of Ringo's snare taken from the movie A Hard Day's Night. The batter head sure looks like a calfskin to me! Note the piece of transparent tape covering a tear on the head's surface near the rim.

“Baseball Bat” Tone Control with Red Felt Muffler Pad

Using a photo from Andy Babiuk’s book, Beatles Gear, here’s a side-by-side comparison between Ringo’s original Ludwig snare with his first 12"x8" tom and identical drums from my collection. I did this to help verify the actual depth size of Ringo's snare. This test helped to convince me that his snare shell size was 5.5" deep. When I did a comparison with a 5"x14" snare, there was no match. Even after loosening the rims to increase the height, I could not get a match.

I know that some will dispute my findings and the only way we will know for sure, is when someone actually has the chance to carefully examine and document Ringo's original. 

I had to post the following photo. I thought that it was interesting to see the two Ringo model snare drums side-by-side.

Additional RINGO SNARE Details

Ringo's 1963 Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl snare has a pre-serial number keystone badge and is one lug to the left of the P-83 throw-off. This model snare has chrome plated brass hoops with a calfskin batter side head.

Butt Plate

P-83 Strainer

CHARACTERISTICS

Model: Jazz Festival 

Year of manufacture: 1962~1963

Color: Oyster Black Pearl

Shell construction: Mahogany, poplar, mahogany with maple reinforcement rings

Shell interior: RESA-COTE (white)

Badge: Keystone (pre-serial) located one lug left of the strainer
Hardware:

• P-83 Strainer　
• P-32 Butt plate
• P-95 Bowtie lug (8)
• P-4067 Baseball Bat Tone Control muffler - located next to the badge with one lug in between.
• Chrome-Over-Brass (COB) rims