I think there has been too many people waiting to see if someone else knows the secret to remove the wrap from a Ludwig. I have done my share of it. and am actually taking a break from working on one right now. The outer ply on the Older ludwigs (just under the wrap) is a very poorous, and fragile ply. You will be very lucky to get the wrap removed all the way around without a snag or two. (ply lifting) also, the wrap is plied right into the shell. So no matter how much you try to hide the fact that it was wrapped at one time, you might not ever get it quite there. I use only heat gun and a putty knife. You have to get the covering good and hot to get the glue hot enough. You might even get it hot enough to burn it, so be careful.

My honest recomendation would be to sell or trade the bass drum for one that would match your other drums a little better. If thats not an option for you, then best of luck. I will check back and answer questions if needed.

Ryan

Thanks for the reply...I guess what I'm really wondering is, the tom in the photo - is the mahogany actually a wrap in the traditional sense (like green sparkle, for instance) or is it more like another wood ply glued all the way around? If it's the later, which it seems like it is, I'll either leave it or potentially stain it another dark color to match everything else at some point. The natural lacquer tom that I have doesn't seem to have any kind of wrap on it, it's just the maple lacquered up and polished.

Thanks!

~m

I think you should be able to tell if it is a mahogany stain vs wrap by removing one of the heads and look at the bearing edge. If it's a wrap, you'll see an actual dark ply. If it's a stain, you'll just see dark on the outside finish.

What's the condition of the WMP bass drum you are getting? If it's in good shape, you could wrap the two toms in WMP to match. To apply the wrap you could use the hi-bond tape method. This way you could easily remove the wrap in the future and not damage the wood.

-Tim

Your pic looks like a stained color outer ply. You can see the outer ply seem right under the mount. The wrap finish drums would have an overlapping seem that would be easily seen. I however can't tell you if that finish is an original or a ludwig finish. It almost looks like a home done job, but most of the older drums have that look from years of wear. Not like the high gloss stuff of today.

Do you know the approx.age of the 3 drums?

Thanks Tim - I'll pull one of the heads off and and look. The WMP bass is in excellent shape in terms of the wrap.

On the tom, here are a few scratches in the finish where the laquer has worn away - the wood underneath looks darker - like mahogany - or, at least, not like maple. Also, the grain pattern looks more like a mahogany than maple for sure, which would indicate a mahogany wrap, correct?

Ryan - the years of the drums are:

Bass: 1966 Club Date

10" Tom: 1979, supposedly (192xxxx, but B/O badge)

13" Tom: This one is a bit of a mystery - B/O Badge - it's S/N is 202xxxx - in all the charts I've seen, 201xxx tops out in 79 - but it's the older style, non-rounded corners on the badge (but then again, so is the 79)

My snare has a B/O SN of 206xxxx

All in all, the colors are all fairly complementary anyway - and it's just a kit for home to learn on. I guess I should be more concerned with getting them tuned up correctly than the finishes, I was just sort of curious what I might be in for if I go that route...

~m

> I guess I should be more concerned with getting them tuned up correctly than the finishes,

Yep!

Also, I can't see stripping that 66' clubbie bass drum if the wrap is good and intact. WMP orphans come up all the time. Watch ebay. I would build a kit around the 66' bass drum. Sell the toms you have, pick up a 60's 12" clubbie rack tom and either a; 14"x14" or 16"x16" floor tom in WMP. If it's just for home, to learn on, it doesn't matter if the wraps don't match up perfectly. And if you change your mind about becoming a drummer down the road, it'll be easier to recoup your money/sell the drums with their original wrap on them than refinished/stripped shells.

Welcome to VDF...

John

Thanks John

Yeah - that's what I was thinking...it would be a shame to pull the wrap off...I was surprised how good of condition it was in.

I'll keep my eye out for more orphans...the guy who I bought the bass from had a 13" WMP as well, but I figured since I already had a 13"....

Thanks for the welcome...I'm sure I'll have a lot more questions to come...meanwhile, time for a new head on the bass and some attempts at tuning things up ;o)

~m

I would build up a kit around that Clubbie kick drum just like John said. It depends on your personality type, but you might find that working on a kit that matches and looks great is more rewarding and therefore having a kit like that would tend to make it easier to practice. On the other hand, that may not matter at all to you. From your original post I might think that a matching kit was of some importance to you. Either way, it doesn't matter, but I think it is important to play to one's strengths.

I, for one, cannot concentrate worth a flip for any length of time if there is something cosmetically wrong with a kit that could be easily fixed. That little smudge over on the floor tom rim, the layer of dust on the top of the kick drum or the rack tom with it's logo installed in an incorrect spot will eventually get to me and I'll have to stop and fix all of it. That is quite possibly a sign of mental illness on my part though. Cooked Egg

heh - tnsquint - thankfully, I guess I'm not quite that OCD - yet, anyway. ;o) I knew when I got in to this that my first priority would be just to have a kit to practice with, and I could deal with the visual aspects of it later. I think the ****hest I went so far was to clean up the snare, which was in really rough shape to begin with....

Now then, trying to eliminate some of this snare buzz...that has be a little obsessed at the moment ;o)

~m