You are correct Mikeo. Ludwig does produce fine, fine drums everyday. I own some. I'm also willing to bet that the floor tom in question still sounds great! It's just a shame that they have historically had a well known problem with quality control as to what is allowed to leave the factory.
Not disputing quality issues, but note that the floor tom in question is 3+ years old, & it was appeared to be fine until just recently.
So what the heck happened between the manufacturing of it in 2009, and a week ago?
It's just odd.
Is it "just one of those things"?
I know Zam's issues well. I also helped in getting that specifically ordered kit looked over, that ended up also having issues.
I felt pretty bad when the kit came, and it was another disappointment.
Maybe it was the QC team at the time that was there? I don't know, but that person has been gone a little while now.
There has been other companies with documented issues, and "boycots" started against one just recently. I have heard "horror stories" about that company too, and a few other companies as well. It's not just Ludwig like other people have said.
We're a pretty small group here on DWorld, and out of the
thousands of kits made/sold each year by
anyone, we hear about bad stuff from only a small handful of forum members.
Not excusing any company from serious defects, they should be fixed or replaced.
It's just interesting to me, that for 30+ years I have used Ludwig drums, and have been buying
new Ludwig drums for over 20.
Many individual drums in one color (Sable Black w/long lugs), over the course of
several years (back when they supposedly
really sucked) and a Red Sparkle kit in '07, and I've added drums in RS in the 5 years since.
I haven't had quality issues at all. No bad bass drum hoops (I have 6 BD's), no out of round drums, no bad wraps, no bad heads, no stripped lug screws, or any bad parts or hardware. No bad snares (7 of my 10 are Ludwig)....
I added on a Sable Black 16" floor tom about
8 years (or more) after I bought the
original kit (Jan '90).
It wasn't
as Black as my others, so I sent it back, no problem.
They returned it in just under 2 weeks, and it was great.
Matched just right. That was my only "problem". The drum itself was fine--still is, it was just a slight color mis-match.
Now, how can I never have an issue, and someone else has
a lot of problems??
Not that I want issues if I buy anything else!!
Tons of people buy DW's and never have an issue, and one guy here has a bad experience and the whole company sucks, and there's an uproar. It's great that people "came together" and supported a fellow drummer, but it was kinda silly the way things went overboard for a bit.
As to a new/next kit for Zam, I like the Brooklyn suggestion, but I also like Bermuda's mention of Pork Pie.
PP are some seriously well built drums. Awesome finishes too. They sound fantastic.