Congrats on your new kit.

I believe that Ludwigs will have 7-digit serials after about 1970.

The white paint appears to be from a previous owner and not factory finished.

I would guess that the keystone badge beginning with 3,11x is from about 1983-1984. Plies should be six with the thicker plies being poplar, thinner plies being maple along the exterior, interior and middle of the shell. They're great sounding drums.

Photos of the kick drum's interior as well as its serial could help date it.

Thanks for the info Mo Tonkie! That certainly helps. I don't mind that they're 80's shells, as long as they sound good. The bearing edges seem to be fine and drums are still in round, still worth a re-wrap. Just hope I can find a similar era floor tom to match with it. I also need to find a replacement spur mount, the Ludwig 'screw' is threaded and no longer holds, damn.

Here's some close ups of the kick drum. Any finer details?

The kick appears to be a 6-ply as well and probably from around 77-78sh. I believe the blue/olive badges had rounded corners in the late 70s. Kinda looks like the kick's exterior has been painted. It might have a white cortex finish underneath the paint.

There's a great dating guide written by a forum member that can give you a lot more info on Ludwigs from 1963-1984. Below is a link to it on ebay.

Also, your toms are pretty neat to me because they should be some of the last drums made in the Chicago Ludwig plant before Ludwig moved all production to Monroe, NC. I read somewhere that serial numbers in the 3,114,xxx range were the last Chicago made Ludwig drums. Take all this with a grain of salt as I'm no expert and dating Ludwigs is based on some speculation. I'm sure that you can find your needed parts on Ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ludwig-Drums-Serial-Number-Dating-Guide-/261434136737?hash=item3cdeb058a1:g:UuUAAOxyUrZSudxq

Just took apart the 2 rack toms... My eyes were playing tricks on me, they're actually sized 13x9 and 14x10!

Did you ever think of doing a satin lacquer on these shells ? That's what i wanted to if i found some good Ludwig shells that needed to be spruced up a bit.. Drums will be a lot more resonant without a wrap, although not that much.. A cool surf green or sky blue satin lacquer would be a cool and classic alternative to a wrap, is a lot less work, and it won't cost an arm and a leg..

I'm not experienced painting/staining shells, plus I'm kind of keen to have a Ludwig in the 60s black oyster wrap that precision drum offer. I picked up these shells pretty cheaply so I can justify the wrap price, just need to find a fairly priced floor tom to match!

Also considering adding the Ludwig atlas mounts on these too. The shells are pretty weighty though, assuming this won't cause too much undue stress to the shell... Anyone have experience with this?

I've used an atlas mount on a 10x14 rack tom for about 8 months with no issues at all. The drum has plenty of sustain. I've been impressed with Ludwig's new hardware in general.