I worked at a drum shop in the early 2000’s. We literally had a no-Acro policy because we couldn’t sell them. Even buying for $20 and selling for $50. I may have picked up a few out in the parking lot for cash…

I’ve got three Acrolites and two Supraphonics, all 5”, that I keep at the ready tuned and muffled from a very low Eagles-like “gooosh” to a very high “ping” that all sound great and fit the bill for anything I need to do…a very versatile and durable drum. One of the Acrolites and one of the Supraphonics were the first snare drums I owned as a young boy and are coming up on their 50th year with me…I would never part with them.

My parents picked up at Acrolite for me at an auction probably 30+ yrs ago for $20! It had the plastic case, stand, practice pad, etc. It's one of my favorite snare drums that I still play today.

I found a 1965 acrolite laying on the side of the road out for the trash. With a set of pearl export series mid 80 s power Toms model. The acrolite was spray painted red to match the pearls. I cleaned all the paint off and cleaned it up and oh my it sounds so sweet. The bare shell has a beautiful ring. Probably better than some of the lower level bell brass snares made today. it has become my main snare. It just has a great feel and sound is out this world.

Great video! I have a 6.5 Acrolite which sounds great in the studio, but in shines especially live in small rooms or lower volume settings. Never overbearing or obnoxious. Even the singers dig it!

Somehow I've never owned an Acro (played many). I remember the days when you could find Acros at yard sales or in pawn shops for 25 bucks. Those were the days. Great oral history, Joel. Informative as always.

1980 Ludwig catalog! Many beautiful babes in all colors and sizes!

I've got a 5" Limited Edition Acro with brushed lugs and hoops (i.e. not shiny) that I picked up new several years ago. It is one of my favorite snare drums. Nothing else sounds like it.

I own a supraphonic did sound for a worckship band a few months ago dude showed up with an acrolite and it sounded incredible super airy sharp dynamic now i want one hahahah

I picked up a Black Galaxy Acrolite off FB Marketplace for my nephews who were starting 5th grade band and got it so cheap I assumed it was an import model. Had seen the 70's version, but the Black Galaxy was new to me. Pleasantly surprised to learn what we had!

Man that is so much knowledge and interesting history! Big thanks for sharing!

Thanks for that awesome video! 🥁❤️

Very good video Joel!!! Thanks so much for sharing what you know. You've got a lot of great content here!!!

That was extremely informative. Awesome video!

Nice deep dive Joel. I love this stuff. The acrolite is one of the ones that I’ve never owned but it’s always in the back of mind. My first pro snare was a late 70s black beauty super sensitive (got it new as a kid) and I appreciate it more today than I did back then. Keep em coming brother! ✌️

Fantastic, thank you Joel! Your acro comparison video inspired me to buy my first Ludwig drum last year - 1967 & love it. Your guidance is awesome. No matter the content created, it’s informative & exciting - even when simply speaking to a camera. Great work & get well soon sir! 🙏🏻

Great video Joel, lots of good info here. Glad you talked about the Acrolite hoops, because I immediately wondered if they'd stand up to even normal drumming. Thanks and greetings from Princeton, TX!

Great Video! THANK YOU!!!!👍

I have an 80s acro that was customized with tube lugs and a millennium throw off. I had it coated black and man, it looks and sounds great! Thanks for this video, love hearing the history

Great video on the acrolite! I own 2 accrolites and love them! This drum can be used for a variety of styles and doesn’t cost a arm and leg I would not call them a cheap student drum

That was great and very in depth on the humble acrolite.thanks so much for taking the time to do that..I’m sure a lot of drummers enjoyed that..😊

Thanks for the info Joel. I’m fortunate to own two. A late 90’s? Black Galaxy & a smooth grey finished ‘71. I like them both!

Great vid. I just got a student kit from about ‘81. Rings like a bell.

I think you're right about the early Acros. I've seen a few of them too and if there were ever only 200, it seems unlikely that we would be seeing as many as we do today unless we keep seeing the same 10-20 drums being resold. lol

Well researched video. I was hunting a '79 to '83 Acrolite down, & thankfully I found an '81. I wanted that era as it's a bit more focused & dry, but still versatile. At 1st I thought it to be a '79, but with further research I pinned it down to an '81 -- a Blue/Olive rounded badge, & its labeled, Black Faced 2-hole throw ran from '73 to '82. & since my S/N is 2244066, & it ended @ 2300000 in '82, mine must be an '81. I replaced the throw & butt with an INDe, tho. *Love! It!*

When I was in 7th grade I was at a friend's house and went into his basement to grab his skateboard. I see this orange snare case and pop it open. Acrolyte. It had been his mom's from back in high school. Not realizing what it was, other than Ludwig, I asked her if she'd sell it. Nope. A few years ago I found my own orange case with my own 60s Acrolyte for $75. :) Thanks to you I now have a couple more I'd like to find. Great video as always, hope you feel better soon.

Joel, I love this video. My favorite Acro snare is the newer 6 1/2 Acrophonic Hammered. Is sounds more like the Bonham snare of the 1970 Royal Albert Hall than my 1979 Supraphonic

I’m a new drummer in my 60’s. Thank you for the education of these snares. I don’t have one of these, but I’m sure glad that drums/cymbals/snares and bass pedals aren’t addictive like my guitars/amps/pedal collection.

Very nice!!!!!! 👍 I really enjoy this!!!!! I own a blackrolite!!!!!! The black galaxy,,,, 1980s

Thank you, now I know why I haven’t bought an Acrolite : in Europe they’re very expensive, and on ebay buying from US sellers you have to navigate how they were made each year/era, since you might like one and not another.

I’m getting into real drums now after dabbling many years ago and having an electronic kit / Addictive Drums 2 software for a few years. I think my ideal snare drum is probably the Acrolite. Saving up now to buy one eventually. From what I can tell they can get that very dry, funky crack. I hope it’s the one for me!

i love your videos !!! Get well !!

Great video! Love my Acro, it's hard to not use it on every recording I do.

That's the snare I have. Love it

Hi ~ Ludwig also manufactured the “Acrophonic” which is essentially a hammered acrolite with 10 imperial lugs. By the way, this was an AWESOME video!!!! Your knowledge is extremely impressive. Thank you.

The best drum channel there is

You truly couldn't have put this video out at a better time for me! I literally just started looking for an Acrolite this past week. Was looking around checking out prices on the web. I had no idea there were a handful of different variants of the drum. I also always thought the Supraphonic was a steel shell, which is funny, because I've always liked the sound of them, despite my not being a fan of steel shell snares... makes a lot more sense now! Haha. Anyway, this was a great video and set me up to now be a much better informed consumer. Thanks! Oh, I almost forgot to ask... what is that snare on the shelf behind you that appears to be a lugless drum? The one that looks like a natural finish, one shelf up and slightly left of the green snare... Very curious, would love to know more about it!

Thank you for the video! Just came from my studio and did a session with my (right now) go-to snare drum, which is 2009 6,5" LM 405 Black Galaxy Acrolite - sounds just as you described - perfect! But it has 10 lugs, no internal muffler, B&W badge and P85 throw-off. I also own a 1964 LM404 (with original case, red felt baseball bat muffler and 5-digit K2 badge) and it does sound more round and warmer than my 1978 B&O badge LM404. And yes, they have same heads and wires. It's really important to have variety and options to choose from. Will try to make some videos of my collection as well. All the best!

Brother, your review of five Acrolites from different eras was fantastic! After listening to them all I went for a 90s Blackrolite. Thank you so much for your demonstration, commentary, and information.

Man, I had an Acrolite in near perfect condition years ago when i first started playing, before I could tune a snare drum decently. I just couldn't ever get it to sound decent and... gave it away! As you can imagine, I've spent many years kicking myself over this.

So many things jumped out to me in this video. I just got a video birthday wish from Kenny Aronoff. Super cool, thanks to my lovely wife. My first record was John Mellencamp Scarecrow. I also noticed that all of the snare drums pictured had Aquarian heads on them. That's because they are the best, I wouldn't settle for any other head. In my experience of course. 😉

I found a Black Galaxy a few years ago, in storage at my mother in laws. It is my main snare now, blows away anything else I've heard.

Thanks man, this what youtube is really for, good ol drum geeking for afficionados plus you can`t get all this information from wikipedia.

I have 10 snares. 60 years of Gigs. My ACRO is always my first choice. Rogers DynaSonic doesn’t have the punch. My Bassplayers love it too.

Great video, have both a pre serial rolled Acro (Imperial lugs and steel hoops) and a 4 digit serial 1963 with the spun shell. Both different but great drums, the rolled shell is a bit drier and favours a higher tuning (thicker and slightly heavier shell) and of course the crimped beds favour the 16 strand snares which give it a ton of snap. The 63 has a wider tuning range and is probably the more usable of the 2, I've had it on hundreds of shows, gigs and sessions over the last few years. Just a quick clarification though, the first generation spun Acrolites had red felt BB Dampeners in 63-4 as was common with the supra at the time, before they switched to white felt in 1965.

Good stuff here ... now I want an acrolite.

Thanks for the awesome content Joel. I looked through your list to see if you may have reviewed Pearl Wood and Fiberglass shells but didn’t see it. Is this something of value or interest?

Hmm, I kept wanting to hear the drums you were talking about in the video. I know it would take more editing and recording’s and stuff like that but I think it would be a more comprehensive informational video. But I really enjoyed the history. thanks dude

I work in a music store as a repairman. I had a 70s Acro that came in that had vacuum plated Plastic lug casings. The only one I ever saw like that. I think I needed to replace a few of those with the cast lugs. I believe that's why it came in.

An Acrolite is probably my next snare: still pretty cheap, lightweight, internal muffler, versatile.

That internal shell joint piece is Aluminimum also , you cant swld steal to alu. Its also not spot welded (that is a different process) it just has a few short edge welds, (probably done with a gas welding torch.) The more that had welded the more heat and the more the shell would have warped. Also. on the Supraphonic subject, do you know if there was ever any litigation when Sonor used the Phonic name for a range in the 70's as ludwig had had that name far longer? I always wanted and Acro, but being a Sonor guy have had to wait till sonor finally made their first ALU snare in 2023!!! (hydro forming is using high water pressure to force sheet metal to shape to a mold )

Kind of the same thing they did using the same shell for the Club Dates and Super Classics. Since they already had a student/budget line, I never understood why they came out with the Standard line. The Standard snare was also spun ludalloy aluminum but without the center bead.

I love your channel as much as I love my Acrolite, Joel! (BTW it's SupRAphonic, not SupERphonic, FWIW.)

Great video! Thx for sharing. Wasn’t the Ludwig aluminum called Ludalloy?

My 1967 Acrolite was my very first drum and serves as my live gig backup snare. I can confirm that the finish was a very natural aluminum color or extremely light satin anodized. I prefer it over the later darker anodize. I still carry the futuristic looking (at the time) blow molded case. I often wonder what a complete Acrolite drum set would sound like. : ) PS. In layman's terms, anodizing is a way of dying metal.

Excellent run through. Thanks. Have a near mint 1976 that I bought for my son’s kit. Sounds awesome. The original hoops were warped though, upgraded to modern 2.3mm hoops. Low tuned with the signature dry sound, oh yes.

I traded a 1965 Lincoln Continental for one back in the 70's with the case, pad and a hurcules stand..

Joel, nice video. I love all this stuff, I guess I am a total drum geek. I also listened with interest your 5 acro sound test. ( full disclosure, I would call myself a player, not collector, and I own a couple of Supras, and Acro which is a blacro-lite.) I like how for true comparisons you outfitted them and tuned them the same. But I present to you a video idea, an "as sold" Acro sound test, because I think the plastic end 12 wire sets compared to the latest 20 strand ( with pitch end plates), and the opaque reso heads of the seventies, and the hoop thickness combined to help them sound differently as well. Your thoughts? Also, don't hate on me but my drum students in high school all bought the Acro ' kits', which was in '71, and I thought they we not that great. In the 80's, a couple of studios that I played in tried to push me into using the house Acro, which I declined thinking they sounded a bit thin, but the engineers were telling me oh they record so well. I ended up using my 6 1/2 Super sensitive instead. Then I auditioned for a gig and using the supplied drumset, the house had a blacro tuned up ready to go, which I was very impressed with, hence why I bought mine. I really think besides the coating, the better wires, and hoops contributed the most to a fuller and pleasing sound. Thanks for your great videos!

I enjoyed this video and learned something.

I have a 69 and a 79. My fave is the 69 looks and sound. Sold an 80s and a black galaxy. They both seemed dull. Acrolites just have that special something. Now when I got a 78 Supra it was on a different level but the Acrolites definitely have their place in everyone’s arsenal.

Usually find them at Goodwill or other.

You didn't mention the Acrophonic. Of all the drums you talked about, the Acrophonic is my favorite.

But what is the point of 12 holes on a snare strainer 😂 if you could research that so I don't have too that would be magic 👌🏻👌🏻 great vid 👍🏻

What is your opinion on Ludwig Jazz Festival? Have you done a video on it already? I heard Ringo's was that model with the Oyster Pearl, so I picked up a 1963 5x14 years ago and it is THE LOUDEST wood snare there has ever been. Or I've heard. No wonder it was Ringo's choice. There were none in the 1980 catalog, that's for sure. That image of the 1980 cover sure takes me back!

Some one traded me a vintage 70's supraphonic for a tama swing star when I was a new drummer and Ive used it almost exclusively.

I sold drums for 20 years in a shop, we would have easily 50 to 100 acrolites for sale and rentals

I would have loved a 14x6.5 acrolite. Versatile, warm and so close to a supra it's not funny. They mic up great and sound pro. I had the shallower model and put a trick throwoff on it with puresound wires.

Hey im not sure if you mentioned it in the video/if someone said it in the comments but the ludwig standard aluminum should also be the same as the acrolite right? Its made out of acrolite and is the same shell, just without the center bead. Wanted to know your thoughts on this one, thanks!

This video increases the prices of acros.😁

I have a super sensitive that I bought new in mid to late 60s. Why is the super sensitive less desired today? Do you know what they go for today?

I like that shirt, it brings me back to simpler times 😊

I bought a Black Galaxy Acrolite for $60 and i noticed that the hoops have a lot of bend in them when I crank it. The bottom hoop becomes leveled with the shell in some spots. I think it's time for new hoops and a paint job because the previous owner decided to spray paint like a 6in area with red spray paint 😒.

Had one for a while. Tried every head and tuning combo and just did not like it. I have a $200 Ludwig Black Magic 14x8 and it sounds incredible.

As Acrolite prices start to creep up ($200 seems to be the going rate now), are there some alternative aluminum drums that might be better budget options?

Ur a stud dude

I have two black galaxy snares with very interesting differences. One of them has a black and white sparkle coating while the other one has a colored sparkle coating. The one that has the rainbow sparkle coating has the "MADE IN USA" stamp in the black and white badge. Did you know any history of those differences?

How would you compare acrolites with the Ludwig standards?

I'm not totally sure but I thought at one point there were some red shell Acros?

It's crazy to hear about people getting Acros for 50 bucks, or even 30 bucks. Over here in Europe, or at least in Norway, they don't come cheap. I've never seen an Acrolite with my own eyes, only on online marketplaces and that's only once or twice, with an asking price of 600+ USD.

🤔 Ludwig's metal tambourines were made of "ACROLITE Metal" as well!

Is it a fact that both drums use the same shell? They obviously sound different. Also, my Supra is definitely a tad bigger in diameter than my Acrolite ( black galaxy ). I can send a picture if you want to see it. Lol Also, Ludwig lists the shell thickness of both drums with slight differences in Shell thickness. 1.6 vs 1.7… Of course, it could be the same shell.

Do you know the records which have this snare on it?

Question. What is ludaloy then ? Is that acrolite with a different name ?

I used to think it was pronounced Grateesh. That was 1977. I was 12 or 13.

Count me in the minority. I've never cared for the Acrolite. I've owned two of them and they just always sounded weak and thin to my ears. When I was in high school back in the 80's, student band rooms were full of them. They were considered a beginner's drum and nobody even wanted one. Later on I wanted to hear what all the fuss was about. Still don't get it I guess. Great video nonetheless!

I’ve had 4 different acrolites, black galaxy and various 70/80s ones. Never understood the hype, very boxy sound with not much sensitivity.