Ludwig stop making heads?

SAINTDRUMS

Senior Member
Just like the title states, has Ludwig thrown in the towel making drum heads? My local drum shop told me about this this past weekend. If so, does anybody know why? Bermuda - can you offer some insight?
 
Old news, unfortunately. The last I heard, they're going to continue to make snare sized heads for a while, but yeah, long term it seems the whole line is dead. It's pretty sad, they have some great features that no other brand replicates.
 
Except for the snare batters & resos, yep, they're having Remo oem the heads (not sure which logo will appear.)

The reason: Ludwig never made many advances in head technology, they don't even offer a 2-ply head! They haven't been a real competitor in the head market for decades, and they were content - it was also very appropriate - to ship drums with their own heads. But drummers wanted newer heads, and the modern infrastructure of Remo, Evans, and Aquarian proved more cost-efficient that re-tooling simply to have Ludwig heads on Ludwig drums. And Remo won the bid.

Snares have always been Ludwig's flagship product, and they're keeping those heads as-is. My guess is that it will stay that way, since they're already set up to produce those heads, no changes to them are anticipated, and they sell a lot of snares with those heads.

Bermuda
 
Ludwig's dealer network just can't match the reach of Evans and Remo (and to a lesser extent, Aquarian) into multiple markets, and financially cutting the product line is a move that will save them a lot in the short term (think manufacturing costs alone, let alone packaging and marketing). I agree that it's not great to see a good product terminated for those reasons, but I'd much rather they stopped making drumheads than, say, Supraphonics or Black Beauties.
 
I just wanted to add that my last new snare came with a Ludwig head and it is easily the best sounding snare head i have ever owned peroid. The coating was wore through in 3 hours though..
 
The reason: Ludwig never made many advances in head technology, they don't even offer a 2-ply head!
Bermuda

You could get 2-ply Ludwig heads. I tried a set of clear 2-ply batters on my toms and I liked them better than Emperors. I still have a second set stockpiled that I ordered when I found out that Ludwig was getting out of the head game. I also have two sets of clear heavies for my toms, 2 clear power collars for my kick, 2 complete sets of silver dots for the whole kit, and several 15" coated heavies and snare-sides for my snare drums. Glad I got them when I could, but I wish I had been able to get more clear Heavies for my toms. They really make my Legacies sound good.
 
I just mentioned it in another thread, but I think there's something to the crimped flesh hoop that contributes to a head's sound, and I think that's a factor in the Ludwig sound.

I'm trying to stock up as well, because someone here recently posted a pic of their new Ludwig snare that already had Ludwig-branded Remo heads so I'm not putting too much faith in Ludwig continuing to offer snare-size heads for much longer.
 
Ludwigs have a shallower collar than any of the big 3 (remo being the deepest) and the crimp thing contributes, but it's the film that makes most of the tone. IMO. I'm sad that they are stopping making them.
 
You either love them or hate them. When I was a kid, I would sometimes use a silver dot on my snare. Other than that,I have had zero use for them.
 
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Except for the snare batters & resos, yep, they're having Remo oem the heads (not sure which logo will appear.)

The reason: Ludwig never made many advances in head technology, they don't even offer a 2-ply head! They haven't been a real competitor in the head market for decades, and they were content - it was also very appropriate - to ship drums with their own heads. But drummers wanted newer heads, and the modern infrastructure of Remo, Evans, and Aquarian proved more cost-efficient that re-tooling simply to have Ludwig heads on Ludwig drums. And Remo won the bid.

Snares have always been Ludwig's flagship product, and they're keeping those heads as-is. My guess is that it will stay that way, since they're already set up to produce those heads, no changes to them are anticipated, and they sell a lot of snares with those heads.

Bermuda


Here's a current Ludwig by Remo head.
 

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You could get 2-ply Ludwig heads.

I rechecked and you are correct sir! Still, it's been many years since they focused on heads, and they don't want to invest in catching-up. But I think they're keeping the snare batters and their famous crystal clear snare sides. Not sure if all sizes (13, 14 & 15") I think I heard they're also keeping their timpani heads. I guess snares and timps are special.

Bermuda
 
I have a stack of 13 and 14" snare side and batter heads just in case.
Did the same thing with coated Ambassadors when Remo switched to the "pie" logo.
 
I rechecked and you are correct sir! Still, it's been many years since they focused on heads, and they don't want to invest in catching-up. But I think they're keeping the snare batters and their famous crystal clear snare sides. Not sure if all sizes (13, 14 & 15") I think I heard they're also keeping their timpani heads. I guess snares and timps are special.

Bermuda

Glad to hear they are still going to make 15" coated heavies and snare-sides sides. I was not looking forward to running out of them.
 
Something is up with Ludwig, they used to have the inside cover ad in Modern drummer for years and a few months ago they stopped advertising in there all together. Money issues maybe?
 
Something is up with Ludwig, they used to have the inside cover ad in Modern drummer for years and a few months ago they stopped advertising in there all together. Money issues maybe?

Not just that.. with printed mags dying off and less viewership that ad money could be better spent online or other places.
 
As long as the snare batters are being made. Only just discovered them and they're great.

Maybe they could share this secret with remo ;)

On the topic of Ludwig snares, does anyone on here not own one?
 
Well, here's an interesting twist to the saga...

I ordered a few new heads last week and decided to get a Ludwig 2-ply coated to try. It just came and as soon as I took it out of the box something seemed different about it. The flesh hoop was glued, not crimped, and the coating was different from other Ludwig heads. While it has the Ludwig Weather Master logo on it, it's also a little different from other Ludwig heads I have. It's also unfortunate that the two plies don't lay perfectly flat against one another, so the top ply always has a slight ripple even under tension and it sounds stone dead too.

Even stranger is that the head was seemingly made by Evans. It has their typical ink-printed product code on the flesh hoop and the model number identified it as a "G2."

I know Evans was providing heads for some things in the past, like the early version of the oak Keystone, but I didn't know they were making any actual Weather Master-branded heads.
 
As long as the snare batters are being made. Only just discovered them and they're great.

Maybe they could share this secret with remo ;)

On the topic of Ludwig snares, does anyone on here not own one?

Not own a ludwig snare??? and call yourself a drummer?! what is this madness....
 
As long as the snare batters are being made. Only just discovered them and they're great.

Maybe they could share this secret with remo ;)

On the topic of Ludwig snares, does anyone on here not own one?


Do yourself a favor and try the Ludwig snare side heads.
 
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