My new, old Ludwigs

simmsdn

Silver Member
I got these for $150. I'm dating them 1973-1975 (possibly early 1976). Black cortex, granitone interior. 3-ply maple. Had a mix-match set of destroyed heads on them.

9" x 13", 10" x 14", 16" x 16", 16" x 18". 14" x 22".

Came with an Acrolyte...of course I'll use whatever from my snare collection fits the song/mood I'm in.

I'll mic them up next week and see how they sound recorded. Sound great after a cleaning and some new skins.
 

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Looks great to me. Nice find. Can't wait to hear them.
 
Great score for sure, but they don't look like 3-ply in the photos, which suggests '76 or later on those. Also, there are a few rounded b/o badges, which suggests1978 or 9.

Very little is for sure on vintage Ludwig gear, best people can do on some stuff is narrow it down to within a few years.

Bermuda
 
Great score for sure, but they don't look like 3-ply in the photos, which suggests '76 or later on those. Also, there are a few rounded b/o badges, which suggests1978 or 9.

Very little is for sure on vintage Ludwig gear, best people can do on some stuff is narrow it down to within a few years.

Bermuda

Bermuda,

They have reinforcing rings as well (which are 6-ply), shell itself is 3-ply. I was thinking 78-79 because of the rounded badges, but also know that 76-later were 6-ply shells.

Always fun dating Ludwigs! The granitone puts them in one time-period, rounded B/O badges in another, and 3-ply shells in another! Oh...and the serial numbers add in another 4-5 possible scenarios! That's why I'm just sticking with 1973-1975 because I think that captures the most likely combination of all the above best. I guess only God and The Chief know for sure!

Regardless, they look real good, sound great, and they're mine.

Thanks for the input!
Dave
 
The 70s were weird times for Ludwig, Gretsch, and Slingerland.
Nice kit for the cash though! Whatever it is!
It looks great!
 
I don't see re-rings in the photos. I see straight-sided shells. That, and the rounded B/O badges, scream 6-ply to me. Black cortex wrap came out in 1976. That's as much as I can contribute, unless I were to see them in person...

Yeah, I didn't take pictures when I had them apart, but just went and counted plies through the clear heads: 3-ply shell, 6-ply re-ring.

Bass drum does not have re-rings though and is a 14" x 22", which makes me believe 78-79 as well...but weird times.
 
Great score simmsdn, cool looking kit! What a price too!

I don't see re-rings in the photos. I see straight-sided shells. That, and the rounded B/O badges, scream 6-ply to me. Black cortex wrap came out in 1976. That's as much as I can contribute, unless I were to see them in person...

I have a 3ply, clear interior, pointed B/O badge 14x24 with Black Cortex that's earlier than 76. It had the small curved spurs (changed them, and did the interior Black too...3 ply's weren't "collectible" back in 1980's).

I got the 2-14x24" bass drums used in 1980 (only kept one), so if Cortex came out in 76, what the heck year is my drum with the pointed badge? Maybe some "last of the batch" shells when they started to go with the 6ply shells?
Shell dating...good times, good times haha!
 
I've owned a white cortex, clear maple interior, 3-ply with rounded badges. I've also owned a silver sparkle, clear maple interior, 6-ply with pointed badges. Also, a maple cortex 6-ply snare with a pointed badge. None of them were re-wraps. What does THAT tell you about dating accuracy? Oy vey!

White and black cortex came out in the catalogs in 1976:

http://www.vintagedrumguide.com/ludwig_finishes.html

...maybe yours was a pre-order, Karl. There's just nothing consistent about this whole Ludwig mess.

Simmsdn: "late 70s" is about as good as you're going to get.
 
Bass drum does not have re-rings though and is a 14" x 22", which makes me believe 78-79 as well...but weird times.
Smoking gun ... 6 ply shell kick drum. This kit was just cob-knobbled together. Black cortex is just kitchen countertop material. Some of the rack toms might have been re-covered in black cortex, just to match the rest of the kit. That 6 ply kick ... should not have a granitone interior. My ten 6 ply shells all have/had clear maple interiors .... not granitone.
My thoughts are, somebody slapped B/O badges on everything, just so it would look like it all matched (from a distance). A 3 ply shelled rack tom, with a round cornered B/O badge ... recover job.​
Enjoy playing the kit ... forget dating it.​
 
The 70s were weird times for Ludwig, Gretsch, and Slingerland.
Nice kit for the cash though! Whatever it is!
It looks great!

I agree. The late '70s saw the rise of both Tama and Yamaha. Pearl was beginning to make in-roads as well, but they didn't hit that hard until the '80s happened. The original big four began to suffer. I like to think because of the marching percussion arena, that's how Ludwig and Slingerland survived a bit longer. Ludwig did survive, but Slingerland went through this metamorphosis into oblivion, and Rogers shot themselves in the foot when they released student drums with plastic hardware. Talk about a "WTF were you thinking" moment. Gretsch just kinda' maintained their existence until Gibson bought them, then things started getting better for them. Gretsch is like Fender in a way - they have that nostalgic 'pizzazz' that people just associate with their products. Fenders get it by being the first rock n roll guitar with the Tele and the Strat, and Gretsch gets it by being the defining drumset of the cool jazz period.
 
Couple sound files...nothing too extravagant. I'm playing to sound cool, juts try to capture some sounds on track.

Two files are same. "Bus 1" is close micing of the kit (Sennheiser e602 on bass, e604 on toms, Shure SM57 on snare, and PG81s for overheads).

"Bus 2" is a pair of 1" Diaphragm condensers set up 8-feet in front of the kit. Aimed so that they intersect where my head is sitting behind it.

I did not do any crazy gating or EQ. I did compress the buss output.
 

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