Ludwig Rockers

bbdrum

Junior Member
I snagged a Ludwig Rockers bass drum for $50. It's a 24" with the classic disappearing spurs. I slapped on a Remo Powerstroke Pro Clear for the batter side and then a Remo Fiberskyn 3 Powerstroke 3 for my resonance head. I ordered a matching 13x9" rocker tom which I'll place on a snare stand. Now I'm in search of a matching floor tom. This is my first Rockers kit..just randomly stumbled across it and thought why not? I own a vintage Slingerland which I use on gigs and recordings, but am curious to see how this ol' boy pans out. I know a lot of people dislike the Rockers, but I'm looking for some good feedback. What do you guys think of the Rockers drums and what should I be doing for the best sound? Are the heads I was "persuaded" to buy good for that specific drum? The bass drum looks pretty nice, I just don't know how fond I am of the speckled wood on the inside. Makes it seem cheap, hopefully I can tune it and make it sound good. Basically looking for tuning tips and opinions you guys have on the Rockers. Also is it a bad idea to cut a circle on the outer head for that specific head? I don't see it done on that type all that often. By the way the pedal in the batter side picture came with it. It is not the one I will be using!
 

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Good pickup...Rockers were very underrated in my opinion. I'm not a really head expert so I'll leave that to the others. Are you planning on leaving them black or re wrapping?
 
nice buy. good feedback? if it sounds good to your ears then it does not matter what people think.
 
Count me as a Rockers fan. I have a Rockers II 12-16-22 mismatched kit (the floor tom was acquired separately and is a different color). I actually used it last week at a gig where I had to share a kit. I was impressed with how it sounded when the other drummers played it. It was an unmic'ed gig and the sound reaching the audience was punchy and full. I have a cheap Taiwan Ludwig head on the kick (and tom resos) and coated G2 on the toms. I'm sure your favorite head combo will work great. Don't worry about the speckled paint interiors. Yours is even better with the curved spurs and classic lugs. Amazing score at $50. Good luck in your floor tom search.

RockerAllure.jpg
 
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thanks guys! that mismatched actually looks real good. I might have to do that (for now). definitely not opposed to it.
 
thanks guys! that mismatched actually looks real good. I might have to do that (for now). definitely not opposed to it.

It was originally supposed to be a re-wrap project or a de-wrap/refinish project but I never got around to it. I've actually gotten used to the look and kinda like it too. But the bass drum has some bad scratches hence the stickers. I wish it was in better shape. I really like the fire engine red and kinda wish the floor tom was red too. I suppose I could re-wrap the bass drum and FT in red. Then it would look brand new. We'll see.
 
As long its a USA rocker you'll be happy. I picked one up over the summer for 150. Re wrapped it in some Green Sparkle I got from Jammin Sam. Threw new heads on and I have a real nice kit for a little investment. The drums sound fantastic, nice round warm tone with G2 coated. Rumor has it Rockers are Classic shells that had imperfections, hence the gray ludcoat finish on the interiors. The hardware is the weak point on these, its cheap white metal and will break under high stress.
 

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I've always liked the Rockers of the era you have in that bass drum with classic lugs and curved disappearing spurs. Years ago I played some Rockers side by side with Classics and could hear no difference whatsoever.

Bizz, that green re-wrap is gorgeous! You did a great job there. Who wouldn't be proud to play that kit? And I think you are correct about the USA Rocker shells. Ludwig saved money on them by not worrying about the condition of the inner ply, so they painted it, called it something special, and away they go . . . .

GeeDeeEmm
 
Bizz, that green re-wrap is gorgeous! You did a great job there. Who wouldn't be proud to play that kit? And I think you are correct about the USA Rocker shells. Ludwig saved money on them by not worrying about the condition of the inner ply, so they painted it, called it something special, and away they go . . . .

GeeDeeEmm

Thanks man. These are fantastic drums, I've gotten a few comments from other drummers at gigs about how good they sound. They are always shocked when I tell them they are Rockers. IMO they are the best kept secret in the "vintage"market right now. How often can you buy a quality american made drum kit for around 200? Sooner or later people are going to catch onto what great sounding drums they are. The one thing that might keep the prices down are the lack of variety when it comes to wrap colors.
 
Nice find. I had a dbl kick kit back in the later 80s that sported 2 Rocker kicks. While I can't personally speak to the sound of the toms, I do remember really liking these kick drums!
 
nice drum, is it really a rocker? it has the large Ludwig classic style lugs, not the rocker style I see on the rockers. I could be wrong, maybe they used those lugs on some? score either way!!!

bizz, love that green sparkle man.
 
Bizz, love the green sparkle! Great job.
 
nice drum, is it really a rocker? it has the large Ludwig classic style lugs, not the rocker style I see on the rockers. I could be wrong, maybe they used those lugs on some? score either way!!!

bizz, love that green sparkle man.

Immediately prior to the Rocker line Ludwig had the "SL" line around 1984. They used the 4-ply shells with the Ludcoat interiors but offered a few more hardware options, like the curved spurs and classic lugs.

With the better hardware this negates the Rocker's biggest flaw: the Rocker lugs were lower-quality pot metal that are VERY prone to cracking and the bass drums lugs used a unique hole spacing so you couldn't easily switch them out for Classic lugs like the regular tom lugs, which have the same spacing as a large classic lug.
 
the Rocker lugs were lower-quality pot metal that are VERY prone to cracking and the bass drums lugs used a unique hole spacing so you couldn't easily switch them out for Classic lugs like the regular tom lugs, which have the same spacing as a large classic lug.

Is the Rocker lug you speak of the same lug used on Ludwig 'Standards' of the late 60's early 70's?
 
Immediately prior to the Rocker line Ludwig had the "SL" line around 1984. They used the 4-ply shells with the Ludcoat interiors but offered a few more hardware options, like the curved spurs and classic lugs.

With the better hardware this negates the Rocker's biggest flaw: the Rocker lugs were lower-quality pot metal that are VERY prone to cracking and the bass drums lugs used a unique hole spacing so you couldn't easily switch them out for Classic lugs like the regular tom lugs, which have the same spacing as a large classic lug.

that drum is an even bigger score then! thanks for the info.
 
As long its a USA rocker you'll be happy. I picked one up over the summer for 150. Re wrapped it in some Green Sparkle I got from Jammin Sam. Threw new heads on and I have a real nice kit for a little investment. The drums sound fantastic, nice round warm tone with G2 coated. Rumor has it Rockers are Classic shells that had imperfections, hence the gray ludcoat finish on the interiors. The hardware is the weak point on these, its cheap white metal and will break under high stress.

That looks amazing! Really tempted to re-wrap now.
 
Is the Rocker lug you speak of the same lug used on Ludwig 'Standards' of the late 60's early 70's?

Same design, though I think Standard lugs had longer posts for screws, making cup washers necessary to attach.

I can't speak for metal quality, since I've not handled any Ludwig Standard drums or individual lugs either.
 
Same design, though I think Standard lugs had longer posts for screws, making cup washers necessary to attach.

I can't speak for metal quality, since I've not handled any Ludwig Standard drums or individual lugs either.

The quality of the metal is not good. After I wrapped my kick I was putting the hardware back on. Rather than being smart and using a screwdriver by hand I used my cordless. Even with a low torque setting it sheered off a screw inside one of the Spurs.
 
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