Mine is a Blue Oyster Pearl 3-ply w/ reinforcement rings 13-14-18-24 with badge numbers corresponding to 1976. It has clear interiors. My friend has the same sizes in Maple Cortex, 3-ply w/ reinforcement rings with Granitone interiors. His badge numbers also correspond to 1976. I believe that they were getting ready to roll out the 6-ply drums in 1977 and were frantically trying to use up whatever 3-ply shells they had leftover in inventory in 1976. It indicates that perhaps my shells were manufactured in the 69-72 period and my friend's shells were manufactured in the 72-75 period. Then both kits were assembled, badged, and shipped in 1976. There are no date stamps on the interior of any of these drums. Just an informed guess.

Anything actually from 76 should have reinforcement rings. We know that beyond a shadow of a doubt – because they hadn't made any 6-ply stuff yet.

As to the paint –*I own 3 3-ply kits from the mid 70's. Two kits are all clear maple, and one (actually from 76, I've seen the original receipt) is a mix of clear maple, granitone, and the floor tom is clear mahogany! All of the serial numbers match, so all I can do is throw up my hands in confusion.

So to answer you question about the paint – it's a total crap shoot.

I have a Big Beat in red sparkle that I thought was '76 also.. until, several folks on here pointed out that they were most likely earlier 70s because of a few things. Clear 3-ply maple shells, pointed badges, thin 5/16" spurs, and one of the main things is that my tom mount plate on the bass drum is the earlier version, before the "T" handle tightener was placed on there in the middle 70s. Mine is just the 1/2" or 9/16" bolt.

There was a time in 70-71 that the serial numbers were either not numbered and/or in no particular sequence.

Here is an attached file of the different style bass drum mount plates used. My kit uses the early mount from the far left (though my serial numbers match to 76).

That information and other info is here in this link:

http://vintageludwigdrums.com/70stimeline.html

Your question is somewhat flawed since the drums in a "Big Beat" were exactly the same construction as the drums in any other kit at the time. "Big Beat" meant a 12/13/16/22 set with Atlas hardware. The exact same drums with the flat based stands was called the "Hollywood". Subtract the 12 and you had the Super Classic. The names refer to the catalog size and hardware configurations, not to some sort of unique shell lay-ups or other details on the drums themselves.

But Ludwig drums from '76 usually did have the Granitone interiors and always had the re rings (being 3 ply shells).

THANKS to all of you for the informative feedback. I do appreciate it.

Since most of my kits are from the '60s, the only thing I've got with a granitone interior is a Ludwig Standard kit. I wasn't sure what Ludwig offered in the '70s, thus my initial inquiry.