I am cleaning up some 60's Ludwigs. This is my first time really dealing with Ludwig Drums. With the exception of the resonant edge of the floor tom needing some major tlc, the rest of the kit is really just a clean up operation.
But -
When I take a look at the 13 inch tom (Dated Aug. 7 1965), I see two strange things.
1) the wrap is part of the shell. The wrap is like embedded, or fused into the shell and then goes around the whole shell. I've never seen this before. Does anyone here know what I am talking about? Is this common on Ludwig toms of this era?
2) The drum looks great, and is clean with nice interiors, no major signs of damage, etc. There is a faint hint of re-ring separation on the resonant edge, but nothing that could even be glued at this point, everything is still tight. However, this drum would easily fail a flashlight test. Don't even need the flashlight really. I just set it on a flat surface and it easy to see some gap.
But the drum seems so clean and seems to be in round I wonder if it came this way from the factory? I am not really considering having the edges redone by anyone as I'd like to keep these as close to original as possible.
But it makes me wonder - How many 60's Ludwig drums came out of the factory without the precision edges that we expect to see on a mid- to upper - end kit made by a modern company today? Is the funk in my edges what the drum was born with, or did this come with age?
I look forward to your thoughts -
P