Ludwig Club Date drum set

Don't sweat it that your kit doesn't have matching floor tom. There were tons of club date kits sold back in the day with no floor tom. Just find any Ludwig 3-ply 14" floor tom and roll with it. In my book, vintage 3-ply Ludwig sets get a 100% pass with mismatched pieces. Don't worry about getting it rewrapped either. Old, 3-ply mismatched Ludwig kits are cool.
 
That is a thought..Never really crossed my mind to have it not matching..But I would still like it to be period correct atleast though....I will let you all know how it proceeds..

But any 14 x 14s seem a little hard to find...Thanks
 
That is a thought..Never really crossed my mind to have it not matching..But I would still like it to be period correct atleast though....I will let you all know how it proceeds..

But any 14 x 14s seem a little hard to find...Thanks

Here's a little something to show you what a great deal you snagged...



Also, do a search for "Vintage drum shops." Many of these places have single, vintage floor toms for sale. I suggest Neslon's drum shop and Badges drum shop.
 
All this talk about the Club Date and no attention on the Slingerland snare. That thing could be a gem in its own right. Let's see if this guy scored steambent maple shell model with COB hoops.
 
Sadly I sold the Fender Champ..But I can likely find a pic somewhere on my computer yet..I got 2700.00 for it, so I let it go..It was in very good vintage condition..Worked great..But alas I was not a Guitar player..So it went, and I gave my guitar to my Grandson..He says he wants to take lessons, but we will see how far that goes..The local Teacher said She will not even take him on for about two years yet..

I bought all four things in a package deal, I did need the 1970 Sansui 200X Stereo Receiver she had also to go with my 1970 Sansui Turntable..She also had an old Marx battery operated operated Jeep from the 1950s..Got that for me and the Grandkids to play with..LOL There was also a another Vintage Amp..I cannot remember the name now,but it was an old USA tube amp from the late 1940s..It did not work though..

I do not know how good the Snare drum is..It dates to right at 1965 also..

The Ebay link posted says it cannot find what I am looking for..Thanks
 
I do not know how good the Snare drum is..It dates to right at 1965 also..
I think this is either the snare you have, or really close ..... yours appears to have a darker, mahogany interior. The eBay one looks like a maple interior. As far as "good", if it sounds good to you, that's all that really matters. In the pecking order of snares, usually an 8 lug snare beats a 6 lug .... and a 10 lug snare beats an 8. The top dogs in the Slingerland lineup would probably be the 10 lug Gene Krupa and the 10 lug Radio King.

 
Last edited:
Yes that looks like it..I just realized I had the Snare upside down in the pic..I was working on the wires,LOL
 

Attachments

  • ludwig 5.JPG
    ludwig 5.JPG
    200.6 KB · Views: 13
Have you considered selling the individual drums in order to finance the purchase of a kit that has everything you need?
 
All you need is some hats- maybe reso head hoop on Tom. Wow what a cool cannon- that takes balls. You got them and powder too- or just for show?
 
Yes that is a full functioning Cannon..It is a copy of a rarely seen Confederate Gun..I spent about 9 months building that one..I have others too..It is a Breech Loader..You can see some videos of it by just searching Bruce Gasper Hughes Cannon on youtube..

Only around 10 originals possibly were made..Only one original survived..Mine is made after that one original..

Better pic since you like it..
 

Attachments

  • gbo 4.JPG
    gbo 4.JPG
    529.4 KB · Views: 7
Been doing some more looking around..I am starting to wander if this was not a Downbeat set that the original owner had a shop or his self installed the cymbal mount on the Bass drum?

I have several photos of downbeat bass drums with the single lug..
 
I have several photos of downbeat bass drums with the single lug..
The drum shells are the same. In this era, they're 3 ply with reinforcement rings. The Downbeat uses Classic (split) lugs. The Club Date uses the center lug. The shells are the same ..... it's the hardware that's different.

Here's a link to a 1959 Ludwig catalog. The first year I've found to list both the Downbeat and the Club Date in it.

 
I have the Slingerland Snare on Ebay as I bought a matching 1965 Ludwig Pioneer in White Marine Pearl..Here is the whole set made up as I need it anyway..

I probably have too much invested in it now to sell it,LOL But I really like it..Heres a couple additional Pics..

As suggested by a member here..I just went with the little Stagg Hi Hats..I am actually kinda fond of those..May go bigger later on..But those will suffice for now..The Hi Hat stand is an old Ludwig Spur Lock I found here locally..

The 14x14 Floor Tom is kinda a Fantasy piece, well it is I guess..It is all Ludwig though..It is a Element Shell I wrapped in a vintage looking Wrap..Never going to match it just right anyway, short of finding the correct one..Center Lugs are actually Club Date ones. Legs and supports are from the Element shell...Some may frown on this type of thing..But I like it..I may run into a original Floor Tom at some point..But that Snare was expensive enough..

One more thing I have contemplated doing, and I would like your input on this..As you can see the paint is quite worn on the Bass Drum hoops..Do you think I should repaint those, or leave them as is? I am leaning more towards leaving them as they are..Thanks

trV8rZz.jpg

aGwBjdm.jpg
 
Last edited:
The 14x14 Floor Tom is kinda a Fantasy piece, well it is I guess..It is all Ludwig though..It is a Element Shell I wrapped in a vintage looking Wrap..Never going to match it just right anyway, short of finding the correct one..Center Lugs are actually Club Date ones. Legs and supports are from the Element shell...Some may frown on this type of thing..
Sweet. You'll get no complaints from me. That 14x14 makes that kit a nice, playable kit. And someday, you might find a proper 3 ply 14x14 to add.
One more thing I have contemplated doing, and I would like your input on this..As you can see the paint is quite worn on the Bass Drum hoops..Do you think I should repaint those, or leave them as is? I am leaning more towards leaving them as they are..Thanks
If they don't bother you scuffed up, I'd leave 'em.

Good job !!!;)
 
I think the floor tom looks great! Nice job on that! I can't believe the snare drum is an add-on. It matches perfectly!

I'd probably repaint the bass drum hoops. The kit looks great, but those hoops are really worn to the point of being distracting to me imho...

:)
 
Back
Top