The new August MD

KarlCrafton

Platinum Member
I have been getting MD since 1981, and have had a subscription since just after it went monthly, so I have a LOT of them (just ask my wife!).

Well, a strange thing happened in this months issue that I haven't seen before......


NO LUDWIG AD ON THE INSIDE FRONT COVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was a DW ad for the Super Solid snare drum (a really cool drum BTW).

I didn't even see a Ludwig ad in the whole magazine!!??!!

What's up with that???!!??

There is a review of the Ludwig 100th Ann DVD, but that's it.

VERY strange.

OK, ADMITTEDLY I am a huge Ludwig-head, and it's not the biggest tragedy in the universe...but I felt like something was just not right when I didn't see Ludwig on the inside front cover.


Anyone know anything?.....
 
That inside piece and the back cover are the two most expensive ad pieces in any magazines. I have been getting SI for a while now and it is about 8 pages thick. The economy has eaten into every corner of the world and the ad world is no exception. All
speculation on my part, but and educated guess just the same. Maybe they paid to have
the DVD reviewed, who knows, but it's all about budgets.
 
We see, that the magazines gets thinner and thinner every month.

In these economic challenging times:
The industry looks for better ways for spending advertising Dollars and change from printmedia to electronic media.

Bernhard
 
It is somewhat disappointing what has happened to Ludwig. My first 2 drum sets were Ludwig drums. The first was a 1964 red sparkle 4 piece that I still own. The other was a 1988 set. I never liked the sound of the 1988 set. It seemed cheaply made and had harsh overtones that could not be tuned out. I went to Sonor and I love the drums I have now.

I am considering buying another set to use when playing out. I would only like to bring the Sonors to the bigger gigs we do and have a beater set for bars etc. I have been thinking of getting a set of vistalites but I can't seem to find any shops that have them. Aside from the Black Beauty snare and a couple of others like the Supraphonic, Ludwig seems to have lost the premium drum market. (My opinion only.) They had Vistalites which are pretty unique and seem to be making a comeback but they are next to impossible to find. They are listed on the website as available but getting them is another thing entirely. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to build a set of acrylics.
 
I don't know, in the UK now there are far more Ludwig drums in shops than there were five years ago.
 
I don't know the answer, but I do know that even in leaner times, Ludwig always ran an ad on the inside cover. As noted, it's very expensive to have a full-page ad, and there may be a premium for placement (such as Zildjian's recurring ads on the back cover.)

Budgets indeed. Don't forget that they're a division of a publicly-traded company.

Bermuda
 
I've noticed ALL magazines getting thinner for quite a while now, and yes, "in reality" I get it, I know it's the economy, & finding the best places to spend the ad dollars.

But as Todd Sucherman said on the MD DVD, every month you go out to the mailbox and you see the issue there, and you're like a kid again for a second and all "ooohhh, yay"--it just felt like something was lost when I saw no Ludwig ad.

It's a shame if they stop doing their ad, but they had the ad in there when they were NOT doing anywhere near as well as they seem to be doing these days ("seem to be"...).

As far as their 'status' with players, all I know is the shop I go to has sold a ton of Ludwig kits over the last couple years and I have bought a new kit, and a few snare drums in the last two years, as well as a lot of parts, hoops, etc...
I know they don't have the "oooooh factor" with younger kids as a "DW" or a flavor of the day 'custom' kit, and they DID kind of blow it in the 80's with the way things were run, but these are new times--and it looks like Ludwig is getting back in the game in a big way which is great.

It's been quite a few times the guy's have told me "I sold another Ludwig kit yesterday" as I come into the shop. They got #23 of the Bun E. Carlos snare (sold it fast), there's a Citrus Mod glitter kit in there now that's pretty cool looking in person, and some other stuff too.
The Black Magic snares moved fast, and so did a 5x14 BB

I was just kind of surprised opening the MD, and kind of bummed too. I'm sure it's not great for MD either.

I know Colonel, I'm no fun...

How about this:
Hey it's probably a giant conspiracy of John Good trying to take over all the other drum companies. He got Don out of the way now, & he's secretly buying up all the lapsing patents he can, and then making an ad campaign telling everyone he's come up with some new thing that's the best thing ever, and your drumming will never bee the same after you try "THIS"!
 
I personally plan to help Ludwig's budget by purchasing a new Black Beauty later this year. I know it probably won't get the ad placed back in the magazine, but it may allow the guy's in shipping & receiving to order "Chinese" for Lunch !

Now if I could ever order those Legacy Clasics on pg. 4 in the new catalog...
 
Alternatively: DW made an offer that MD couldn't refuse.

Maybe it was one month to give the Super Solids a high profile buy.

Maybe they made a guarantee for a few months at a rate above what Ludwig was willing to pay.
 
The only Ludwig I know is one of the bosses is Super Mario Bros 3. Not sure what he'd be doing in MD...

Hehehe!

I wish I could inspect a set of new Ludwig drums, play them, and say 'Wow. They didn't cut any corners when they made these beauties.'
 
I might get a bit of flak for this but I'm not a big fan of Modern Drummer. I've bought it a few times and it just doesn't rock my boat. I much prefer UK publications such as 'Rhythm' and 'Drummer'. They seem to have a lot more features in them than their American counterpart.
 
Originally Posted by Average

I wish I could inspect a set of new Ludwig drums, play them, and say 'Wow. They didn't cut any corners when they made these beauties.'


I can say that everyday.

Me too, but remember: mine is from 1964

Bernhard
 
They had a mint Black Pearl set pre-serial in the window of Manny's several years back and wanted $8,000 for it. Of course, it came with a story about how Ringo bought his first black pearl drum set at Manny's for the Ed Sullivan Show, after someone delivered a white pearl set for him. I find that a lot of these legends are not true; but they're fun.
 
I have been thinking of getting a set of vistalites but I can't seem to find any shops that have them. They had Vistalites which are pretty unique and seem to be making a comeback but they are next to impossible to find. They are listed on the website as available but getting them is another thing entirely. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to build a set of acrylics.

Not for nuthin', you can't be trying very hard to get those Vistas. ANY self respecting Ludwig Dealer will order you a kit the minute you stop into the store and order it.

Don't expect ANY dealer to have exactly the kit you might want IN STOCK, with the myriad of different sizes and configurations, that's just impossible today.

If the Ludwig dealer you order from is giving you the run around, go to another one, or find an online dealer that will fulfill your order.

Don't say they're hard to get, 'cause they're NOT. But you DO have to do the legwork, they're not coming to YOUR house after all. There have never been traveling salesmen going door to door for drums.
 
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