So I found these 1968 Ludwigs in the TRASH yesterday & I have a few ??

brian gorsegner

Junior Member
I will start by confessing I am not very knowledgeable about drums / Ludwigs. Any help would be great!

On my lunch break yesterday I saw some hard shell drum cases with a sign reading "bulk trash, please take!"... In need of new hard cases, and assuming it was JUST the cases, I popped the trunk and went over to grab em. Upon lifting the first one, it was obvious there were drums inside. I knew either way I was going to take them, so I figured I wouldn't start opening them up in the middle of the street, so I loaded them up and went home to eat my lunch. When I got there, I grabbed the snare case and opened it up... It was a Yamaha snare. Looks to be in good shape (will research this more in a bit)... Ate my lunch, back to work...

As I pulled up to work, I noticed small bugs climbing all over the cases... I quickly removed the drums from my car, and began stripping them out of the cases so I could throw the cases in the dumpster at work, or hose them down. I removed the rack tom, and to my surprise, it was not a Yamaha, but a Ludwig, and a seemingly old Ludwig at that. I took out the Kick drum and floor tom and they all matched. The Ludwig badge serial number on the rack tom read "566106", which I believe indicates it's a 1968. All of the metal hardware was in tact too! I looked around online and came to the conclusion the kit was a 1968 Black Diamond Pearl... 13" rack, 16" floor, 22" bass drum...

After work, I stripped off all the heads and cleaned everything top to bottom. I noticed the interior of all the shells were painted white... Now I can't tell if this is what they looked like from the manufacturer, or if they were painted over? From what I've read, 1968 did have white interiors for the FIRST half of the year? No date on these is stamped, and that seemed to be an indication of how they came from the factory. If they were re painted, how greatly could that effect the sound? I also have no idea what to look for as far as original exterior wrap goes, or if these have been re wrapped.

If you can answer any of these questions, or shed any further light based on these photographs I'd greatly appreciate it. Either way, glad I was able to rescue these from the impending doom of the local garbage man and I plan on restoring the kit the best I can!

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Also, looking to soak all of the metal parts in something today to get some of the little bit of rust off and shine them up. Recommendations?
 
Holy crap! You found gold in that trash pile!
Yes the interiors of the drums could have been white from the factory during that year.
If you can read the date stamps inside of the shells than the drums have not been repainted.
The drums appear to have been repainted from your pics.
That shell pack is worth $1200 to $1800 when it is cleaned up depending on the condition after cleaning.
 
Nice looking save one thing. I don't think Ludwig would have painted the washers , screws, etc, inside the drums white but the shells only. Just a guess on my part but still a great find.
 
Good point on the washers and screws all being painted white. That seems like a decent indication they were repainted. I wonder how much that will effect the sound. I'm going out to get some new heads today to see how they sound. Otherwise they really appear to be in great condition. There are a few holes here and there I cant tell if they are from the factory, or were drilled after the fact. From looking at pictures it looks like this bass drum has holes for a weird tom mount... I'd like to try and track one of those down.
 
What a find! It looks like the paint goes over the bearing edge where the head contacts the shell as well as the screws and washers painted but not a huge deal. The condition of the edges with the paint on them will need to be addressed. With the paint modification I would say that having the edges recut would not affect the value and would greatly improve play ability and tune ability . If the edges appear to be in decent shape you could carefully sand the paint off the edges but my guess is that the edges have not been protected.
 
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What a find! It looks like the paint goes over the bearing edge where the head contacts the shell as well as the screws and washers painted but not a huge deal. The condition of the edges with the paint on them will need to be addressed but if you just want to sell them I would just clean them up the best I could. If I was looking to buy this kit I would be most concerned with the shells being out of round.

By "out of round" you mean warped? Is there any surefire way for me to tell that? Is it the kind of thing you can just eyeball?
 
I looked up the snare and here's what it is... Pretty common I'm assuming, was most likely standard issue when the Yamaha kit was purchased, no idea on year, I don't think too old?...

Yamaha Birch Custom Absolute // Solid Black // BSD-0105 // 14" width, 5.5" depth // Steel, Triple Flange Dyna Hoop //
 
Just get a ruler and measure the distances from lug to lug. They don't have to be perfectly round.

Dunno anything about those drums but that's a decent score nonetheless.
 
By "out of round" you mean warped? Is there any surefire way for me to tell that? Is it the kind of thing you can just eyeball?

As Dre25 said, they don't have to be perfectly round but not so warped that heads don't fit. Besides, there is nothing you can do about an out of round shell. What you can do is make sure the edges are flat and visually inspect the edges for gouges.http://recordinghacks.com/2009/08/22/how-to-test-drum-bearing-edges/

I would at the very least carefully sand the paint off the edges and put some new heads on and see how they sound. They don't need to be perfect to sound great, it's really about the heads seating on the drums. If it's really wonky it won't sound very good.
 
Heads go on and off totally fine, they had heads on them when I got them but i took them off because they were filthy and I wanted to clean everything up. I also measured them all lug to lug and they appear to be totally round, no gauges either.
 
Good point on the washers and screws all being painted white. That seems like a decent indication they were repainted. I wonder how much that will effect the sound. I'm going out to get some new heads today to see how they sound. Otherwise they really appear to be in great condition. There are a few holes here and there I cant tell if they are from the factory, or were drilled after the fact. From looking at pictures it looks like this bass drum has holes for a weird tom mount... I'd like to try and track one of those down.

The holes are from the internal mufflers having been removed. They tended to rattle, and most, if not all, drummers don't use them anyway, so not a big loss there. Replacement internal mufflers are easily found of eBay.

The interior being repainted won't affect the sound appreciably. It does prevent them from being a museum-quality kit (as does the rusty condition of the hardware), but they can still be a very good "players'" kit. It looks like the bass drum hoops have been repainted and possibly the inlay is new, too, which is great! They may not be original, but it doesn't matter much, here, IMO.

However, the edges have been painted, and the edges have much to do with the kit's sound. You might take them to a drum shop and ask if someone can take the paint off with a mild stripper and a cloth. If that goes well, they won't need to be re-sanded. You want to preserve the original quality of the edges as much as possible.

You can polish that chrome with 0000 grade steel wool, which is fine enough to take out the nicks but won't scratch. Others prefer to use a liquid chrome polish when they're being extra careful.

The shells probably aren't perfectly round, but old drums rarely are, having been built in an earlier age. As long as new heads fit comfortably on them, they should tune up fine. If a drum head fits too snugly, try a similar model head from a different brand.
 
The holes are from the internal mufflers having been removed. They tended to rattle, and most, if not all, drummers don't use them anyway, so not a big loss there. Replacement internal mufflers are easily found of eBay.

The interior being repainted won't affect the sound appreciably. It does prevent them from being a museum-quality kit (as does the rusty condition of the hardware), but they can still be a very good "players'" kit. It looks like the bass drum hoops have been repainted and possibly the inlay is new, too, which is great! They may not be original, but it doesn't matter much, here, IMO.

However, the edges have been painted, and the edges have much to do with the kit's sound. You might take them to a drum shop and ask if someone can take the paint off with a mild stripper and a cloth. If that goes well, they won't need to be re-sanded. You want to preserve the original quality of the edges as much as possible.

You can polish that chrome with 0000 grade steel wool, which is fine enough to take out the nicks but won't scratch. Others prefer to use a liquid chrome polish when they're being extra careful.

The shells probably aren't perfectly round, but old drums rarely are, having been built in an earlier age. As long as new heads fit comfortably on them, they should tune up fine. If a drum head fits too snugly, try a similar model head from a different brand.

Sorry.....NO STEEL WOOL.It will scratch the chrome.

Dawn dish washing liquid and water.Soak for 24 hours,and then scrub with a nylon brush and then dry thoroughly.

If there is still rust remaining,use crumpled up aluminum foil and coke.The coke interacts chemically with the foil,and it will remove the rust.The foil is also a mild abrasive ,but MUCH softer than chrome and steel wool,which should ONLY be used as a last resort.

A good automotive chrome polish like turtle wax,Mothers polish or Flitz metal polish also work well.

Although the interiors look to be painted over,I have seen resocoat white interiors,with date stamps from the factory,that painted over the interior hardware.It's rare but it did happen in the mid 60's

Whoever repainted the interiors also devalued the drums by as much as 35-50 % depending where your located.

If your going to use stripper on the bearing edge,make sure you tape off everyting before hand as some strippers WILL damage the wrap.I would just use 220 grit or OOOO steel wool on the bearing edge,VERY carefully.That will smooth it out sufficently.Using stripper will also raise the grain,and then you'll have to sand anyway.

Do NOT use any motorized sanders.If your heavy handed,get a good 5 star drum shop to do the work for you,and not some yahoo in a basement.

Most of the great in vintage sound in vintage Ludwigs is in those bearing edges,so,be VERY careful with them.

Steve B

I've been selling/repairing/ detailing drums for over 25 years.Trust me.
 
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That is a great find! They look good with your cat too. Enjoy them to the maximum. Peace and goodwill.
 
No steel wool!!!! I would strip the drum hardware off and soak it for 24 hrs in hot water with a disolved dishwasher tablet in it- the results are miraculous. If there are not stains left, use some good quality car polish to shine them up and also give them a waterproof coating- sorry tamadrm, just noticed the detail in your post- just do what he said....

What a find!
 
I once found Ludwigs and Istanbul K hats in the garbage. Learned later, son went to college and Mom cleaned out his room. Mine weren't a matching set like yours. That year and colour are one of the most wanted sets of vintage ludwigs too. Best finish in my opinion. Would like to see the snare too if you have a picture.
 
Ugh! Why can't *I* ever find vintage Luddies in the trash? My findings tend to be dirty nappies and spoiled food...
 
That snare drum is a high-end drum, too, though it doesn't have the collector value of the Luddies. You scored big-time!
 
With these drums I think the best thing to do is to take them to a highly-regarded drum shop in or near your area. Why mess around? Why take chances? They're too rare to turn into a DIY project, particularly when there are bearing edges to consider.
 
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