The Ludwig head is worth something...for the reasons you guessed -originality. Some people are sticklers! I happened onto a great deal a few years ago in regards to an early-to-mid 70's Super classic with ALL original "dB" series heads.

I can tell you from having played them, they are THE real Ludwig sound! I play them that way, too. I don't play hard and I don't wreck heads, so when the time comes to sell them (IF that time ever comes), then they will still be in good enough shape to make them one of the selling points, for sure!

WHAT exactly is the head worth? Well, if it's from a 14 X 14 floor tom, then it's probably worth 30-35 bucks+. If it's a 16" head, then it's going to be generally less valuable -maybe 20-25 bucks. But, you never know what someone will pay if you sell on EBay and a bidding war breaks out over it!

Hey O-Lugs! Thanks for the reply. It's a funny item. I've looked on ebay just to try and get a ballpark, but it's hard to really gauge what an old head is worth. I've seen several vintage heads sell as a set for as little as $10.00. It's obvious that the vintage calfskin heads get the most money, but I can't say that I've seen a lot of these particular Ludwig heads up for sale.

It is a 16" and I figured it would not be worth as much as a 14". Then again, a 14" should be more common as they would have been used on snares as well.

Do you know who made the Ludwig heads (Remo, etc...)? I suppose a picture is in order.

Maybe I'll snap a few pictures and toss them up on eBay. They aren't doing me any good sitting in the basement.

Of course I have one other vintage head, but it's not for sale. Calfskin, 13" came off a 1920's Ludwig student model snare. Mint condition too. It's staying put though, in case I decide to sell the snare.

Just did some more research and found out that the Encore By Remo head is a cheapie, crimped hoop head. Not vintage and likely not worth the time and effort involved to mount and tune it - LOL!!

Oh well - Didn't cost me anything.

The only heads that seem to attract value and bidding interest are old calf heads in decent condition.

yes, it's true that the 14" heads were more common...but the fact that they were used on snare drums (as you noted) means that they were used as batter heads on snare drums...thus, they are usually beat up.

Since the 14 X 14 floor toms utilized two of the same kind of heads, the bottom heads sometimes remain untouched. Couple that with the fact that there are a TON of snare drum collectors and the demand for nice original heads is only going to go up.

The irony is...those "picky" collectors will likely not play the really nice original heads...and that's areal shame (in my opinion) because the feel of a good old Weathermaster or a "dB" is different than the feel of a comparable modern drumhead.

In my experience, the best facsimile of an old Ludwig head is a modern Remo Diplomat. Most people re-head their vintage kits with Ambassador batters...but the Diplomat is closer in weight to the original Ludwig heads...which were all 7.5 mil. "medium" and 10 mil. "heavy". So, a modern Remo Ambassador bass drum coated batter head (10 mil.) would compare to an old Ludwig "Heavy", but it's the modern coated Diplomat (7.5 mil.) that mirrors the sound of an old Ludwig "Medium" Weathermaster or "dB" head better.

I don't know what the differences are among various mylar formulations, but I do believe there must be different ones that impart different feels to the response.

Calfskin is, of course, a WHOLE other story! :)