mcjnic?? Here you are! Can you video justifying this to your wife. I'm finding lessons may be needed... I think you could do very well if your successful!

I did not know all of that. What a horrible color to feature on all of their showroom stuff!! I do think that going top of the line is the way to go though.

I think drums are supposed to be flashy, brilliant and flambouyant. That black panther color just says blah. Maybe in a death metal band or for Alice Cooper or something yeah, but I just can't picture someone bangin' out Wipeout on black drums wearing a Tommy Bahama hawaiin print.

To each his own as the saying goes........

drumhack :oband2baby crawl2D' DrummerClapping Happy2

Well...love is a complicated thing. I could broach the subject with her and probably have the kit in short order...seriously...or...I could leave well enough alone and actually sleep under the same roof as the rest of my drums...with my wife. Tough call, but I think I know the correct path to take. I believe it's the less painful of the two. I know as soon as I say the words, "I've got all I need", that something is going to crop up for an unbelievable price point and I'll want to take advantage of the deal. So, I'll not say that at this time. I'll just leave it at "I've got enough", and be done.

It really is a sweet kit, though. ...oh man...I'm in trouble.

Your not alone buddy, not at all. These strata finishes are doing strange things to me...

I'll also jump in and earn my own flames. I think the Black Panther wrap was quite nice. However, I always liked the way my drums looked under stage lights. That wrap 'just don't cut it'. I'm sure the ruby strata would look nicer under lights than my avocado wrap, but then I like the champagne sparkle the best. Go figure...

I think I'm a bit of an odd duck. I love flashy drums -- I've got a midnight blue pearl kit; I'm working on wrapping a blue peacock satin flame kit; I've got a red sparkle snare; lately I've been fantasizing about owning stratas and onyxes. Don't even get me started on glass glitter.

But man, do I love Black Panther. Sleek, understated, classy, with a hint of danger. A finish that says, "don't mess with this drummer. You can't be sure what you're getting yourself into." I like to think that Johnny Cash would have loved them.

Come to think of it, my main snare is a little 6x12 job that I had custom-finished in matte black. It's not a wrap, but from more than a foot away you'd swear it was Black Panther. A cool looking drum, and it looks great behind any kit.

Just my two cents.

guys, THEY ARE RUBY STRATA, but a different kind, for some reason LUDWIG started making them with that kind of plastic in the the middle of the year, some kits would even come mixed, some pieces with the old strata and some with the kind the gentleman has; it was a mess for a while; so the bottom line, there is two different types of RUBY STRATA out there.

Did somebody say 1969 Ruby Strata Ludwig Standards? I acquired these 1969 Standards about a month ago. They measure 14x20, 14x14, 8x12, and matching 5x14 snare drum. The chrome on the lugs and bass drum T-rods is rough. The shells will spiff up nicely. I'm currently looking for 16 bass drum T rods.

Isn't it funny how different things look and appeal differently to others. I like the Strata finishes (would love to find one but rare as in Australia), and also like the Bowling Ball Blue (which I do have) :-)

Cheers