I was playing on a Pearl set with a Ludwig snare with a band I had just joined. The snare sounded like crap and, after a few practices, I asked the owner if I could take the snare drum home to work on it. The owner gave me the OK. First thing I saw was that the outside had been hand painted black. I removed the hardware expecting to see wrap underneath and found red painted wood. I ended up removing not only the black paint, but a coat of green and then a coat of red paint as well. This took me down to a scratched maple outer shell – definitely not mahogany. I carefully sanded out the scratches and restained the shell to a natural maple color. I then asked the owner if he would be willing to sell the drum, but he wanted to give it to me when he saw my enthusiasm for it, but I gave him one of my snares in trade. It is a great looking and great sounding snare. Here are the specs:
5.5” X 14”
White interior
Red baseball bat style muffler
No badge, but it is a Ludwig, as evidenced by the bowtie lugs
No date stamp
P83 snare strainer
P32 snare butt engraved with Ludwig
8 lugs
Maple rerings
I did some research and cannot find a natural finish 8-lug 5.5 X 14 snare – everything I can dig up has wrap. I am assuming it is a circa ’63 based on the red felt baseball bat style muffler. Dare I say it is a natural wood jazz festival? Did they make such an animal – how rare is it?
Anyone have a thought or 2?