Larry owns a red/clear 2-band swirl kit with the very rare "Mach 5" lugs. Larry told me how he came to buy the kit in 1977...
"I became a member of the Saginaires Drum & Bugle Corps from Saginaw, Michigan in January of 1965. I aged out in 1974 (age 21) and joined the percussion staff the following year until I left in 1984. All during these years I was active in the "Rock & Roll" scene and our band produced a record in 1973. I was managing a store in a shopping mall in 1976 and 1977. I ordered my kit from Grinnel Bros. in that mall, in the early part of 1977. Originally, I had ordered a "standard" Vistalite kit with red-clear spiral pattern but with a Supersensitive snare. During July of 1977, while my drums were on order, I was in Dekalb, Illinois for the "Drum Corps Midwest Championship". Rich Hogan and I were the only percission staff to make that trip. The Corps was rehearsing in a very hot parking lot prior to prelims when a big beautiful Cadillac drove up. I approached the car and asked if I could be of assistance. The man said that he was looking for Rich Hogan and asked if I was also on the percussion staff and said that he would like to speak to us. I said that we were kind of busy and who should I tell Rich was looking for him. He replied "Willam F. Ludwig, Jr." I said "wait a minute, I'll get him" Rich and I got into his Cadillac, which was air-conditioned. Rich was in the front seat and I in the back seat. He was interested in why we had abandoned Ludwig drums in favor of Slingerland. Rich and I went on to explain that the Ludwig drums that we had been using could not hold up to the extreme tensioning necessary for proper tuning and that the Slingerlands were far more rugged. We went into a lot of detail. At some point I brought up the fact that I had ordered a set of Vistalites from Ludwig and asked why the marching drum hardware was not available on their kits, because I had heard that the Vistalites could crack and it seemed a good way to avoid that problem. I don't remember what he said in regards to that but he had taken notes the entire time. Later that summer, when my drums arrived at Grinnels, I was horrified to see that they had screwed up my order and for a time I thought about sending them back. I really wanted that spiral pattern but was very happy with the hardware. I don't know if the meeting with WFL II had anything to do with the difference in my order and what I got, but it would be nice to think that it did. Otherwise, I have no explanation about how these drums came to be. I consider that meeting with WFL II one of the high points of my percussion career considering the possibility that I now have this kit to show for it. But even if it had nothing to do with it and it was just a mistake at the factory, I have come to love these crazy drums. I took a lot of heat in 1977 for buying "plastic drums". Everyone else was buying huge "Rogers" kits with Black finishes but I guess I wanted something unique. I got my wish ten times over."
Larry is a senior member of the Lakeshoremen marching percussion line.
"I became a member of the Saginaires Drum & Bugle Corps from Saginaw, Michigan in January of 1965. I aged out in 1974 (age 21) and joined the percussion staff the following year until I left in 1984. All during these years I was active in the "Rock & Roll" scene and our band produced a record in 1973. I was managing a store in a shopping mall in 1976 and 1977. I ordered my kit from Grinnel Bros. in that mall, in the early part of 1977. Originally, I had ordered a "standard" Vistalite kit with red-clear spiral pattern but with a Supersensitive snare. During July of 1977, while my drums were on order, I was in Dekalb, Illinois for the "Drum Corps Midwest Championship". Rich Hogan and I were the only percission staff to make that trip. The Corps was rehearsing in a very hot parking lot prior to prelims when a big beautiful Cadillac drove up. I approached the car and asked if I could be of assistance. The man said that he was looking for Rich Hogan and asked if I was also on the percussion staff and said that he would like to speak to us. I said that we were kind of busy and who should I tell Rich was looking for him. He replied "Willam F. Ludwig, Jr." I said "wait a minute, I'll get him" Rich and I got into his Cadillac, which was air-conditioned. Rich was in the front seat and I in the back seat. He was interested in why we had abandoned Ludwig drums in favor of Slingerland. Rich and I went on to explain that the Ludwig drums that we had been using could not hold up to the extreme tensioning necessary for proper tuning and that the Slingerlands were far more rugged. We went into a lot of detail. At some point I brought up the fact that I had ordered a set of Vistalites from Ludwig and asked why the marching drum hardware was not available on their kits, because I had heard that the Vistalites could crack and it seemed a good way to avoid that problem. I don't remember what he said in regards to that but he had taken notes the entire time. Later that summer, when my drums arrived at Grinnels, I was horrified to see that they had screwed up my order and for a time I thought about sending them back. I really wanted that spiral pattern but was very happy with the hardware. I don't know if the meeting with WFL II had anything to do with the difference in my order and what I got, but it would be nice to think that it did. Otherwise, I have no explanation about how these drums came to be. I consider that meeting with WFL II one of the high points of my percussion career considering the possibility that I now have this kit to show for it. But even if it had nothing to do with it and it was just a mistake at the factory, I have come to love these crazy drums. I took a lot of heat in 1977 for buying "plastic drums". Everyone else was buying huge "Rogers" kits with Black finishes but I guess I wanted something unique. I got my wish ten times over."