Ludwig ATLAS arrival--- some reviews so far...

KarlCrafton

Platinum Member
Picked up some Atlas Classic flat base straight stands, a Pro single pedal, and a Pro snare stand that came in today.

Pretty dang awesome gear!! I'm very happy with the purchases (so far!).

The Pro Single pedal is VERY smooth, but it still has some feel under the foot.

It's strange because while there's no resistance to the stroke back and forth, it still feels like something is "there" under your foot. That was my complaint about a couple other super smooth pedals. it was so smooth, it felt like nothing, and felt kinda weird to me (everyone likes something different though).

Even with the spring really tight, it's VERY smooth and comfortable.
The beater just goes back and forth after you push the foot board down and the spring also moves along with the stroke (like DW 9000 does).

Setting the pedal on the bass drum hoop is super quick and effortless, and tightening it was just as easy. Proabably the easiest time I've ever had putting a pedal on a drum to be honest.
The foot board is a really nice size too.
A "just right" size to me. I have a 10 1/2-11 size shoe, & I think people with larger feet, in the 11-12-13 range will probably really like this pedal & foot board.
Also, even though the heel plate seems large, it doesn't bug me AT ALL like some other pedals have--which I'm amazed about, because I'm really picky about the heel plate (if the heel would have bugged me I would have passed on this pedal).
The Key holder is way beefier than others that have been on pedals too.

The Pro snare stand is substantial, about as heavy as a DW 9300. Weight aside (because I like lighter stands), the basket is awesome with the minimal contact rubber holders. The basket gets very secure without cranking it. There are two memory locks--one under the legs, and one for the tube. Set it, forget it if you like, it won't go anywhere.
Even though I mentioned it, the minimal contact rubber grips on the basket are GREAT. The snare sounds even more fantastic on this stand. Using this, or the FB snare stand for a tom would NOT inhibit the resonance in any perceivable manner IMO.

I got the Flat Base Straight stands, and I really like them a lot.

The tilter is great, and the tubing is nicely sized. Real sturdy stuff.
The adjustable space feet are real cool. There won't be any issues with stand leg placements utilizing these at all.
The wing nuts ALL work very smoothly, and are substantial and solid (and comfortable!). They did not chump out on the wing nuts. The cymbal sleeve will last a long time too. No chumping out on that little item either.

The height adjustment clamps hold very securely without having to crank anything.

I have a Classic FB hat stand on the way, and a Classic FB snare stand as well, &
the basket grips are the same on the FB Classic as the Pro stand.

Oh, along with working great, it also LOOKS great, and the chroming is very well done.
I wasn't sure how I'd like the Silvery Gray of the pedals when I saw pics, but in person it's real nice. Not "cheap" looking at all.

GREAT JOB LUDWIG!!
 
So you got the pillar clutch snare stand? Looks very nifty.

What gets me is that the Atlas Pro gear is stupid expensive, but lots of it doesn't seem very different from the Atlas Standard. Like the boom stand... seems like the $80 difference in price gets you nothing but memory locks? And none of the Atlas Standard stuff comes with memory locks. How is that tailored toward the "gigging professional?"

But the Pro hihat stand looks seriously well designed.
 
I got the standard "Pro" snare stand, not the Uber fancy one. I don't need that.

Just picked up the Flat Base Classic hat stand that came in today.

I play hard (in Rock bands) most of the time, and this thing is stable!
There was NO WAY I could have used DW's 6000. That thing moves & swayed all over when I tried it.
This stand stays put, and doesn't rock back and forth at all.
Simple design that works great! Easy to set up too.

This is the first time my pedals have had matching foot boards in 20 years haha!!

I haven't checked the prices on the heavier stuff, but doubt that I would get the heavy duty touring stuff myself.
Maybe I'll get one in the future to put my gong on instead of the DW I have now. No one sees that stand at all, so it'd purely be a vanity purchace.
 
I wish they had this stuff 9 months ago when I bought all DW flush base stands. I haven't seen the atlas stands in person yet but they look much like the DW stands and have cool features.

I would like to try the new foot pedal though! I love my eliminator but I'm ready for a new pedal. I'm hoping this one compares.

Thanks for the review Karl !!!!
 
This thread is worthless without pics!!!!! :)

Yeah, I know....

Hopefully tonight I'll get a chance to snap & upload pics. I was trying out things last night, so I didn't have time for pics.

KGL, I LOVED my Eliminator pedals for years. I like this pedal better.

I did put a heavier spring on it though, and I'm getting used to the way the spring moves back and forth (like the DW 9000 does).

It's beefy, but it's smooth and has awesome action. The foot board has a little grip, but it's pretty smooth. I think it would be real good for people who slide their foot.

The FB Hi Hat is very comfortable, and stable. I was worried about stability, so I told the shop I wanted to check it out before I committed to buying, and they were cool with that (ordering one in). Stepped on it a few times and it stayed put so I bought it. I use 15 and 16" hats, and it's just fine.

This Classic FB stuff is still lighter weight, but not wimpy at all. It's beefier than the DW 6000 line, which I do still like, and will still use for things.

All I'm waiting for now is the FB snare stand for my tom.
 
Karl, Thanks for the review. I'm planning to order a complete set of Atlas hardware but I was waiting to see it in person first. I trust your opinion so I'll probably order soon. Thanks again. By the way, are you going to be at the Chicago show? If so, I'd like to meet up and say hey. Brian
 
Yes, I am (finally) going to the Chicago show this year!!
Meeting up with a few other people too, so it'll be a hang!

I'm gonna try and do some pics tonight of this stuff.....
 
Great! I'll get my cell number to you before the show. I'll be in town late Friday night and be at the show both days.
 
HERE ARE A FEW PICS! ("It happened", I have pics hahahaha!)

Had to do it quick before my camera batteries died....

Overlapping legs! No problem placing cymbals OR the FT exactly where I want it.

OVERLAPLEGS.jpg


Nice span between legs. I don't use a lot of cymbals, but the DW legs were a little hard to get situated sometimes.

P1010155.jpg


MATCHING FOOT BOARDS!!! First time in eons!

MATCHINGFOOTBOARDS.jpg


Quick one of the kit, a little blurry. I'd taken the cymbals down already to pack for my show. This is the back line kit for the Relay For Life Benefit I'm participating in.
I'm bringing 4 DW boom stands and a regular Hat stand for everyone else to use/move/adjust.

KITATLAS.jpg


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The only thing that's been a little hard to get used to is the Rotating spring on the Pedal, but, it's only been 3 or 4 days haha!

It's so fluid, that I need to get used to the timing for extended doubles (singles of all speeds are super easy and comfortable with this pedal).
I don't really USE extended doubles with this band, but, since I can do them, I'm working on it.

It's nice that while it's a really fluid pedal, you can make it feel "light" or "heavier" with the adjustments.

With some pedals that have come out in the last few years, it's seemed that people find them too heavy or too light.

I've been able to replicate what I was used to (at first, so it's wasn't a shock) pretty easily, and then change it to do what I really wanted (the other pedal to do).

I have been developing my foot technique a little differently since raising my seat up a bunch too. Sitting low for so long, I could fly and really hammer the bass drum when I wanted.
"Everything" works better sitting higher for me now though, so I'm building the foot up to what I had sitting 3-4" lower. It seems like it's going to be pretty easy with this Atlas pedal, and the only "obstacle" I have to get past is a timing issue with the rotating spring assembly. I mostly need to just "lighten up" on the foot to do them.

Really, not that big a deal I guess. Too many "pluses" and no real "minus" with the Atlas Pro for me.

Almost forgot! Attaching the pedal to the hoop is SUPER easy too.
 
I did that port thing about 10 years ago, and used it a couple of times--only on the 16x26 (others seem like they'd be too deep) though.

It's based off an old Evans front head that had 3 diagonal cuts in it.

The head design made sense because the air can get to the mic, but the head is still basically "intact". I never put the mic in the bass drum anyway, & I liked how (the head design) it sounded on Larrie Londons vhs A LOT.

I made the circle version because it was easier than trying to cut diagonal pieces out. Plus, I wanted a White head, Evans only offered Black (it might have even had a ring on it too).
I made a circular pattern with small to larger holes, & made a template with some clear films glued together for a guide.

Tried it in the center way back when, and that worked cool, and this one (at 9 o'clock) worked great on my gig Saturday (3 other drummers used my kit, so I heard every one else playing it too). I used my D112 also.

After trying things out doing holes on test heads, it worked better with the the drill on reverse.

BTW, on the gig, the FB Atlas Hi hat stand never wobbled, and when I put those little spikes on the footboard in the down position (I forgot...), the thing never budged. The cymbal stands worked like a charm also. Smooth legs, and fantastically smooth wing nuts!

Got the Classic Flat Base snare stand yesterday and it works great too. I got NO real evidence of any "lost resonance" .
WAY nicer than any other snare basket I've used (the Pearl suspension basket is close).
The PRO snare stand is heavy, but the basket is great, and so is the FB basket (I use for the tom).

The Gearless tilting for my tom is awesome, but THIS stand actually goes FLAT. DW's FB has a tilt, even in the "flat" position.

Since I raised my seat up so much, I can use the tom flat and not hit the rim, but if I want a little tilt, I can pop the leg into the "top" slot, get a little tilt, and NOT change the spot I put the stand in at all! Having the ole leg a little higher didn't make the stand any less sturdy either, which is awesome.
 
Thanks...I am gonna have to give that a shot. Hmmmm now to find a head to practice on. :)
 
Nice kit! You probably save a bit on weight too.

GJS

Thanks! I like it too. The Black Glass looks WAY cooler in person compared to these crappy pics. The overlapping leg feature is awesome.

Yes, the weight went way down with the FB stuff compared to the heavy stands I was using!

The Atlas stands are a little heavier individually (maybe 1/2 a lb. big deal) than my DW 6000 stands, but the FB Atlas stand has made up any difference over the DW lighter version 2 legger I was using.

When I started using FB stands, I went from having to carry stands upstairs and put them in the case (to wheel it out), to just putting the stands in the case and carrying it up/down my walk-out basement stairs. That's WITHOUT changing the amount of stands too!

Never had a problem with the DW 6000 stands (& will still use them), but it is very nice to have Ludwig Hardware on my Ludwig kits.

I'm keeping the medium weight, and flat base DW stuff, but I'm in process of selling all of the DW heavy 9000 stands.
 
Great stuff man, thanks for all the details and reviews! It's hard to get hands-on time with this stuff since no one has it in stock yet lol...

Would you recommend the Flat Base hihat stand as a closed-and-clamped option? I play double kicks 99% of the time and I'm worried the 3-point system on the pro stand would cause problems if I wanted to clamp the stand to my left kick.
 
If this is a folded leg, clamped onto the bass drum, heck yes this stand would work.

I used to have an (original) Atlas way back when, and it was smaller tubing than this clamped to the bass drum--with a smaller clamp deal than they have now too.

It's a pretty no-frills, simple stand, but it's built really well, and it's comfortable to play. Nice action too. The heel spurs make it stay in place really well.

I said before that I play hard, with large cymbals (20-21-24) and hats (15-16). I have no worries that these stands would fail me in any way.
There are a lot of nice features on the PRO line, but I have no need (or desire) for such beefy stands. These Classics are plenty beefy for me.

My first show using these was filmed for a "live web" deal here in town. I was going to post a link to it, so people could see that the stands are sturdy, but for some reason the dang link doesn't work! It was with my new band too. There's stuff from 2-3 months ago still up on the page, but I couldn't post or link to it 2 days later(!!??).

Anyhow...
Playing around with these stands more, the height adjustments are very secure, and don't need to be cranked down at all. The leg feet with height spacers are really cool.

I keep saying it, but I'm real impressed by the wing nuts.
After dealing with several bad and/or sticky DW wing nuts over the years (I've heard the "batwing style" have been a problem and frequent "warranty item") these Atlas wing nuts are solid and smooth (think old Sonor Signature "solid").
They're comfortable too.
 
If this is a folded leg, clamped onto the bass drum, heck yes this stand would work.

I used to have an (original) Atlas way back when, and it was smaller tubing than this clamped to the bass drum--with a smaller clamp deal than they have now too.

It's a pretty no-frills, simple stand, but it's built really well, and it's comfortable to play. Nice action too. The heel spurs make it stay in place really well.
Good deal, hopefully I'll be able to get some hands-on testing done at a shop soon. It's either this or a DW 5000, and I'd rather not buy a DW lol.
think old Sonor Signature "solid"
Well I'm just about 99% sold after that! hahahaha
 
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