Just picked one up from the 70s and the chrome is flaking in a few spots. Inside the shell is the ludalloy sticker. Are most Supraphonics like this or are most chrome over steel or brass? This snare has a pointy blue/olive badge without a serial #. Thanks.
Ludalloy Supraphonic
70s Ludwig Standard Aqua Mist
60s Ludwig Champagne Sparkle Downbeat
and a whole bunch of snares and hardware
Most are Ludalloy (low grade aluminum).
"Nietzsche is dead." -God
Actually it is a high grade of aluminum, not aircraft grade, but still high quality. The pitting and flaking has more to due with the conditions the drum was subjected to over its life than the quality of the chrome plating job or the quality of the aluminum.
Thanks, this snare has a hand etched 244 serial number, it is not stamped - do you think it never had one and someone etched it in after?
70s Ludwig Standard Aqua Mist
60s Ludwig Champagne Sparkle Downbeat
and a whole bunch of snares and hardware
LOL! Right. It's definitely not aircraft grade.
I never suggested the pitting had anything to do with the grade of aluminum.
"Nietzsche is dead." -God
"Nietzsche is dead." -God
Is it possible it once was in a schools' inventory? That might explain the hand etching. That's the ticket, yeah, school boy drum, yeah..
"I enjoy restoring 60s Japanese "stencil" drums...I can actually afford them..."I rescue the worst of the old valueless drums for disadvantaged Children and gladly accept donations of parts, pieces and orphans, No cockroaches, please...
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Actually it is a high grade of aluminum, not aircraft grade, but still high quality. The pitting and flaking has more to due with the conditions the drum was subjected to over its life than the quality of the chrome plating job or the quality of the aluminum.
Hi,
Not a metallurgist, so happy to be corrected. It is my understanding that while you CAN prepare aluminum for chrome plating; the Ludalloy shells were not adequately prepared for the chrome plating. The sort of pitting and flaking that you see on Ludalloy snares is a common feature for aluminum surfaces that have not been sufficiently prepped (cleaned of aluminum oxides as I understand it).
Because the problem is the underlying surface and the aluminum oxides inherent in the substrate, the acne came from within.
I know there are a few unblemished Ludalloys out there, and expect that some Ludalloy was better prepped.
Patrick
That's exactly correct, Patrick.
"Nietzsche is dead." -God
Hi,Not a metallurgist, so happy to be corrected. It is my understanding that while you CAN prepare aluminum for chrome plating; the Ludalloy shells were not adequately prepared for the chrome plating. The sort of pitting and flaking that you see on Ludalloy snares is a common feature for aluminum surfaces that have not been sufficiently prepped (cleaned of aluminum oxides as I understand it). Because the problem is the underlying surface and the aluminum oxides inherent in the substrate, the acne came from within. I know there are a few unblemished Ludalloys out there, and expect that some Ludalloy was better prepped.Patrick
I recently heard that very same thing second hand from a Ludwig family member. The cleaning process before plating included an acid wash, and he suspected that a certain lack of control during that procedure led to the flaking problem down the road.
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