All those parts mentioned SHOULD be nickel, but often Ludwig mixed finishes if they were caught short--not too many people ever noticed back then....marko

I thought that you could order nickle or chrome back in "them thar days".If mark is correct that must be why my 58 Clubdates had a few chrome pieces mixed in with all of the nickle.I really had to look to find the chrome items.But a 58 Clubdate set of drums for 300 bucks,one doesnt complain to much

Mixed chrome and nickel weren't uncommon,but you could order a kit in nickel,or chrome for slightly more money.

Steve B

during the life of a "nickel" or "chrome" kit parts get replaced along the way and many people replacing the parts didn't care if the replacement was correct as long as it fit. Certainly doesn't mean Ludwig shipped it out that way.

Nickle and Duco were the "budget" sets.

Pearls and Chrome were the big money.

but I'd wager most of us would kill for a painted/stained finnish nickle over brass today.

I belive that the Slingerland sets use to charge extra for metal bass drum hoops!

and you almost never saw brass snares that werent chromed.

my how trends have changed.

you are totally correct I've owned 4 clubdate kits two had mixed nickel and chrome parts the other two where either totally chrome or nickel, the wfl clubdates don't have the parts finish mix up that ludwig's do. all my Wfl clubdates are either solid nickel or chrome finsh.