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Can Anyone Date These Drums Accurately?

Posts: 23 Threads: 10

Hi all,

I was given what appears to be an early 70's Ludwig kit. (22,12,16)

I remember it having blue/olive badges but they were removed before I acquired it.

The black covering had been applied in place of the original oyster black pearl.

I know this because the original covering was applied under the outer ply of the shell.

They are all 3 ply, but of different configurations:

The 12 is mahogany, poplar, mahogany.

The 16 is mahogany(outer ply), poplar, maple(inner ply).

The 22 is maple(outer ply), poplar, mahogany(inner ply).

The shell interiors had been spray-painted black & silver, so I have no date stamps. I have removed the paint and the 12 appears to have had a white interior but the 16 & 22 may have had a clear/natural interior.

The bass drum has spur bracket holes drilled on the top and bottom of the shell, 2 of which are filled!

(So now I don't know the top from the bottom)

Was the join on the inner ply of the shell usually the top or the bottom?

The spurs are the "clubdate" style straight retracting spur with rubber feet.

There are holes for internal tone controls on the 12 & 16.

This restoration has been made hard by the abuse this kit has seen in the past, and what seems like a terrible restoration attempt.

Sorry about the photo. It's from 1999 before I owned the kit. It's the only photo I have of it in one piece. I will upload more pics if I can soon.

Your help is much appreciated.

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Posted on 16 years ago
#1
Posts: 3267 Threads: 715

I think without the badges and all of the changes, it is hard to accurately date them.

The B/O badges usually represent a 70's drum and in some cases 1969 when it was first used. They later switched to a rounded version of the B/O badge, but that was at the tail end of the 70's..

Hardware can help in some cases, but unless you know for sure it came with the drums originally it is hard to tell.

Also if the badges had serial numbers or not makes a difference and if they did, you can get a closer year.

There is no exact science to it and it really helps if they are not messed with like this kit.

David

Posted on 16 years ago
#2
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