Ludwig Breakbeats Kit

Definitely looks good and a great price..............are they from the "accent" line? I can't see any badges.
 
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Wow, that does look nice. Anyone know of a round-up of all these small kits? I'm kinda in the market for one and would love to know how this ludwig compares to, say, the gretsch hop kit/ sonor jungle/ yamaha hip gig.
 
I saw my local Guitar Center putting one of these together yesterday when I was in there. I didn't get a good look but I'm tempted to go back today and get a look at the finished product. I've seen no literature about the shells or anything so I'm really curious about the quality.
 
Wow, that does look nice. Anyone know of a round-up of all these small kits? I'm kinda in the market for one and would love to know how this ludwig compares to, say, the gretsch hop kit/ sonor jungle/ yamaha hip gig.

You mean Gretsch Renown bop kit? The 57s? They are head over heels better than this new Ludwig offering as well as the Sonor and hipgigs in quality and sound. My opinion. Problem is they were half off at $750 for a month or so now it seems price has jumped back up to $1300. Dig around and you might still find them at discount.
 
Stopped in Guitar Center at lunch time to take a look. Unfortunately, not a lot of information available for them. The guys in their drum area don't much more info than we do.

As you would expect, they are pretty thin shelled. They didn't have any literature about the shell construction but the shells are pretty light in color. Obviously for the price point its not super quality wood.

Everything was very light weight and would be very easy to transport. Definitely not a high quality snare but how many stock kits come with a great snare drum? Comes standard with Remo UC heads. Overall, I thought the hardware looked relatively solid for what you are getting and the azure blue sparkle finish looks really nice. The shells are not badged like other Ludwig drums and simply have a marking if the Breakbeats by?uestlove logo on all of the drums.

Overall without getting to play on them, they look pretty cheap up close but look like a higher quality from a distance due to the finish and hardware. I don't know they would last long for a hardcore gigging drummer but for someone like myself who could keep in their basement as a jazz kit for a gig here and there, it should be sufficient.

I have never played on a Yamaha hipgig or a Sonor safari or comparable kit so I can't judge how this compares to the others in its class.
 
Just an FYI, that's this year's GC/MF exclusive Ludwig kit. There's no price comparison possible.

I can't comment on the quality because I didn't see the kit. It wasn't at NAMM because it's only available to GC, and that deal was done a little while back.

?uestlove has been a Ludwig guy for about a year now.

Bermuda
 
Just an FYI, that's this year's GC/MF exclusive Ludwig kit. There's no price comparison possible.

I can't comment on the quality because I didn't see the kit. It wasn't at NAMM because it's only available to GC, and that deal was done a little while back.

?uestlove has been a Ludwig guy for about a year now.

Bermuda

Any idea is if Ludwig will release any specs or details on it? I know the sticker on the bass head of what I looked at had a QR code on it to go to for more information but when I read the link on my phone, it went to an invalid URL.
 
I saw one today at GC. It was a decent little kit. I don't see ?uestlove ever sitting behind one but it would make a decent travel/rehearsal/small gig kit. I tapped on the toms a lottle and they seemed pretty bright with the stock pinstripe heads tuned pretty tight. I didn't mess with the kick or the snare. I am glad I get my Sonor Sonic Plus II safari kit (made in Germany) sounds a lot better and has the exact same sizes which is probably why I was really too impressed by the kit. It does look kind of cheap in person. It isn't really anything super special other than an affordable and portable kit that sounds decent enough, but that's just my take. I wouldn't be ashamed to use the kit at a gig or rehearsal though.
 
Any idea is if Ludwig will release any specs or details on it? I know the sticker on the bass head of what I looked at had a QR code on it to go to for more information but when I read the link on my phone, it went to an invalid URL.

It's an exclusive, so GC would have the specs.
 
Mentioned in the video, but specs are 10x7 13x13 16x14 and 14x?5? depth of snare is not named.
It looks like it comes with a bunch of bags for each drum to carry them around, but you can also play them with the bags on to mute them. Bass drum has a amazing breakbeat sound with the bag on in the video.

List of videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=44GYiw1VsKc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EBVta_4baio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FYVLuSEBzZA
 
$400 eh wot? That puts it in the same category as the Sonor Pocket kit, which is also made out of a mysterious un-named light-coloured wood. At that price you get what you pay for. If Ludwig follows Sonor’s lead, then the heads and rims will be junk, but the shells and the rest of the hardware should be not too shabby.
 
$400 eh wot? That puts it in the same category as the Sonor Pocket kit, which is also made out of a mysterious un-named light-coloured wood. At that price you get what you pay for. If Ludwig follows Sonor’s lead, then the heads and rims will be junk, but the shells and the rest of the hardware should be not too shabby.

Sounds about right. The drums were very light so there wasn't much weight or substance to the rims. W/ the cheap stock Remo UC pinstripes on, I thought the toms had a nice resonance to them. The snare drum was probably the weakest piece of the kit with me but can probably be sufficient with good heads. Hardware seems standard and solid. I think the bass can sound decent with proper tuning but I didn't mess with it much in the store. It was already tuned a little higher than I would have preferred.

The one thing I do like and I'm not sure if other comparable kits do this is the gig bags that are included in the set. They double as practice drum muffles. They are thin and not high quality bags but it does help play into the urban gigging drummer theme of the kit.
 
"My first drum kit was a Ludwig Vistalight..."
Please... fix... spelling... aggghhhhhhhh
That's the last straw, Guitar Center! Go out of business already!
 
Welll...
I really like the stuff Ludwig has been doing lately...
Club Date RI, new Atlas hardware (bought a full set), the new Atlas mount...all great.
I am also somewhat of a 'mini kit' collector - Sonor Jungle (x2), HipGig, DW Mini Pro, etc.

But...
(just a second, stepping into my 100% flame retardant suit here....zip it up....gloves....and...)

That kit looks plain cheap and uncool.
The opposite of ?uestlove.
A Sonor Safari kit would eat this for breakfast AND lunch. For the same money. No...less money!

That's good though, that means I can just go straight to the Gretsch Catalina Street!

Edit: okay, maybe a little harsh, just saw the video ...they aren't that bad. I just won't be buying a set of these.
They sounded okay.
 
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I saw these in the store the other day as well. I have a Safari kit. I liked the Ludwig bass drum legs and stand better and the 2" shallower kick sounds fine while noticeably shrinking the stage footprint. The snare looks like 4 or 4 1/2. On the shallow side. It actually sounds more useful than the snare that came with the Safari which is marginal at best. The short Ludwig can at least do a serviceable church pop. The 14" tom on the Safari can fool people with good heads on it. Not sure how good you can get the smaller Ludwig with heads and tuning, so nod to the Sonors on that one point. The Ludwig finish is sort of unique and will probably get some admiring comments. Probably the hippest one of the small cheap kits.
 
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