From that one picture, it looks like a Black Cortex wrapped drum from the early to mid 70's. The condition of that one drum appears to be excellent. Black Cortex may not be your favorite, but it is a very nice-looking color, in my opinion. It's an extremely durable finish.

I think the shells are 3-ply (unless it's some kind of re-wrap) because the pointy badged drums were 3-ply. So, "the" sound is there!

$270.00 you say? Well, if the other drums are in that kind of condition, if you don't want it, I'll buy it! I would say that is a VERY good deal. Get a Supra to go with it and you'll have a complete Big Beat kit.

But, as always, I reserve my final verdict until when I can see detailed pictures, inside and out.

[COLOR="DarkRed"]Hmmmm...but he said no rings on the shells, so they wouldn't be the 3-plys....

Not my favorite Luddy shells, but certainly a rocker's sorta set; they can take some heavy hittin' and they'd be pretty loud....

$270 for any 4-pc b/o kit is a good deal....hell, the hardware and badges alone are worth probably double that....[/COLOR]

Those look like large classic lugs on a 12 inch tom, which was the norm on the 6 ply drums. I recently parted with a 6 ply kit and can attest to the sound - they sound great. They are NOT the sound of a 3 ply, but they are really good sounding drums. That's a great price for the kit. If you don't like the wrap, change it out. If it's a 6 ply kit, the resell is minimal. Don't fret the cat on that one. If they one day become collectable, you would have had quite a few years of great playing time on a kit that you liked the sound of AND liked the looks. It's worth the trade off. Anyway, that would be a nice score. Does it have the classic or modular hardware?

Thanks for the info - Like I said, I am terrible at the whole ply thing. It looked to me like there was one thin inner ply, then a thick (1/16" or 1/8") dark ply, then at least 2 or 3 more thin plys, not including the wrap.

Clear interiors - You can see the grain of the wood and it looked to me like there was no coating inside, but... I was looking through a beat up clear head.

Large classic lugs definitely sounds right.

As for the hardware, I'll do me best to descibe. Tom mount was a double mount like this...

[IMG]http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/2736/ludtommount.jpg[/IMG]

Bass drum spurs/legs were heavy duty, 3/8" or 1/2" tubular chrome straight legs, far as I could see.

The wrap on the drums ranged from good (like the tom in the pic) to somewhat scratched up. If it is the black cortex wrap, can it be buffed out to remove scratches and such? Like I said, black is my least favorite color, but if the drums sound good, they might make a decent studio kit. I don't really care about the color/condition of the wrap if they won't be leaving the studio.

Could these be Rockers by any chance?

Thanks for all the help here and if I decide to pass on these and someone else wants them, I'll let you know.

Simple - rerings = 3 ply...........no rerings = 6 ply.

Not Rockers. Wrong hardware, badge, shells, tom tree to be Rockers.

You are in good shape if decide to purchase. Nice kit.

Dammit! I just knew you were going to say something like that - LOL!!!

Ugh... so they are worth the $270.00 and then some I gather? And there's no chance they are the cheaper Rocker series too huh? Are we talking early, mid or late 70's on these?

Oh man... Gotta start coming up with excuses for the wife. Lets see... "Oh, well they were sitting there abandoned and they looked so sad, I couldn't help but take them in."

Or "A little old lady was selling them. She needed a kidney transplant and selling these drums was the only thing standing between her and a new kidney."

Why me?

Unless someone corrects me, these are 3rd quarter 70's (divide the ten years into four sections...this is the third section of time). That would be my guess. According to your description, they are the 6 ply Luddy's. Very nice drums, mediocre resell. Pay the 270, buy some wrap for 150-200 and you are sitting good. For about 500, you got a nice set with the wrap of your choice. You'll be able to get about that back out of it. You won't make a profit, but you won't lose money on the deal. Resell on the 6plies is not great. That's good for you. Removing the original wrap won't impact the resell in a negative way. In fact, if you choose a good wrap, it should increase it. Win Win. Not that you needed to hear that.

For the record, the hardware alone is worth the cost of the kit.

Also, Rockers had the black and white badge. This ain't Rockers.

These were made between 1976-1978...6 ply shells and definately worth the asking price.

Hey Big Daddy!

Tell the wife a dear friend from the late '70's needs a hand up. Hurting

I have a 6 ply kit '77 like that in the silver wrap. Gorgeous drums, great full punch on these, definitely for rock and cutting through the crap. You can't go wrong at that price as everyone above has clearly explained...

~Kelly