On May 12, 1963, Ringo Starr received a 5.5×14 oyster black pearl Ludwig Jazz Festival snare. This drum was seen and heard by millions of Beatles fans, and it became an object of obsession for many generations of drummers that followed. One of those drummers is historian Gary Astridge. Astridge—who wrote the piece on Ringo’s late-’60s maple five-piece kit on page 44 of this issue—idolized him in every way, from his playing style to the gear he used. Over the years, Gary has meticulously researched Ringo’s drumkits and assembled exact replicas of the ones used with the Beatles. He became a de facto expert. Gary said, “I realized that I had accumulated a lot of information that people didn’t know about, and I wanted to share it, so I created a website, RingosBeatleKits.com, in 2006. It became a blueprint for each of Ringo’s kits.” In 2012, Gary got a surprise […]