I too have wondered many of these questions.

It seems that Ludwig use Walberg & Auge for a long time and used their Ringo money to set up their own stand manufacturing.

Wish I had some Ringo money. Pardon me sir, do you have any spare Ringo money?

I never thought the cym and snare stand bases differed...

Has anybody ever been able to locate a source for (hopefully chrome) the Mickey Mouse style wing bolts Ludwig used extensively throughout the 60's? I've seen them go for $10. I liked them a lot, and cringed when they started putting those big black handles on 1400's later on... a budget guilt driven response to the Tama/Pearl invasion, they remind me of the handle collapse wing nuts on my lawn mower.

The round tilters are the earlier versions, the oblong came out about 1969 or so. Also, the base changed a bit around the same time. The wingscrew used to screw directly into the leg base, later ones had that surround clamp system.

Jamminsam offers the mickey mouse ear wingscrews.....

The "Mickey Mouse" wing bolts is what I associate with the original 1400 stands. However, as seen in the 4th pic that I posted, I've got some Ludwig flat-based stands with a different bolt configuration. Did those come with the later ("block" Ludwig logo) stands, or should all the vintage flat-based Ludwig stands have the "Mickey Mouse" hardware?

In regard to the "big black (plastic) handles" I totally agree with you. I think they look ridiculous. I never associated them with the collapsible wing nuts on the lawn mowers but, now that you mentioned it, you're right on with that comment!

I was recently looking at some Slingerland Buddy Rich Cymbal Stands that, unfortunately, came with the "plastic junk." Although I really need the stands to match a kit of mine, the black plastic hardware killed the deal.

Metal T-screws are NOT Ludwig fittings....they are replacements that people have fitted over the years because they can't find the "mickey mouse ears" wingscrews. Black plastic T handles would be correct for stands made from 1978ish-1984 when they discontinued the stands finally.

I can't say for sure, but I think there was a time, after the Mickey Mouse eared ones and before the plastic ones, where the metal T-shaped ones were issued by Ludwig. For example, my early/mid 70's Deluxe Classic kit has a complete set of Atlas hardware that's like new and complete with those metal T-screws. I've always associated them with the early 70's Atlas stuff. But maybe that just applies to the early Atlas stuff and not with the 1400 series. But, I have seen those T-screws on 1400 stands before, too.

O-LUGS: That's exactly my problem. Should I decide to sell a few of these stands, I'm not exactly certain how to describe them -- what's original and what's not!

Well, in all honesty, I think they could be original if they were from very late 1969 through somewhere in the neighborhood of 1973. and, I'd almost swear I saw a Ludwig catalog that showed stands with those metal T-screws.

In my experience, you can almost expect that Ludwig was, at times, inconsistent with the minutia. You could always make a note of your concern if you were selling them in an auction. it is a very minor concern -especially in light of the fact that you can get the mouse-eared replacements. If you really felt guilty, you could always order a set of the mouse eared ones and include them as a bonus -just n case! I wouldn't sweat it, though.Mister T

P.S.,

There is no difference between a 1400 snare base and a 1400 cymbal stand base. -same exact thing.