Picked up my Ludwig Centennials today!

bub72ck

Senior Member
New to me Ludwig Centennials that I picked up today. Made the 3 1/2 hour trek to Charlotte, NC with a buddy and had an awesome time. They are in excellent condition. Found one scratch on top of the bass drum about 2" long but nothing else. The 18" floor tom had not been played much if at all. The 13" and 16" had the heads replaced but the 18 did not.

I put new Coated Emperors on all the toms batter side and a new Coated Ambassador on my 1968 LM400. I'll get them tuned up tomorrow since my little guy was asleep tonight. I am really excited about these. They have a really deep and fat sound and I love the finish.



I'll get some more pics up tomorrow.
 
Is that a 24 bass. They look cool and look like they could be deep and loud. Nice road trip for the drums.
 
Congrats. They look real nice.
 
Yo, that's a sweet kit. I love my Centennial kit. Its so loud and the 18" floor tom is like a cannon. However, I'm going to warn you, the tension rods get loose while you play. They are fine once you get use to it. The other down side to it is, well, there isn't one, except its too damn loud... oh wait, we are drummers, who gives a poop whether its too loud? I have the same kit except red sparkle, as you can tell.
 

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Yo, that's a sweet kit. I love my Centennial kit. Its so loud and the 18" floor tom is like a cannon. However, I'm going to warn you, the tension rods get loose while you play. They are fine once you get use to it. The other down side to it is, well, there isn't one, except its too damn loud... oh wait, we are drummers, who gives a poop whether its too loud? I have the same kit except red sparkle, as you can tell.

Nice looking kit in Red! I've noticed that about the tension rods as well. I'm not an overly aggressive player and actually need to play a little quieter with my bandmates so hopefully that will help some.

I'm still tweaking the tuning on the 18" some. The 16 sounds fantastic and the 13 is real close. I don't have much experience with 18s so I'm not quite sure what I'm looking for in a sound yet but regardless it is LOUD!
 
Nice looking kit in Red! I've noticed that about the tension rods as well. I'm not an overly aggressive player and actually need to play a little quieter with my bandmates so hopefully that will help some.

I'm still tweaking the tuning on the 18" some. The 16 sounds fantastic and the 13 is real close. I don't have much experience with 18s so I'm not quite sure what I'm looking for in a sound yet but regardless it is LOUD!

My experience with 18's is limited but more than once I used a 2 ply reso head to control the thunder just a bit
 
Centennials are a good bargain if you an find them. Ludwig blew them out a few years ago when they discontinued. USA maple but assembled in Taiwan if I'm correct. Anyway congrats. Yeah those are a nice upgrade.
 
Centennials are a good bargain if you an find them. Ludwig blew them out a few years ago when they discontinued. USA maple but assembled in Taiwan if I'm correct. Anyway congrats. Yeah those are a nice upgrade.

It still surprises me that Ludwig has not continued to sell these kits or something like them stateside. I know the Signet 105 is in a similar pricepoint but they are a very unique looking drum. Not saying good or bad but the finish on them is definitely different than traditional lacquer or wrapped drums. Going from the Element to Keystone leaves a huge gap in pricing markets and I would think the $800-$1,200 range would be a sweetspot for a lot of weekend giggers and hobbyists. I'm definitely happy I snagged my set of Centennials. I had my last kit for 25 years so these probably will be in the stable for quite a while.
 
Nice looking kit in Red! I've noticed that about the tension rods as well. I'm not an overly aggressive player and actually need to play a little quieter with my bandmates so hopefully that will help some.

I'm still tweaking the tuning on the 18" some. The 16 sounds fantastic and the 13 is real close. I don't have much experience with 18s so I'm not quite sure what I'm looking for in a sound yet but regardless it is LOUD!

I'm a weird person. I have a different heads set-up. I have pinstripes on the batter and coated ambassadors on the resos. It gives more punch than tone, but you have to tune it just right or you get too much reverb. As for the bass drum, you'll need to put a hole in the reso head, it sounds so much better. It gives more punch.
 
There's another thread about Centennials here,and about their availability in the USA.Although the Ludwig website states otherwise,new Centenials are being sold at Guitar Center,exclusively.Our own Bermuda called Ludwig a short time ago,and they verified this info,so ...yes,you can buy then in the US ...brand spanking new.:)

Steve B
 
There's another thread about Centennials here,and about their availability in the USA.Although the Ludwig website states otherwise,new Centenials are being sold at Guitar Center,exclusively.Our own Bermuda called Ludwig a short time ago,and they verified this info,so ...yes,you can buy then in the US ...brand spanking new.:)

Steve B

Musicians Friend is also carrying them.
 
Yo, that's a sweet kit. I love my Centennial kit. Its so loud and the 18" floor tom is like a cannon. However, I'm going to warn you, the tension rods get loose while you play. They are fine once you get use to it. The other down side to it is, well, there isn't one, except its too damn loud... oh wait, we are drummers, who gives a poop whether its too loud? I have the same kit except red sparkle, as you can tell.

ALL OF THIS.

I use the 26 inch bass drum. I have been noticing they loosen up on me and I am not thrilled with that. Especially the 14x10.

As far as the other guys in the band... the bass player sat in the other room because he says they are too loud. The guitar player complained he had to turn up too loud and the singer says he cant hear himself. I have the silver sparkle version of these.

Complainers.

We ripped out Achilles Last Stand and it told me exactly why I wanted the kit and how much it was worth the heads and how long it took me to fine tune the kit. Then the lugs got loose and some of the kit detuned on me.
 
ALL OF THIS.

I use the 26 inch bass drum. I have been noticing they loosen up on me and I am not thrilled with that. Especially the 14x10.

As far as the other guys in the band... the bass player sat in the other room because he says they are too loud. The guitar player complained he had to turn up too loud and the singer says he cant hear himself. I have the silver sparkle version of these.

Complainers.

We ripped out Achilles Last Stand and it told me exactly why I wanted the kit and how much it was worth the heads and how long it took me to fine tune the kit. Then the lugs got loose and some of the kit detuned on me.

Tell your bandmates to f*** off and that they are jealous. My guys are fine with it, it's hella loud, but its awesome. We practice in a dorm room and everyone gets pissed off, but I don't care?
 
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ALL OF THIS.

I use the 26 inch bass drum. I have been noticing they loosen up on me and I am not thrilled with that. Especially the 14x10.

As far as the other guys in the band... the bass player sat in the other room because he says they are too loud. The guitar player complained he had to turn up too loud and the singer says he cant hear himself. I have the silver sparkle version of these.

Complainers.

We ripped out Achilles Last Stand and it told me exactly why I wanted the kit and how much it was worth the heads and how long it took me to fine tune the kit. Then the lugs got loose and some of the kit detuned on me.

After playing these at practice, the guys said it sounded like the kit was mic'd. so loud and clean, great drums.
 
These kits look so awesome. I'm saving now to grab the red sparkle from musicians friend before they're out of them for good.
 
These kits look so awesome. I'm saving now to grab the red sparkle from musicians friend before they're out of them for good.

They are probably rare but keep an eye on GC Used Gear. I got these for $769.00 out the door.
 
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