I have a Ludwig 552 bronze 14 x 6.5. It was a bit molested when I got it. Superb drum. I put a new P85 strainer back on it (can't fix the hole from the Pearl throw) and it currently has a Gibraltar wood hoop on top as the original diecasts were long gone. At least I think it would have had die cast hoops once. Any chance that I could buy a Ludwig set? Or should I just look for generic ones? I played it for the first time in a few months last night and although I put the wood hoop on the drum to damp it down a bit for small rooms, now I think it's too dead. I found genuine Tama die casts for my BE345 snare drum and the sound of the drum actually improved a lot. Looks like what I need is an L-4143/4146.
Ok I found new Ludwig hoops, chrome or brass. They will cost me over $200 to Sydney. Hmmm. The brass do look nice. But people say the old dual channel hoops are better. What do you think?