When the Let It Be movie and album came out, not seeing Ringo behind an Oyster Black Pearl drum kit was a shock to many. The big question was why Ringo switched from his traditional four-piece drum kit to a five-piece maple finish drum kit. Ringo told me that he wanted a different kit, it’s that simple. 

 

According to Mal Evans, on Tuesday, September 10, 1968, he and Ringo went to Drum City to select a new drum kit. Mal said that Ringo chose a new wood finish over glitter. Ringo took possession of his 1967 Ludwig Hollywood Thermogloss Maple finish drum kit the following day, September 11, 1968, the same day The Beatles started work recording the song, “Glass Onion”. It was delivered by Drum City and came with a Ludwig Supraphonic snare drum, which Ringo set aside in favor of using his original 1963 Jazz Festival snare drum.

 

Perhaps best recognized from The Beatles’ Apple Corps rooftop concert in the original Let It Be movie, and the more recent Get Back documentary, the ’67 Ludwig Hollywood kit was used for the tail end of The Beatles’ White Album, along with the Let It Be and Abbey Road albums.

 

Earlier in 1968, when The Beatles traveled to Rishikesh, India, to study transcendental meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, musician Donovan Leitch was in attendance. There, Donovan shared a thought with John, Paul, and George, telling them that a guitar sounded better without a heavy finish. After returning to London, during sessions for the self-titled White Album, both John Lennon and George Harrison had the finishes removed from their Epiphone Casino model guitars. George said that once they’d removed the finish, they became much better guitars. “I think that works on a lot of guitars,” he explained. “If you take the paint and varnish off and get the bare wood, it seems to sort of breathe.” Paul followed suit by removing the finish from his Rickenbacker bass guitar. Ringo’s new Ludwig Hollywood kit, with a natural maple finish, was in keeping with this more organic approach.