Old 06-19-2017, 02:18 AM
#1
gunnellett gunnellett is offline
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Default Muffler for Ludwig Pioneer
Hey Guys,
Decided to swap out the heads on my transition badge Pioneer and look at why the muffler was stuck up against the head and wouldn't drop. The metal strip holding the muffler looked cracked at the bend when looking from the resonant side.

Well when removing the batter head, the cracked metal was confirmed and it snapped.

What ludwig part number would keep true to the original? Also, it looks like the threads at the end of the bolt were purposefully gouged to keep the cylinder shaped nut from coming off as I don't know how someone could have done it by mistake. I didn't realize this and ended up with a few metal shavings in my hand when trying to screw the nut off.

Thanks,
Wes
Old 06-19-2017, 08:55 AM
#2
CTMichaelV CTMichaelV is offline
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Default Re: Muffler for Ludwig Pioneer
I have seen this happen on several snares and toms. Pioneer era are a little tougher to get however you can post a wanted ad here on VDF or look on the bay to find a replacement, or if you need one try Nick Hopkins in the UK, reasonable prices and shipping.

For the bolt, as a lot of people sell the arm and dampener separate from the bolt, take it to a local machine shop and ask them to run it through a dye to re-thread it. It will take all of 2 minutes and shouldn't cost you more than $5.
Good luck
Michael
Old 06-19-2017, 10:20 AM
#3
mlayton mlayton is offline
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Default Re: Muffler for Ludwig Pioneer
The transition era drums used small round knob mufflers. They can be a little hard to find at times. You can use a later 60's muffler and reuse your knob/shaft/nut to make it look correct. Often, the ends of the threaded shaft were purposely gouged to keep the nut from coming off too easy. With some force, you should be able to get the nut off and reinstalled properly.
Old 06-19-2017, 01:17 PM
#4
gunnellett gunnellett is offline
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Default Re: Muffler for Ludwig Pioneer
Thanks Gentlemen.

I found Ludwig tone control P40662 for a pretty reasonable price in multiple places. So as suggested, I could clean up the original bolt and keep the original round tone knob but the potential issue I see with the replacement part is they show the knob on the bottom and the smaller bolt on top. Mine is the opposite with the knob on top.

I tried looking for pictures of transition snares with the round tone controls to see if someone had just reversed the bolts on mine at some point but didn't have much luck. Seems like reversing the bolts would require bending the metal in order to get the notch for the tone control nut to somewhat line up which could explain it being cracked but it doesn't look quite that way to me. It looks more like the tone control may have been installed a little low and had to be drawn in quite a ways to contact the head.

I tried to post pictures but I am having issues with downloading from my phone.
Old 06-19-2017, 01:46 PM
#5
gunnellett gunnellett is offline
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Default Re: Muffler for Ludwig Pioneer
OK so I found a few pictures with the tone control bolting the same as mine.

Maybe I could put one of the newer tone controls on if the bolts spacing is the same and just put the tone control knob on the bottom so it would work properly even though it is the opposite.
Old 06-19-2017, 05:09 PM
#6
burgundy burgundy is offline
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Default Re: Muffler for Ludwig Pioneer
I don't think you can switch knob placement, as the screw hole is to small for muffler rod to slid thru, the muffler band is made from spring steel, don't think you can drill it out larger. you will need to find proper muffler.
Old 06-19-2017, 06:18 PM
#7
gunnellett gunnellett is offline
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Default Re: Muffler for Ludwig Pioneer
Quote:
Originally Posted by burgundy View Post
I don't think you can switch knob placement, as the screw hole is to small for muffler rod to slid thru, the muffler band is made from spring steel, don't think you can drill it out larger. you will need to find proper muffler.
Good point about the hole sizing not matching up. I was just thinking of the spacing.
Old 08-23-2017, 07:01 AM
#8
jimorlando jimorlando is offline
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Default Re: Muffler for Ludwig Pioneer
I have a few of the tone controls that I changed out for the baseball bat tone controls which are the correct muffler for my 1965 super classics. I plan to sell on eBay but haven't got around to it. There are differences between each on and I can't verify that they are all Ludwig.

It seems that the feet is attached differently where some are riveted and some are glued. Some may also rattle where the plate where the feet is mounted is riveted to the arm.

I actually bought some more of these from eBay before I found out that my drums should have baseball bat mufflers.

I'll post some photos soon for comments. There are a lot of these still on eBay as well.
Old 09-08-2017, 12:18 PM
#9
gunnellett gunnellett is offline
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Default Re: Muffler for Ludwig Pioneer
Do you still have the mufflers and if so, can you post some pics? Thanks

Quote:
Originally Posted by jimorlando View Post
I have a few of the tone controls that I changed out for the baseball bat tone controls which are the correct muffler for my 1965 super classics. I plan to sell on eBay but haven't got around to it. There are differences between each on and I can't verify that they are all Ludwig.

It seems that the feet is attached differently where some are riveted and some are glued. Some may also rattle where the plate where the feet is mounted is riveted to the arm.

I actually bought some more of these from eBay before I found out that my drums should have baseball bat mufflers.

I'll post some photos soon for comments. There are a lot of these still on eBay as well.
Old 09-11-2017, 05:21 PM
#10
jimorlando jimorlando is offline
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Default Re: Muffler for Ludwig Pioneer
Yes I still have them. I haven't had a chance to photograph them and I need to write a short description of each.

Where I mentioned feet, I meant to say felt.
 

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