It was a pleasant surprise to see a posting about Flat Jacks! I was a student of Ralph Kester in the early/mid 70's and a friend until he passed away. He was a brilliant drummer/teacher and engineer. He had a drum studio named Drumland in Lake Worth FL that he taught from and also sold drums, used as an assembling factory etc. He was also a Premier dealer. I am fortunate enough to have a double bass kit of Flat Jacks with custom cases that Ralph hooked me up with for helping him in the store. They sound great with Aquarian heads on them. I also have a prototype Flat Jack 12" tom that he had covered in a blue sparkle- the same kind of material like they used to use on the old Kustom PA Heads and PA cabinets.

A lot of people do not know that Ralph also invented the Ching-ring- the metal ring tambourine that mounts on the hi hat, the tubular guitar stand and the marching drum holders that everyone uses- the ones that hold the drum out and in front of the marching musician. He was also a fantastic drummer- beautiful hands. Got his NARD card in his early teens and also did a lot of touring. I was fortunate to have him as a teacher and a friend.
Merry Christmas
Russ