Hi guys. Frequent reader, infrequent poster.

Those are without a doubt Japanese drums with Ludwig hardware. The wood is Luan (Japanese mahogany) and on the last pic you can even see a remnant of an old round badge around the air vent. Probably a blue badge with letters that read "Made in Japan" or something similar.

My first kit was a Werco Slingerland knockoff. Sounded really great. Looked even better. Red glass glitter.

Originally Posted by billnvick

I agree. MIJ's with Ludwig hardware. At least the hardware is worth something!
Don't get me wrong... if they sound good, like Mike said above: "roll on with them!"

But a 26" Bass drum? Did they make that size in Japan in that era?
Bill

Guess I didn't read it was a 26" bass drum...possible that it could be Ludwig. If you take another look, that one has horizontal grain on the wood. Hmmm...

I think you are on to something elmoonlight. The position of the diamond plate tom holder and hole for the badge look pretty good also. From the pics I would guess the kick is actually a Ludwig.

you guys are awesome! first time in here. lots o' Ludwig knowledge up in this place. i just got home from work and I'm waiting on a Questlove Breakbeats kit to be delivered!

i kinda like the wood on this kit i posted, and they do have a pretty deep sounding tone, even with the worn out Ambassadors on them (though the floor tom and bass have clear pin stripe heads). here's some more pics and the inside of the bass drum as requested. plus, a beauty shot of that tom mount : ) also, on the outside of the bass drum, there's a weird indentation that looks like it might have been a badge (but, not one i recognize). anyone know what that is?

Breakbeats just arrived and I'm about to tear into them. I'll post a pic later if anyone's interested... thanks again, drum friends!

I don't know enough to say rether the bass is ludwig for sure but to me it looks like one. The indention on the bass is most likely from a cymbal mount. Oh and thanks for the close up of the tom mount, nice

I'm with the rest, Luddy bass and MIJ remains. I've seen my share of MIJ stuff, and I've only ever seen a few 24" MIJ bass drums, and those were all by CB-700. I've never seen anything bigger.

After looking at the above photos more, im thinking the tom mount is not original. The hole for it is square, i would think it would be round if original. I wonder if the bass was a virgin bass or maybe had a cosselette(spel?) mount in the beginning. Not sure tho???
Wait, it wouldn't be a virgin bass tho if there was a cymbal mount, right?

How many Tee's & lugs on the bass? A 26 would have ten; if it's MIJ, it might only have six!LOL! Spurs don't look Ludwig.....marko

10 T&Ls. yep, those spurs definitely NOT Ludwig; kit didn't come with spurs so i went to Ace Hardware and picked up some metal dowels and plastic caps to ghetto-styley still the bass drum which had a tendency to want to roll without the fakeshift spurs, lol!