John, as far as I know Ludwig only offered two straight up Sound Projector Outfits, Number One & Two, but no Quadra-Plus Projector Kit. I have a Stainless Steel Quadra-Plus by the way...............

The two Kits mentioned above, as well as the Sound Projectors themselves, were only listed in the 1978 Catalog.

Here is the Aerial Tom Projector information from the 1978 Catalog, which could have easily been used to create a "Quadra-Plus Sound Projector Outfit."

[IMG]http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL770/2917504/18623740/297325988.jpg[/IMG]

LVDC

Thanks so much for the info. I guess this is where dating drums becomes a little hard to do.

I purchased this kit in the summer of 1979 from Sam Ash in NYC, so I don't think it was from the prior years' inventory. The entire kit has B/O badges and the snare is a 6.5 x 14 Supraphonic. There is no date stamp on the inside of the shell at all.

My kit's sound projectors are made of clear plastic and have no modifications other than my changing the mounting hardware to Tama because I hated the original Ludwig clip mounts. I still have the original mounts.

Thanks again and I think they are 78-79's. I guess they were a limited run since they were only listed in 2 catalogs. But I'm not sure of the value......

Here's something that I thought of since my initial post, how high do your mounted 13 & 14 Toms have to be to allow the Projectors to clear the Bass? I noticed that the Sound Projector Kits were shown with Virgin Bass Drums and all the Toms on Stands, which, I'm guessing, was done so they could be positioned to give the Projectors the extra clearance they needed over the Bass............

[IMG]http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL770/2917504/15482309/297907258.jpg[/IMG]

LVDC

That is a great point that I never thought about!!

After looking closely at the Sound Projector 2 picture I see a major difference between the photo and my kit. My Bass drum came with the standard mount. The 10 & 12 inch toms were mounted on a stand as the photo shows but the 13 & 14 inch toms were always mounted on the bass drum. This may be the reason I changed the hardware. I never could adjust the toms to an angle that I liked, so I bought Tama hardware and replaced all of the tom mounts! I even changed the mount on a second bass drum I bought new in the mid to late 80's which has the keystone badge.

I wonder how long Ludwig used those awful clips on their toms??

The funny thing is I hardly played with the sound projectors because they would make contact with the bass drum!

I also toyed with the idea of putting resonant heads on them but never followed thru. They are loud but you can't get as good a tuning as you can with double sided toms.

That is my current dilemma. This kit was my first and has a lot of sentimental value to it.( I worked an entire summer to buy it)

Do I keep it and just buy a couple of floor toms with resonant heads? or do I put resonant heads an all of the toms? (maybe just the ones I'm using)

I know I'm rambling so excuse me.

I recently picked up a 14" double sided tom with a B/O badge on ebay for $50 which sounds great!!! So this has caused me to wonder if the sound projectors were considered RARE, before I changed anything that couldn't be undone!

:confused:

I went and did a little more checking and found that the Sound Projector, at least the Two, was listed in not only the 1978 & 1981 Catalogs, which I'm sure you already knew, but the 1982 Catalog as well.............

Based on the sizes you mentioned I'm not entirely sure that you have a Quadra-Plus, which was always listed as having 13, 14, 15, 16 (concert toms) with an 18" Floor Tom..............

[IMG]http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL770/2917504/15482309/297988463.jpg[/IMG]

Only you can decide if you want to do the double-head mod thing or not, something I can relate to. After I reconditioned my Stainless Quadra-Plus I took on another Stainless Kit (13, 14, 16, 24) for a local guy that had all double-headed Toms with the smaller sizes having a much better sound than my concert's. I contemplated adding the bottom heads to mine but knew that once any holes were drilled they were there for good so I passed and picked up a double headed 9 x 13 (so far) and now run this Kit, primarily, as a 3 piece. The main reason I chose not to do this is that there is only a 10 digit serial number spread on my 6 Drums so I know it rolled out of the Damen St. Factory as a true Quadra-Plus and wasn't pieced together over the years..............

Well now that you've shown me the catalog picture of the Quadra Plus I think that my kit was put together at the store. So it's a sound projector but I'm not sure if it's 1 or 2.

My Toms are 10, 12, 13 & 14 with a 16" Ft. All concert toms with sound projectors. The Bass drum is 16 x 24.

I'll check the serial #'s to see the range but I stil may not want to put any additional holes in the shells. I could pick up a couple of FT's if the $ allows!!Eye Ball

Thanks for your research. When I get the chance I'll post some pics..

John

John, sounds like you have the "Two" (size wise,) the "One" was a much larger Kit.

The II as shown, with optional Modular Hardware, in the 1982 Catalog.

[IMG]http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL770/2917504/15482309/298108354.jpg[/IMG]

LVDC

I'm gonna look for my reciept and see what it says. It is possible they sold me a put together kit. I guess the only way I'll know for sure is to check the serial #'s to see if they are consecurive or close to it.

I was cleaning out some old boxes in the basement and I found a '76 catalog (more like a pamphlet), I had written $1200 next to the picture for the 'Power Factory" kit. I guess I was looking at that kit also. I also came across '75 & '80 full line catalogs.

Thanks again, as soon as I get motivated I'll post a few pics.

Interesting post. I just joined the forum today in the hopes of finding out the history on my kit. I bought my kit used and the guy gave me the projector shells (white). I thought they were goofy and put them in the attic. It was reading this post and http://www.vintagedrumguide.com/ludwig_drumsets_1980.html

to help me figure out what I possibly have.

http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=19432