Lucky - This is from the Ludwig Drum History site:

"Black Galaxy 1962-1966 - This finish is another of those finishes that became hard to find. It was only offered for a hand full of years, with very low production. It is a real unique finish, ahead of its time, and quick to become very desirable."

That's the 'history' part. The story behind this kit got lost in the move from the 'new' forum, back to the old. It's a shame too. There were lots of photos and comments that got lost in cyberspace. The snare drum with this kit is a 4"x14" Downbeat in blk. galaxy sparkle. Pre-serial Downbeat snares are rare all by themselves. A pre-serial Downbeat in Black Galaxy sparkle is rare on steroids!

[IMG]http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n632/PurdieShuffle/db1_zpsc8b22b81.jpg[/IMG]

Killer sounding snare too! Crisp, articulate, great woody tone. W-i-d-e tuning range! And if you're asking about the Black Beauty... well that's a whole other story! I have another thread in the gallery just for the BB.

John

Kit looks great!! I have a new Legacy kit in black galaxy, I love it!! Nice job on that repair also.

hate that you lost the other post john. that's the way it is in cyber world sometimes. great thing is that the set came together so well. wonderful job on the floor tom save and putting together a killer kit. I love it!

mike

Thanks Mike, All.

Mike - you're the one responsible for me discovering blk. galaxy in the first place, so coming from you, the compliment means a lot. I'm not only happy, I'm relieved that the repair came out so well. So very few complete sets of these drums around, especially floor toms! I didn't want to f'k up on this one. The Drum Gods were looking over my shoulder.

Great sounding set of drums. It's a gas to play them. The Downbeat is an impressive snare drum for something that thin! (Only 4" deep.) It has a great woody tone that I love. Excellent snare.

John

Mike, Lucky - Post a shot of your BG kit (and Mike's Pioneer) here! May as well have all our kits displayed in one place/thread! People come looking for Black Galaxy, they can find both iterations here, vintage and modern versions.

Post away, boys!

John

22/13/15 clubdates with matching pioneer. I also have a canister throne, but its a newer model.

mike

this is a different pioneer that I have. its a 61 and has the blue in the wrap. pretty wild looking.

mike

Hey Mike thanks for posting those! I hope Lucky can post up a shot of his modern BG kit. It'll make a nice presentation for these great drums.

You wear your heads out the same way I do! I (usually) hit the same spot on the toms when I play and the wear shows as a small, 2" or so circle in the middle of the head. When I was 13 I met an old cat/drummer who told me, "A good drummer can play on a dime!" I never forgot that and it shows on my heads. Small 2" circular wear spot dead center on the heads. When I see it on other drummers kits, it tells me a lot about how the guy plays. Not 'what' he plays, but 'how' he plays. It was just a detail I noticed when I checked out your photo of the kit. For some reason, I always check out the wear pattern on the heads of other drummers drum kits. Weird eh?

Lucky - Post up some shots of your BG Legacy kit! Let's get em all under one roof.

John

thanks john. good eye on the heads! the floor tom head had no marks. I took this pic the same day I got the floor tom that you made for me!Cool1

heads last me forever. sticks too actually. I probably baby my stuff too much. I guess that's fine with me though!

thanks for letting us post our galaxy stuff here in your topic.

mike

here's another. john did this one. I originally had the Ludwig chrome over wood snare,4 ply. john wrapped it in some modern galaxy that he had leftover from my floor tom. I decided to make it look period and added a keystone badge,p83,cob hoops and all that good stuff. it sounds terrific and john did a great job on it. before and after here..

mike