Vintage Ludwig help?

gish

gish

Senior Member
I have the oppurtunity to trade some un-used cymbals for this Ludwig kit. I have been wanting an old Ludwig BAD for some time now. I'm going to check these out tomorrow, and I'm so excited I don't know if I'll sleep tonight. Here's what I know: The toms and kick have re-rings top and bottom, with blue/olive badges. The seller told me that the drums are in the same condition as when he acquired them. I'm assuming that the flat black re-finish job is what's keeping the price down. The drums look pretty clean in the pic, at least to me. Can you guys take a look at this pic and point out anything I may be missing? I'm afraid my excitement is blinding me! Can any of you guys guess what the shell makeup might be? Any help you guys can give me would be most appreciated. Here's a link, please take a look.

http://allentown.craigslist.org/msg/2357577762.html
 
Not worth it in my opinion

All of the hoops are unmatching and unfitting. And its in plain black, so boring. Especially for a vintage kit.
Just wait and a nicer kit will come around eventually.
 
Thanks for your response. The bass drum hoops don't bother me, and as far as the plain black finish, I'm already thinking about re-covering them, probably in orange sparkle. Also, I already have extra hoops that would fit the toms, in case there is an issue with the existing hoops. What do you think?
 
gish said:
Thanks for your response. The bass drum hoops don't bother me, and as far as the plain black finish, I'm already thinking about re-covering them, probably in orange sparkle. Also, I already have extra hoops that would fit the toms, in case there is an issue with the existing hoops. What do you think?
Click to expand...

Its alright if you're alright with it.

Just keep your budget in mind, refinishing a bass drum, a rack tom, and a floor tom isn't the cheapest thing to do. And I don't know too much about refinishing, but it might have some affect on the shells themselves.
 
If you want be happy with a vintage kit the long run: restore but don't give an orange paint...

what Wick said: wait and look for a nicer kit...

Bernhard
 
Did you say you were trading unused cymbals for them? If so, I guess it depends what the cymbals are worth, if you were planning on using them, do you have others to use, etc.
Cymbals can be more unique than drums. In other words, if these are cymbals that you were looking forward to using and that you thought you would like to use, I wouldn't trade them. If you really want the kit, maybe you could buy it and try to get a better price. I'd say it really depends on the condition of the drums, which you won't know til you see and inspect them. It might be a good deal, but then again.. it might not...
 
Those are gonna be maple/poplar/maple shells with re-rings. $400. Not really a great deal, but a good/fair price for a "beater" kit that's gonna deliver a killer vintage sound.​
Interesting is the kick drum. I see the cymbal holder bracket, but I don't see a rail consolette, of course the picture is too small to show holes if it was taken off ... but if there are no "extra holes", that's almost a virgin kick, save for the cymbal L-arm mount. Need closer inspection, but a virgin (or near) 3 ply, I'd jump on it, for that feature, alone.​
 
Those look a little dull to be black cortex. I'd ask the seller if the wrap on the drums is smooth. If not, they are Black Panther finish and less common.....
 
I'm curious about the finish as well. Back in the day, we'd change our kit's look with contact paper - basically, stick-on shelf lining in various colors, patterns, and even wood grains. In fact, Ludwig's Black Panther was essentially a stick-on wrap intended to cover existing wraps with blems, or sometimes even different wrapped drums to make them a kit.

If it's just a paper wrap on that kit, you may discover a very cool or rare finish underneath!

Bermuda
 
I wasn't planning on re-painting the drums, I was talking about re-wrapping them in orange sparkle. The cymbals I'm talking about trading are ones that I really don't use and that I've tried to sell unsuccessfully for the past year and a half. I'm going to remove all of the hoops to inspect the edges and measure the drums to ensure they're in round.

Now, as far as the Black Panther wrap, I've never heard of it! You see, this why I posted this on Drummerworld, you guys know you're stuff. I'm going to call the seller now and set up a meeting, and I feel much more confident after "talking" to you guys. Thanks for the help everyone, and if I come home with the drums I'll certainly put some pics up.
 
OK...no rewrapping of vintage drums unless the wrap is damaged.Vintage drums retain their value,and become more valuable if they are in the same condition as when they left the factory.You can't rewrap them and consider it an "upgrade"That doesn't work with vintage drums.Rewrapping those drums,or any vintage kit will devalue them by 30-50%.

Black panther is considered a collectabe finish,and may cover up an even more collectable finish.Citrus mod finish,though not really popular in the 70's,is now considered highly collectable and brings big dollars in even this market.But why is this important to you?Because Ludwig had a hard time selling drums in that color in the 70's....they covered a lot of them in black panther.

How mush are citrus mod drums worth?A Ludwig downbeat snare recently went for over 3 K on ebay.

Go checkout the drums and put on your poker face.

Steve B
 
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