Hello all. I just purchased an older Ludwig drum kit, and it was advertised as a Big Beat drum kit. It has the B/O badges with the rounded tips not the real sharp tips. (although it sort of looks like someone rounded them themselves) I'm alittle confused as to the year these may have been made and what it actually is. The bass drum is 22"x14" with a 13" and 14" tom mounted and a 16" floor tom. It has a white wrap and grey interior shells. The set itself is so close to mint it's ridiculous!!!! Even has the clear Ludwig emblem head on the outside still. Oh yeah ...... the bass drum legs are 1/2" and it has 10 lugs per side on the bass drum. I'm really curious to find out what model it may be, and if has any value. (I got so ecited I just set them up as I walked in the door!!) Thanks all.
Ludwig Big Beat Drums?????
Well, I always understood the Big Beat configuration to be a 22/13/16...but maybe the extra 14 in that kit is an option. I'm not sure. However, I can say for certain that the shells are not 3-ply. The badge would indicate a late 70's/early 80's kit. I think the wrap is called White Cortex.
"Nietzsche is dead." -God
You are correct in that they are not 3 ply. Very heavy shells. Thanks for that bit of info O-Lugs.
Ok ......... while cleaning the set, I looked closer at the shells and there are indeed only 3 plys!!! 1 very thick ply and 2 thin plys inside with the inner most ply (and thinnest) painted grey. I'm wondering what these may be worth as well. Are these maple shells? Almost done cleaning and getting ready for new heads ............. then let her sing!!!! Keep on Pl
No disrespect intended, but they are not 3-ply shells!!!
The Ludwig 3-ply shells incorporated solid maple reinforcement rings. I'm not exactly what the ply layup on your drums is, but it is most definitely not a Ludwig 3-ply. Please post a close-up photo of the bearing edges. I would like to see them.
Oh, and by the way...the name "Big Beat" DOES refer to a 5-piece configuration like you have....so you are correct about that.
"Nietzsche is dead." -God
No disrespect taken. I know that usually the common thing is re rings inside of 3 ply shells. I took the drums to a local drum shop and here's what the drum techs had discovered. The bass drum is 6 plies ( which was clearly seen ) and the toms are 4 ply. I missed the very thin outer ply. The bearing edge is cut on the thick ply I was talking about. I tried to take a pic of the bearing edges but my camera sucks and won't take a close up picture. There is more knowlege of drums here than any place on the face of the earth as far as I'm concerned. So are these drums worth having in a collection or are they pretty much run of the mill beaters I should unload and look for something else. I really want to build a decent collection but I don't want to hang onto "everyday drums" if you know what I mean. Thanks for the feedback and very helpful info!! :)
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