RINGO'S BEATLE KITS

3rd & 4th Ludwig Kits & Hardware 

Ringo’s two Super 3-piece Classic kits are identical in size (9”x13 - Tom, 16”x16” – Floor Tom, 14”x22” – Bass Drum) with few differences:

Here are the details:

1964 Kit                                                         

• Unique oyster black pearl swirl pattern
• Keystone badges
• 3-ply mahogany/poplar/mahogany shells with white painted interiors
• Baseball bat tone controllers with red or white felt tone control pads (Ludwig changed from red to white early in ’64)
• Threaded mount casing with wing-bolt (P-1672)  
• 16.5” floor tom legs with knurled stems 
• Fold out bass drum spurs with knurled stems (P-1305)
• Rogers Swiv-o-matic tom mount assembly         
• Chrome over brass (COB) or chrome over steel (COS) tom rims
• 16"x16" floor tom has the Keystone badge positioned in the center of the drum 

Andy Babiuk’s book, Beatles Gear, states that Ringo was first seen using this kit on May 31, 1964 at the Prince of Wales Theater in London. That being said, it’s possible that this kit could have been manufactured in late 1963 or very early in ‘64. I mention this is because overseas shipments at that time were very slow and literally took months.

1965 Kit

• Unique oyster black pearl swirl pattern
• Keystone badges
• 3-ply mahogany/poplar/mahogany shells with white painted interiors
• Baseball bat tone controllers with white felt tone control pads
• Mount casing with eyebolt & wing nut (P-1216A)
• 16.5” floor tom legs with knurled stems 
• Fold out bass drum spurs with knurled stems (P-1305)
• Rogers Swiv-o-matic tom mount assembly
• Chrome over steel (COS) tom rims                                      

This kit was introduced at the start of The Beatles’ 65 US tour. Other than this tour, you really don’t see much of this kit.

Hardware

The hardware used on both of these kits is the same:

• Spurlock Direct Pull hi hat stand (Model 1123)
• Buck Rogers snare stand (Model 1358)
• Speed King bass drum pedal (Model 201)
• Bass drum anchor (Model - 1304) Walberg & Auge
• Two cymbal stands (Model 1400)  The number of Ludwig cymbal stands purchased for all four Ludwig kits isn’t really known. The stands appear to have been mixed between drum kits at various times. There is one slight difference between the model 1400 stands. One uses a wing-bolt that screws directly into the topside of the second post to adjust the height of the top post. The other variation uses a small angled tension bar with a hole at one end and a threaded hole at the other. It rests on top of the second post and the top post inserts through the tension bar into the second post. The wing-bolt screws into the threaded hole of the tension bar and draws the bar tight against the top bar holding it in position. Ringo had both.