The tllters you're talking about were sold as separate items and were not part of a complete stand such as the 1400. Early stands and L arms often lacked a tilter of any sort. The top of the rod where the cymbal went was a smaller diameter for a washer and felt and would be threaded for a wing nut. The cymbal would sit more or less flat on the stand. These aftermarket tilters were sold for the purpose of adding tilt ability to these older stands which is why they have a 1/4" mounting hole rather than a 3/8ths " hole that would match the overall top rod diameter.

Thank you for the VERY valuable history lesson, K.O.! Your knowledge is amazing. Now, things make sense to me. There is an l-arm on ebay, "Vintage Ludwig 20's 30's Cymbal l-arm with Hoop Clamp". The seller is 1960sflashback826. I have written to ask if the upper rod was 1/4 inch. is this the piece that you mean, sir? Again, thank you VERY much!!!

Brian

Yeah, That's probably the correct thing. Ludwig had that tilter in their catalog at least thru the mid 70's but they had added integrated tilters to their stands and cymbal arms fairly early on. Rogers and Slingerland had stands with detachable tilters for a longer period of time all thru the 60s and even beyond for Slingerland. Buddy Rich didn't use tilters so his stands usually lacked them, at least during his stint with Slingerland.

I have three or four of these Ludwig tilters that I've snagged over the years. I often use them on vintage Slingerland stands in place of the originals which are somewhat flimsy (tiny easily worn ratchet teeth). Rogers swivomatic tilter was a thing of beauty but you did need a drum key to adjust the angle.

I drilled one of my Ludwigs out to 3/8ths so it would fit a regular top rod on a 1400 stand before I figured out what the reason for the smaller hole was.

Thanks again, K.O.! I really appreciate your sharing your expertise. You have a way of making even a bone-head like me understand! I think I'll buy the vintage one today. Thank you!!!

Brian