Those are some great looking Ludwigs Bo. The logo is a very nice touch too. I happen to like that finish as well. For some reason I though you had a champagne finish kit. When did you get these drums?
I definitely don't need MORE drums at this point, but if I ever wanted to pick up a new set, I would be very tempted to go with either the Ludwig Classics, or perhaps more Tamas in a Bubinga.
I got these drums about a week ago. It's the first brand new Ludwig kit I ever bought (the other 7 over my lifetime were all bought used) and I even sent in the warranty cards and all that to be a registered Ludwig user
Going back to the finish discussion, I really thought I wanted an old skool finish, but then considered how everybody has seen those, and everybody had it at one point. I was wanting something old and new at the same time, and when Ludwig debuted this finish at NAMM in January, I really liked it. Several months later, I'm cruisin' the online sellers and Bently's drums up in Fresno had exactly what I wanted in this color - just a stand-up straight 3-piece with virgin bass drum, no Atlas mounts 13/16/24 kit in classic sizes. So I pulled the trigger. About the only thing I think I still want is the traditional T-handles for the bass drum, but I can take 'em or leave 'em.
Now if this finish takes off and everybody starts buying it, that remains to be seen. Some people like it, others don't like it. But I would think for the next six months, I'll probably be Mr. Unique for a while.
But I'm in the long haul with this kit, having just gotten a 14x24 hard case for the bass drum! For some reason, when I had those maple DW drums, they were really finicky to tuning and it took me a long time to make them sound good. These 7-ply Ludwigs found their sweet spot right away - with just a few tweaks over the next day or so. Now it's settled in and sounding great. I'm confident they'll sound even better when I eventually put coated emperors on them or black dots. The bass drum already got a PowerStroke3.
I'm looking to maybe get a matching 6.5x14 snare for it, that would be a nice touch and then fill the requirement of having one wood snare, and one metal snare (although my 70s 6.5 Supra is sounding awesome with it right now).