Hi!! I’m new to this forum (as of today) and I have recently acquired a Ludwig 5x14 Acrolite. I can not find it’s serial number on any guides and would love some info. It’s a round edge B/O badge SN# 3094077. This tells me it’s a 1979 through 1983 snare drum. But it has a P 85 throw off with 12 holes which indicates an early 70s Acrolite. It is possible that the throw off was replaced at one point but I don’t know why it was replaced from all possible to hole strainer with the 12 whole strainer. I mostly just want some clarification on the serial number because I cannot find it anywhere on any guide. I’m also currently restoring this drum because everything is fairly ru[PHP][/PHP]sted on it. If anybody wants to add some information on where to get tension rods and lug casings, etc, that would be awesome. Thank you!
Ludwig Acrolite Serial Number Info
Welcome Mike
All the online guides are way out of date and incomplete. Rick Gier's book Serial Number Based Dating Guides for Vintage Ludwig Drums (published by Rebeats) tells us:
That's the BO4 version of the badge with rounded corners and the little (R). These are recorded with serial numbers 3000000 to 3140000 and date stamps ~ 1982 to 1984.
P85 throw off changes are recorded as
P-85 Black Face 12 hole 687000 to 1060000 date stamps ~ APR 1969 to ~ 1973
P-85 Black Face 2 hole 1060000 to 2300000 date stamps ~ 1973 to ~ 1982
P-85 Black Face 2 or 12 hole 3000000 to higher date stamps ~ 1982 and on
So yours fits the pattern of a Blackface 12 hole from around the 1982 - 1984 period.
Hope this helps.
Welcome to the forum.
Acrolites from that era appear with both the two hole and twelve hole black faced P-85s.
If you are going to have to spend a lot of money on parts, you might keep looking for another complete drum. They are common enough that you will probably spend less on a nice all original drum than you would putting this together from parts.
Gretsch drums with serial numbers,
Ludwig Keystone and B/O badge drums with serial numbers and date stamps,
Ludwig Standards from 1968-73, and
Ludwigs with paper labels from 1971-72
www.GretschDrumDatingGuide.com
zenstat got in with his response while I was typing.
Gretsch drums with serial numbers,
Ludwig Keystone and B/O badge drums with serial numbers and date stamps,
Ludwig Standards from 1968-73, and
Ludwigs with paper labels from 1971-72
www.GretschDrumDatingGuide.com
Wow!!! You guys Rock!! 🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼 Thank you so much for the info. It was hard to find exact info (for a newbie) online. Again, THANK YOU!!
If it is of any use my Dec 31 1968 dated Acro with a P83 is serial no. 666637 with a round muffler knob.
Still churning them out on New Years Eve. Must be one of the last before this B/O P85 model.
Please note that the serial number ranges and date ranges that zenstat quotes from my guide are approximations. There is often overlap in serial numbers or date ranges when hardware or other characteristics change. With rare exceptions, it is hard to identify specific dates or serial numbers when a change occurred. Most badge style changes can be linked to a very small range of serial numbers (transition from Keystone badges to first style of B/O badge is narrowed down to a very small range of serial numbers), but even with badge styles, there are ranges where more than one style of badge was used (pointy corner B/O badges and B/O badges with trimmed off pointy corners overlap for several hundred thousand serial numbers).
Gretsch drums with serial numbers,
Ludwig Keystone and B/O badge drums with serial numbers and date stamps,
Ludwig Standards from 1968-73, and
Ludwigs with paper labels from 1971-72
www.GretschDrumDatingGuide.com
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