I got my Birthday gift early!

Mike_L

Member
Just one month from putting my order in, my Classic Maples showed up at my drum shop ready to be picked up just in time to call it an early birthday gift. [My birthday is Saturday, I picked these up last Friday]

I won't bore you with any more words:







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Once I got home and spent quite a while tuning the stock heads, these babies can SING. WOW. Even with the stock heads, I'm seriously blown away by how good these sound. Except the bass drum. I spent a good hour or two messing with the bass drum and in the end I decided to throw on a really old but gently used EQ4 and it made a world of a difference.

So far I haven't seen any quality control issues except for one thing. It looks like whoever was putting the finish on the bass hoops put their thumb down while it was wet and let it dry:


Do you think Ludwig will send me a replacement hoop? It's not that big of a deal, but for the cost of these drums I would expect a mistake like that not to go unnoticed.

But overall, I'm happy. Very, very happy.

[I copied and pasted this thread from a different forum, so in case anybody recognizes it please excuse my laziness.]
 
Those look fantastic. Love a good neutral color sparkle!

As for the hoop, that's kind of crazy that they'd let something that ugly slip through (though it's certainly not easy to notice unless you're actually looking at the hoop [which they should have been]). Hopefully the situation gets resolved amicably. Enjoy your new drums :)
 
Not trying to offend anyone but threads about defective Ludwigs are common here. I would ask for a replacement hoop unless it was in some hidden area like underneath.

Very pretty btw.
 
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I honestly haven't seen much on defective Ludwigs in a long time. Of coarse stuff is going to happen, that thumb print would be hard to catch as it was getting shipped out. I don't think Ludwig would have a problem replacing it. However I must say it shows you just how human Ludwig is. Even though most if not all companies and paint and wrap drums and I personally wouldn't want a thumb print on my bass drum rim something about seeing that picture really makes me like Ludwig almost makes me want to go out and order a classic maple.

Addition:

Forgot to mention. Those are great looking drums. but you really should get a hold of them. The least they can do is say no. If they say No then we could really talk about Ludwig's customer service.
 
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Very nice!


I'm sure Ludwig will send a new hoop. I ordered a second floor tom, a year after purchasing my kit. The original had Elite brackets. They were discontinued by the time of my second order. So, I ordered Keystone brackets on the new one. They sent free Keystone replacement brackets for the original drum,along with the new one.

They will make it right.
 
Not trying to offend anyone but threads about defective Ludwigs are common here. I would ask for a replacement hoop unless it was in some hidden area like underneath.

Very pretty btw.

Yeah I read all the horror stories before putting in my order. It sounded like they had quality problems a while back and have since put more money/effort into that area. At least the drums themselves aren't defective at ALL.

I'll be calling Ludwig later today to test out their customer service. .
 
Great looking kit! I love my drums in that finish. It's classy, but still "cool" too.
Ludwig's heads can sound really good. The bass drum coated heavy can sound good too, but for me, it's always had to be tensioned a lot differently than other brands, with less tension on it (that goes for the toms too). It's probably because of the real shallow collar.

I'd have your shop call about the hoop, but, it could be possible to put that mark, and the two spots where the pieces of inlay wrap join under a claw. Or, it could go where you'd put the bass drum pedal.

Not saying the smudge on the hoop is OK (because hoops are expensive), but it's one solution with no hassles, or wait. They'd probably send a new one to the shop and then take the smudged one back.

Enjoy the drums!!!
 
I really like those drums.




I really don't like the fingerprint though - LOL

I'd check into getting a replacement, and try to remain civil about it.
Karl's right though - it could be hidden pretty easily.
You might even forget about it after a while if you don't see it.
 
It could be hidden, but I don't mean to diminish the need to at least call it out with Ludwig. I looked into getting some new hoops, and I was quoted $100 each--that was for 26" hoops. That's not chump change. They are charging a pretty good amount for their hoops, so having one screwed up isn't cool. That smudge is pretty big.
I would have the dealer call, they are the people who ordered the kit from the factory. They can get an RA number for it, and that's what they're for, being a dealer and taking care of these things for "Mike the customer". They should just take care of it.

Now, if Mike just wants to play the kit, and not really mess with it, then put it under the pedal, which is going to get scuffed up anyway.
 
Those are pretty man! Love that dark glitter look. Great present! And also, happy birthday!
 
Great looking kit Mike. Happy Birthday and congrats on the new Luddies.

I think Ludwig is really responding well to the problems and criticism they've had in the last year or two, and improving things. I had a problem with a snare recently. Everyone here told me I should call them. I did, and I was promptly taken care of. So that's my advice to you. Even though you could bury the fingerprint where no one would see it, you'd still know it's there!
 
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