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$1449 + $100 shipping
For sale is a beautiful example of early 60's Ludwig drum craftsmanship. This is a complete drumset, recently acquired from the original owner, now 70, who's parents bought for him as a teenager and gave to him for Christmas in 1960 (to the best of his recollection). They were purchased at a music store in Johnson City, TN and pieced together from store stock, which explains why there is a clubdate bass drum with a classic tom. The set he first received was the bass, snare, and 13" tom, with the 16" floor tom being added several years later.
These drums were barely ever played out and stayed set up in the buyer's climate-controlled living room for the last 55 or so years. They are in amazing condition for their age, with virtually no checking or peeling of the duco paint, very little rust or tarnish on the hardware, even the original cymbals and felts are included and clean! Every drum includes the original factory heads.
Below I will detail the drums individually. The set includes all the original hardware that it came with, including a WFL chrome snare stand, Ludwig nickel hi-hat stand, Speed Master bass drum pedal, Ludwig flat-based cymbal stand, WFL clip-on nickel cymbal holder, and cowbell and woodblock with nickel mount. I will also include a Ludwig adjustment wrench an an pair of brushes. Even comes with the corduroy covered throne, which is surprisingly stable (holds my 200 lbs just fine), although not terribly comfortable! All hardware functions as intended, and most have the rubber feet intact, save the hi-hat stand which only has one foot.
The included cymbals have no stamps but are clearly rotocast which means they can only be UFIP. They are thin and hand-hammered, and actually sound quite good. Included is an 18" and a 14". The hats which came with the set were a set of Zildjian New Beats that were purchased later and will be sold separately.
Drums have been lightly cleaned with a damp microfiber cloth, just to remove any dust, no chemicals were used.
Below is a detailed description of each drum:
1. Bass Drum - Ludwig Club Date, pre-serial keystone badge, 14x20" Nickel hardware, clear interior (although there are some drips of white paint that had to have come from the factory). Date stamp reads JUN 19 196? - awesome how the most important number is the one they didn't stamp clearly. :) This drum is in great condition, in round with well-formed bearing edges. Hoops are in-round and have some paint chips, orange (or gold) sparkle inlay strips are all there but one had come unstapled at the end and is held down with a piece of scotch tape. Front hoop has a small crack in the front edge which only extends about 1/4" into the hoop, does not effect structural integrity or tuning. Finish has some light checking/cracking of the lacquer which is typical for these finishes - the rest of the drums are near perfect. There are also a few small paint chips/areas that are scratched, and one large chip that is completely covered by the collar of the front head, overall the drum is an 8.5/10 cosmetically and a 9.5/10 structurally. Has two pairs of retractable spurs, which is not uncommon. All spurs are included however only two still have the rubber end caps and both of those are cracked.
The drum includes the original nickel rail mount on the left side, as well as a second chrome rail mount which was added to the top of the drum when the owner decided to add another tom (this tom is a '70 B/O badge 12" in black wrap and is not included since it is unoriginal and does not match). The extra rail mount was installed professionally and could be easily removed, or could be left on to provide additional positioning options for the mounted tom, I will leave that up to the buyer. Includes both of the original heads, as well as a lightly used genuine Ludwig logo head which I will supply with the kit to complete the vintage look.
2. Rack tom - Ludwig Classic, pre-serial keystone badge, 9x13", nickel hardware, painted white interior. Baseball Bat muffler with clean red felt. I believe the rims are brass but can't swear to it, they feel heavy like brass and have the color of NOB, but a magnet does react to them slightly, so I am uncertain. No date stamp. Shell is very clean and in-round, heads spin freely. Bearing edges are very nice. Includes both original heads. Finish shows very little wear with no checking of the lacquer - 9.5/10 cosmetically and structurally.
3. Floor tom - Ludwig Classic, keystone badge S/N 572642, 16x16", chrome hardware, steel rims, painted white interior. Only drum that has a clear date stamp - JAN 29, 1968. Small-knob muffler, which is interesting because Ludwig had switched to the large-knob by then, may have been custom ordered. This drum was added to the set at a later date but is a perfect match color-wise, and apart from a couple of small paint chips the finish is immaculate. Shell is very clean and in-round, heads spin freely. Bearing edges are very nice. Includes both original heads and legs with intact rubber tips. Finish shows very little wear with no checking of the lacquer - 9.5/10 cosmetically and structurally.
4. Snare drum - 6 lug Ludwig Pioneer, pre-serial keystone badge, 5x14", nickel hardware, painted white interior. This drum has a date stamp - JAN 2 19?? - the last two numbers were not clearly stamped. Has small knob muffler, again what I believe to be brass hoops, and original heads and snare wires with plastic end-clips. Both heads have minor tears. Has a few small nicks in the paint, mostly beside the muffler knob, and a few large chips hidden by the head collars, but shell is in round and edges are very nice. 8/10 cosmetically and 9/10 structurally. Includes a P-83 throw-off with small lever, which is fairly uncommon.
I have described these drums to the best of my ability and will happily answer any further questions you may have. I also have more pics than can be uploaded here and will happily take additional photos as requested. All together this is a fabulously preserved set and would make any player happy. They are in fabulous condition and I have described them accurately, so I will not accept returns on them - I have been burned in the past by buyers who suffer from "buyer's remorse' after purchasing a perfectly good item and I am no longer willing to deal with such people, so all sales are final.
Drums will be shipped in at least two boxes via UPS and fully insured. I have shipped many drumsets in my years and know how to do it right. I am setting a shipping cost of $100 in the continental US, if the shipping is more I will pay the difference, it will not be substantially less. I will ship these internationally but any international buyer MUST CONTACT ME FIRST! so I can get them a realistic shipping estimate, and they will be responsible for all import duties and taxes incurred, and I WILL NOT declare a value less than the selling price.
Thanks for looking and God bless.
