Hi all --
I'm brand new to the forum and wanted to introduce myself as well as ask you all a couple questions about this new Ludwig cherry/gumwood kit. I'm extremely excited about it, especially after everything I've read here and elsewhere on the web.
A bit about me: I've been out of drumming for about 15 years now and haven't owned a kit for about 8 years. I played in bands in high school and college, but after graduation I was in apartments for several years and had no room to set up my kit, so it sat mostly in storage. I played it only a handful of times over those 7 years, and then finally sold it in 2001 (7 pc. 1990 Pearl World Series, Piano Black). Over the last couple of years I've been singing a bit with a band and recently filled in (pardon the pun) a few times on drums. I'm rusty to say the least (it ain't like riding a bike, trust me!) but I'm fired up to get back intro drumming after a far-too-long hiatus.
Back to the Ludwig: My favorite band is The Doors -- huge, huge fan -- and a couple years ago I had the notion of trying to put together a kit that replicated John Densmore's classic Mod Orange Downbeat kit. At the time, Ludwig had reissued the Mod Orange wrap, and I was stoked to find that with a custom maple setup, you could order all the vintage lugs, badges, etc. Around that time my wife pregnant and we were moving, so I put the idea on the back burner. But I waited too long, and the color was discontinued.
So you can imagine how excited I am with this Retro Series, which is essentially the exact set up I was going to custom build -- right off the shelf and at an amazing price. And it looks like they got the color right this time! I was really skeptical about the quality at first, because of the price point and knowing that the Element line is lower-end. But everything I'm hearing about how this kit sounds has sold me.
The appointments on this kit aren't quite as true to the original as you could get with custom maple, but most of the differences are improvements to my taste. For example, this kit uses the mini-lugs rather than the standard lugs, which I think are much more attractive on smaller shell sizes. And I love the vibraband tom mount, despite the fact that it's not authentic to the original design. And the bass tension screws have standard heads instead of wings, which I also prefer. I plan to add a Supraphonic metal snare, like the original kit, to complement the wood snare.
But one thing I do miss over the original design is the bass shell-mounted cymbal stand. I really think they should have kept that detail. It's not a deal-breaker, but it does lead me to ask (and thanks for sticking with me this far): Is it nuts to think about adding one after market? I'm not sure whether Ludwig sells them separately, and whether it's worth the risk of having a drum shop custom install it or (gulp!) try doing it myself. What are your thoughts?
A couple other questions:
- What do you recommend for heads on this kit, particularly ones that would maximize the unique vintage sound? I've been out of the market for a long, long time, so I don't know what's out there that's new or improved.
- Any other upgrades you'd recommend -- snare wires, for example?
I look forward to your thoughts. Thanks for reading!
-- Mike (aka "Doop")