My new Ludwig Classic maples!!!!!

[Bonzobilly]

Ok so first I need to do some explaining and take some of my words back. I have posted several threads involving the IMMINENT arrival or lack thereof reguarding my order with Ludwig. The 3 month wait ballooned to 6 months.Whoever my dealer spoke to said the reason was due to the large sizes and the birdseye finish I ordered. This was ridiculous and unacceptable to me. So I decided to abandon the Ludwig custom dream. Though a part of me felt that I was spiting only myself, I couldn't get by the double than quoted turn around coupled with the lame excuses as to why. My dealer had a Gretsch Brooklyn kit and I took that home. This was 2 weeks ago. Yesterday, the store called me to tell me the drums had come in. He said he was just going to sell them since having a kit of that magnitude in stock is a great thing. I went to the store, looked at them and realized how dumb I had been. The dealer hadn't spoke to anyone at Ludwig or Selmer yet but we deduced that whoever he spoke to 2 weeks ago obviously had no clue. It was then very obvious to me what needed to happen. I went home and brought back the gretsch and came home with Blondie!!! I must say that Ludwig did, in fact, complete their end of the bargain, as quoted. And what a beautiful piece of American craftsmanship it is. My apologies to anyone who has followed my journey of indecisiveness. Also, my apologies to Monroe. You have built a beautiful set of drums. Lastly, and most importantly, I must thank my wife. Cyberworld can ignore me but my wife has to live with me and this craziness!! She has been supportive and understanding all the way through this!!!!!! Now without further interruption............

18x24
11x13
16x16
16x18
8x14

All classic lugs except snare which has mini lugs, die cast hoops and p86 throwoff.
Keystone brackets, elite spurs, die cast claws and oval badges.

[csnow]

Glad you got your Luddies. They look great! How are you liking them?

[B-squared]

Congratulations! Being the owner of a set of Classic Maples myself, I completely agree with your assessment of the craftsmanship coming out of Monroe, NC. Your drums are beautiful!

[?uesto]

Not crazy about the sizes, but boy did you pick a winning finish. Those are gorgeous drums.

[Kg_lee]

Beautiful Kit!!! I love my Ludwig kit, I haven't owned any kit like it. The drums just sound amazing. I didn't care for the stock heads but once they are changed it really comes to life.

[Bull]

Very nice!








oooooo

[Chunkaway]

Gorgeous! I have to ask, why did you decide to go with a 13X11 rack? That seems like a power tom kind of thing.

[Bonzobilly]

Went the "power 5" config purposely, of course. I wanted big drums for big grooves! Also, when the time comes, it's very easy to order up different tons to expand.

[iamjohn]

Really beautiful kit. Just got my CM's too. Great drums. Congrats.

[KarlCrafton]

Great kit, beautiful!



The Gretsch kit was pretty cool too, but couldn't match that bass drum :-)

Enjoy yourself!!

[Bonzobilly]

Thanks for all the compliments guys! Karl, I just wanted to say that I haven't been on this board very long but I've read tons of posts with advice, info and feedback of yours. Your honesty, even keeled and tepid responses have helped me a bunch. Thanks! Of course, the fact that I love luddys must help! ;)

[Bonzobilly]

........and that gretsch kit was awesome. Too bad I couldn't keep that too. Think that would put wifey over the edge!

[8Mile]

Welcome to the Classic Maple club! I've been digging mine for almost two years now and I get as excited playing them, and even looking at them, as I did when I first took them home.

Those drums are beautiful! Congratulations and enjoy them!

[larryz]

Good things come to those who wait.

Ludwigs make their frequent "late entrance" to the party then (as usual) steal the show. I don't blame you. There's no way anyone could go back to that store, look at the kit they just gave up and not take it home. Congrats.

[Pocket-full-of-gold]

Awesome kit. And 13, 16, 18, 24, no less.....my favourite sizes to boot! You and Vinnie both with your new birdseye Luddies are makin' me jealous.

Enjoy!!

[MasterCylinder]

Those are gorgeous..............and yes, classic.

I currently have some Ludwig natural birch Epics that I love and, back in the 70s, I owned a set of Ludwigs that I should have kept as well............beautiful mahogany finish.

I'm hoping you like the oversized shells............I own a set of Gretsch USA customs with similar sized shells..........the 24" bass is a monster.

Congratulations on your new toys !

[tamadrm]

Beautiful drums.I'd say worth the wait.Creating perfection just takes time.....creating the near impossible just takes a little longer.Tune,play......enjoy:)

Steve B

[Big_Al47]

Those look awesome, Congrats!!

[keep it simple]

Birdseye maple veneer is a winner every time. You can't beat nature's beauty :) Congratulations!

[Bonzobilly]

so I've been dialing the kit in over the past two days and boy, This thing sings like no other. Tough to find words, really. Warm,open,project well. Simply wonderful. The kick drum is a monster amongst monsters.

[RodneyZepa]

I'd ordered the same kit, "Power 4" in Silver Glass Glitter (Which turns out to be more of a Ginger Ale type of colour which I like and which seems to have since been pulled from production by Ludwig) with exception of 12x14 Floor Tom as opposed to 16x18...I had changed my order on the kick from the 18x24 which is standard issue to a 16x24 instead, however, I should have kept the 18x24 as it sounded fantastic (Long story...) ! The kit you have there is beautiful and I know you truly are grooving on the tones and sounds of these Classic Maple shells...My order took about 3 1/2 months (Monroe, NC to Vancouver, BC) and showed up in 100 % shape and ready to rock..!..What is really cool about the Ludwig Classic Maple kits, custom ordered, is that after you get them, the realization that these drums are indeed Classic and in 50 years will be part of my legacy to my kids or grandchildren...Like owning part of the great history and legacy that Ludwig had created over 100 years ago...Truly a fine and classic instrument...Enjoy your kit and great choice all the way around !

[Guillermo]

Congratulations on your new drums! hope you enjoy them form many years.
Nothing beats getting exactly what you want!... they look very good... and eventhough I usually tend to play smaller sizes, when I do play on these big drum sizes, I dunno... it's just a lot of fun to play... to just lay those beats and FEEL the drums react.

It's easy then to understand why for some people it's the way to go... enjoy them!

[zambizzi]

THOSE ARE FRICKIN' BEAUTIFUL! The birdseye is over the top. Classic Maples are the best drums I've ever heard...and I've cycled through a lot of sounds to arrive at that conclusion! It's all I play. I get nothing but compliments on the look and sound of mine, at every gig...and mine aren't half as sexy as yours. Congrats!

What did you think of the Brooklyns, BTW? I was thinking of getting one in a wrap finish, as a secondary kit to keep packed up and ready for gigs.

[Bonzobilly]

Thanks guys! They are beautiful indeed! Gambizzi, the Brooklyn's are sweeeeet! Very warm, round. Actually, I think they probably have a closer relation to a Ludwig legacy. Kind of like the lesser expensive gretsch vision of that classic tone. I believe the poplar is the common thread there. Of course I only had them about 2 weeks but I wished I had the dough to have kept them too! The vintage cream oyster was simple and elegant at the same time.

[Les Ismore]

UmHum...



.........................

[Bonzobilly]

Nice to know I'm in stellar company!

[Bonzobilly]

So I have been playing my incredible CM's and I figure I'd share some thoughts up to this point. First of all these things sound freakin incredible. The real kicker to me though is this.. Playing these drums gives me such a visceral feeling of euphoria. It's like they are giving me as much, or more as I give them. I have been fooling with different heads though. I love the emad2 but not as much on this kick drum. I have a SK2 on it now and it sounds good but a bit choked. Going to try a powerstroke 3 next. Ludwig put heavy coated weather masters on the resos even though I ordered medium. Kinda eating some tone there. Oh well, small tragedy. Going to put some g1's or ambassadors on them soon. I am simply excited working on dialing this kit in! Any opinions based on prior experience is certainly welcome!

[Soupy]

Ludwig's Heavy heads are 10 mil thick, like Ambassadors, so not that "heavy" at all. Their Medium heads are 7 mil like Diplomats. I'd wager you'd really have wanted the Ambassador-weight heads, not Diplomats.

[audiotech]

Originally Posted by Soupy

Ludwig's Heavy heads are 10 mil thick, like Ambassadors, so not that "heavy" at all. Their Medium heads are 7 mil like Diplomats. I'd wager you'd really have wanted the Ambassador-weight heads, not Diplomats.

I just purchased a Ludwig kit and was wondering about the thickness of their "medium" weight heads. So I measured, with a micrometer, the thickness of the Ludwig medium coated compared to the Evans G1 coated heads. The coated Ludwigs were .012" (.31mm) and the G1 coated were .013" (.33mm). The Ludwig clear medium weight heads measured .008" (.20mm) compared to the Evans clear G1 which were .010" (.26mm). So the difference is about 1 mil for the coated heads and 2 mil for the clear heads. This also indicates that Ludwigs coating is about 1 mil thicker than that of the Evans G1 coated head, unless there is a manufacturing difference in the Mylar's thickness between the clear and coated heads.

I wonder if Ludwig considers their "light" heads snare resos? I didn't have any of their "heavy" heads to measure, but the Evans G2 clear heads measure exactly .014" (.36mm).

Dennis

[gregcon]

Gorgeous kit. Congrats!

[BabyBob]

Congrats on your new kit! Hope you have a blast jamming on them :)

[Boom]

Beautiful drums man! So glad it worked out for you! That's what drum buying should be like. Congrats.

[Dre25]

Gotta love a new kit. Good work mate :)

[SSOSS]

Love the finish on your kit!

[BYUDOG]

Wow those are just beautiful.

[Birdman]

Great sizes!! Nice to see drums that "have a pair".

[Bonzobilly]

So.......I went ahead and put a powerstroke 3 on the kick drum as well as emperor coated batters over coated ambassador on the resos for all the toms.......holy crap!! I know this is a very standard head set up, particularly for cm's. And I now know why!!! Just unbelievable! That's all I have!!

[zambizzi]

Originally Posted by Bonzobilly

So.......I went ahead and put a powerstroke 3 on the kick drum as well as emperor coated batters over coated ambassador on the resos for all the toms.......holy crap!! I know this is a very standard head set up, particularly for cm's. And I now know why!!! Just unbelievable! That's all I have!!

Hell yeah...clear PS3 batter and coated ambassador reso on the kick, coated emps and clear ambs on the toms, for me. HUGE sound, with a warm fuzzy spread that fills the whole room. No one else makes drums with this much character...NO ONE! :)

[digibird]

That Birdseye you went with is beautiful! I love your choices - Congratulations on a great kit. I have a Ludwig Classic Maple kit that is similar in sizes. I went with the Natural Maple finish in 12x14, 16x16, 16x18, and 16x26, with a matching 8x14 snare, all drums with mini-classic lugs. I bought the kit 12 years ago and still love it.

I use coated PS3 front and back for bass drum, and coated Emperor over coated Ambassador on the toms. Huge sound, a la Bonham 1969. Gotta love that. Enjoy your new kit! :-)

[Bonzobilly]

Hey digi, I originally was going with a 26 inch kick but anyone who wasn't a drummer felt that would be too difficult to record in these modern times? It just got me worried some. Now I see plenty of folks around here who have one and say how great it is to have. Also, I have seen opinions on how different micing techniques get different, and great sounds? I bet that thing sounds beastly! I just may order one at some point!