The DU Lounge

Up through the time they made the Please Please Me album he had a Premier Duroplastic kit. In the early 1960s plastic drum shells were pretty popular. This rig had one rack Tom and one floor Tom plus bass and snare.

He changed to the Ludwig Downbeat for With the Beatles and A Hard Day’s Night. Still a four-piece, it used a Jazz Festival snare, which he used the same one of the rest of his career. This is where the “two answers” thing kicks in - because he didn’t want to haul all his drums to the US he bought identical toms and bass once he got to the US and brought his snare with him. This is pretty common among big-name drummers, falling in love with one snare drum and using it on many sets.

From that point until they started working on the White Album he used the Super Classic kit. Still a four-piece, the difference is all the drums are a little larger. For The Beatles’ US tour he bought another one.

Both these kits had the Oyster Black Pearl wrap Ludwig sold a lot of back then but no longer offers, I don’t know why they stopped.

On September 11, 1968, Ringo took delivery of a Hollywood set in natural maple finish and used it for the rest of The Beatles’ existence. This kit has two rack toms.

So…either four or six kits depending on how you count them.