Ludwig LM402

hogdaddy

Member
I have been wanting a Ludwig snare for some time and ordered a new one from MF and with 10% off I think its an excellent buy.

Its gonna sound great with my Yamaha Tour Customs.
 
Take the rubber gaskets off from underneath all the lugs and the butt plate. They totally suck up the sound and muffle the capabilities and wonderful sound of the supra. You'll thank me later....unless you really like that look, but the sound sufers dramatically.
 
Take the rubber gaskets off from underneath all the lugs and the butt plate. They totally suck up the sound and muffle the capabilities and wonderful sound of the supra. You'll thank me later....unless you really like that look, but the sound sufers dramatically.

Thanks for the advice I remember reading some posts here on that matter.

For some strange reason the pic on MF website doesn't show the gaskets but I assume all new Supra's have them?
 
I tried that with the tube lugs. No go since it created way too much splay between the lug casing and the hoop. May be a different story on the 'imperial' models though.
 
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I tried that with the tube lugs. No go since it created way too much splay between the lug casing and the hoop. May be a different story on the 'imperial' models though.

The Ludwig 402 never had rubber gaskets, none of their drums did, tube lugs or imperial lugs. This is a fairly recent addition that may look ok, but really sucks the sound out of the drum, more so with the imperial lugs. There was never an issue with "splay" on any Ludwig drums without gaskets, so I don't think there's cause for concern now.
 
The 402 I bought a little over a year ago had them. I removed the gaskets, and it sounds like 402 should. I recently bought a Ludwig
Joey Kramer (brass shell) snare. It has tube lugs, but no gasket between the tube lug and shell. Good sounding drum.

picture.php
 
The 402 I bought a little over a year ago had them. I removed the gaskets, and it sounds like 402 should. I recently bought a Ludwig
Joey Kramer (brass shell) snare. It has tube lugs, but no gasket between the tube lug and shell. Good sounding drum.

picture.php

Thats a cool looking snare and I bet it sounds sweet.
I am definitely gonna remove the gaskets to get the best sound but it also looks better imho without them too.
 
The 402 I bought a little over a year ago had them. I removed the gaskets, and it sounds like 402 should. I recently bought a Ludwig
Joey Kramer (brass shell) snare. It has tube lugs, but no gasket between the tube lug and shell. Good sounding drum.

picture.php

I am pretty sure this is a Ludwig Black Magic 6.5 x 14 with fancy etching right? I was looking at one of these and it looks just like my 8 x 14 BM but of course 6.5", good looking drum though.
 
I am pretty sure this is a Ludwig Black Magic 6.5 x 14 with fancy etching right? I was looking at one of these and it looks just like my 8 x 14 BM but of course 6.5", good looking drum though.

I'd say that's an accurate description. The box it was shipped in from Ludwig even said Black Magic, but it's got Joey's graphics, Badge,
and his signature on a paper decal affixed to the interior part of the shell.

I like the sound of it. It has some of the qualities of my 5" Black Beauty, but the die cast hoops give it a slightly drier sound. I also
like that it has a different sound quality than my LM402 which is the same size and depth.
 
The Ludwig 402 never had rubber gaskets, none of their drums did, tube lugs or imperial lugs. This is a fairly recent addition that may look ok, but really sucks the sound out of the drum, more so with the imperial lugs. There was never an issue with "splay" on any Ludwig drums without gaskets, so I don't think there's cause for concern now.

The newer shells are slightly smaller in diameter now, thus the splay. You can solve this problem by ordering some hoops from Worldmax.
 
You can solve this problem by ordering some hoops from Worldmax.
Really? How do those hoops fit on a shell of "normal" diameter then? And why wouldn't Ludwig source their hoops from them? Or, if Ludwig makes their own hoops, why wouldn't they retool so the things fit? I've never understood Ludwig's thinking on this issue (or many others...).
 
Really? How do those hoops fit on a shell of "normal" diameter then? And why wouldn't Ludwig source their hoops from them? Or, if Ludwig makes their own hoops, why wouldn't they retool so the things fit? I've never understood Ludwig's thinking on this issue (or many others...).

Yes please do elaborate on this I am curious also. How can those hoops correct the splay if they are the same?

Should I even be worried about the splay?
 
Really? How do those hoops fit on a shell of "normal" diameter then? And why wouldn't Ludwig source their hoops from them? Or, if Ludwig makes their own hoops, why wouldn't they retool so the things fit? I've never understood Ludwig's thinking on this issue (or many others...).

Yes please do elaborate on this I am curious also. How can those hoops correct the splay if they are the same?

Should I even be worried about the splay?

It's just something that a builder friend of mine has figured out. I don't know why it is, but it works. As far as worrying about the splay, the drum will tune-up fine and sound good, but the look bothers me. If I have a choice of splay or no splay, I will go with the latter.
 
I tried that with the tube lugs. No go since it created way too much splay between the lug casing and the hoop. May be a different story on the 'imperial' models though.

You need the small gaskets (P-6268) that Ludwig supplies with their tube lugs. If you have those, no splay.

Go with generic lugs that don't supply gaskets or the ultra thin "gasket", you're outta luck.
Ludwig's tubes are also nicer, and beefier than the generics.

New Supra's have gaskets under the Imperial lugs. I took mine off, then it sounded like the Supra I want.
2.3's are on the snares now, I have no splay.

If you took a lug off the BM or Joey Kramer drum, there would be a very thin gasket under the lug.
 
I just discovered yet another annoying "feature" of Ludwig snares. The new style butt plate for the snares sits so low on the shell that the snare side hoop smashes into it. WTF??

I just got a Black Beauty delivered to me today (thanks, Fuzrock!!) and spotted that while I was changing the batter head on it. I thought I'd also change the batter on my 402 while I was at it and saw the same thing there (never noticed it before today). I have to assume that's as common to these snares as the lug splay is - though I don't care as much about the splay.

Sorry for being so down on Ludwig all the time. I absolutely love their metal snares, but their lack of attention to detail really frustrates me.

So Karl, what was that snare side head you use again? I think that will be the "fix" for this.
 
I just discovered yet another annoying "feature" of Ludwig snares. The new style butt plate for the snares sits so low on the shell that the snare side hoop smashes into it. WTF??

I remember Zambizzi had exactly the same problem. I was pretty much convinced he'd been a bad boy in a former life, he's had so many "issues" with his Ludwig gear.....but now you too?!?!?

Outside of the butt plate issues.....what's the verdict on this long awaited gem? (assuming you've actually been able to tune the thing, that is)
 
I remember Zambizzi had exactly the same problem.

Outside of the butt plate issues.....what's the verdict on this long awaited gem? (assuming you've actually been able to tune the thing, that is)
He did? I don't remember that, but I'm not surprised. Have you seen that on your drums?

Well! The long awaited gem is the most fabulous-looking paper weight at the moment as it sits atop my desk for all to admire (especially me!). Only having received it today, I haven't had the chance to do anything else with it. I'm hoping to smack it around tomorrow night, though, and come hell or high water, that's just what's gonna happen!
 
Have you seen that on your drums?

Nup. Two supra's, a BB and a bronze and no issues with an Emperor over a snare side Ambassador on any of them, mate.

I'm bleeding for you. After such a long wait, I was hoping you'd front up and say everything was even better than perfect.
 
Nup. Two supra's, a BB and a bronze and no issues with an Emeror over a snare side Ambassador on any of them, mate.

I'm bleeding for you. After such a long wait, I was hoping you'd front up and say everything was even better than perfect.
You know, it's not such a big deal because I know there's a good fix for it with those collar-less heads that Karl uses. I'm still absolutely over the moon with this duo of snares and think I could die a happy camper with just these two.

As long as they keep up with the magical shell construction they've hit upon, Ludwig metal snares will always be the supreme rulers of the universe no matter how many silly things they do (or don't do) about the fit of the hardware.
 
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