70's Ludwig Vistalites

poika

Silver Member
Here's some pics of my Vistalites up and running.
22x13, 16x16, 13x9. The12x8 is not pictured since it sits on the shell. No use for that one.
The snare is an Acrolite.

I restored this kit last year, it was in pretty bad shape after years of neglect. Not a collector's set by any means, this thing is meant to be played. Hard!

I got an Ambassador on the snare, Vintage Emperors on the toms and a Powerstroke 3 on the bass drum. Ambassador resos all around.



The cymbals in the pic:

-60s New Beats
-Istanbul Mehmet Traditional ride 20"
-Istanbul Mehmet Nostalgia Crash/Ride 21"
-Dream (Bliss?) 20"


I'm starting to really get to know this setup, it's a joy to play and sounds really good!
Looks pretty nice too, though it's definitely not for everyone.
 

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Thanks for the compliments!

Yes, it is indeed closer to 13" than 14"
Only because it had to go through some very special tender loving care :)

The front of the bass drum had gone through some rough years without a head or a hoop, so it was pretty much busted.
I had to saw off a little to effectively true it.

There was also a crack going almost through the entire shell. Someone had tried fixing it with the wrong kind of glue, so I cleaned that up and got some of that proper stuff.

The bearing edges are still evolving, at the moment I have them at 45 inside with an outside roundover sanded by hand
 

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Wow, that's a hardcore fix on that bass drum. You are brave - I don't think I would've attempted that myself. I'd just make it worse! Nice job on the repair!
 
Great job! They came out very nice. What did you use to fix that huge crack in the bass?
 
Thanks!

I used to be a cabinet builder, so I know my way around some stuff when it comes to tools and fixing things.


On the crack I used this acrylic welding liquid, nasty smelling stuff! I can't remember the name but in the US you got something like Weld-On that does the trick (Weld-On # 3 if I remember correctly). Worked great.

The crack also happened to be on the underside of the bass drum so luckily it's not really visible.
 
Wow. That's a killer repair job you performed.​
 
Thank you!

Here's a couple of before pics of the rack tom. Gotta love that good ole Ludwig QC :)
I need to take some close ups of the new edges the next time I change heads.
 

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I had some 70s blue vistalites. Need to find some good photos. Here is a bad one with them in the background.
 

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I still have the catalog. First pic is the finish and the second is the configuration.
 
with pics if computer cooperates.
 

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oh man what a repair on that bass drum

i would indeed love to see the bearing edge on the bass drum next time you change your drumhead.
 
Yea I'll definitely take a pic next time.

Russ, nice one. Looks like your set had concert toms?

The catalog reminds me, I bumped into a matching Vistalite snare a while ago and I tried to talk my way into buying it, with no luck.
It's a shame, since the snare sounded excellent (and obviously the kit would look really cool with the snare)
 
I did not like the vistalite snares at the time. BTW crazy big project to fix those drums. If I still had mine and needed that level of work I know I would have done it as well. Those drums meant a lot to me. One of the saddest days of my life when I sold them.

Still looking for some other pics of the kit.
 
Poika my 15" and 16" toms did not come with bottom heads and I took them off all of the other toms except the floors. It was a trendy thing to do in the late 70s.
 
It was funny because I didn't think it would be all that, but the snare I tried sounded surprisingly good. For a while I even considered trying to get them to swap it for my Acro. Maybe I'll bump into one of those another time.

In some scenarios I really like the concert tom sound. They probably wouldnt suit the style and the way I'm playing now.

btw, liking the photoshop on the first pic :)
On a side note, on november 79 I was minus three years old.
 
Yes had to get rid of incriminating evidence, I'll leave it unanswered whether said evidence was things or people. You are the same age as my oldest daughter! ugh!
 
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