Hi. I have a 18x12 Ludwig WMP from 1965, it come whit a 14x14 and a 13x9, yes a 13x9

Lennart,

That's interesting! Can you post some pictures of it? You know the Jazzette drum set wasn't on the scene until late 1966 and came out "officially" in the '67 catalog. Therefore, your '65 pre-dates the emergence of the Ludwig Jazzette configuration.

Excellent, wflkurt! I am really hoping that your bass drum turns out to be a 12 X 18. Lots of people initially conclude that these bass drums are going top be 14 X 18 in size because the vast majority of "bebop" kits (mostly thanks to Gretsch) were 14 X 18s.

One consistent thing that I'm finding out about the Ludwig Drum Company of the 1960's-1970's is that...there were very few consistencies! My "dilema" (if it could be called that) is that I have....um...bassedMister T ...all my research on kits with 12 X 18 bass drums as being "the" defining factor of what made the Jazzette the Jazzette.

I absolutely concur that Ludwig made drums and drum sets in finishes or with options that didn't get listed as such in any kind of printed form. And, there are many other examples of Ludwig's inconsistencies. Take, for example, all the "factory" kits that were sold where some of the interiors were painted white and others were mahogany. I've seen tons of those over the years. -Ludwig Standard kits with Classic lugs instead of the Standard lugs...the list goes on and on.

If any of you guy (or gals) can contribute any pictures, insights, theories, etc. I am ALL ears (well..."eyes", I guess! ;)) Man, what I would give for a few good photos of that mahogany Jazzette! I think, at this point, the "Holy Grail" of Jazzette kits would be a complete, matched MAHOGANY lacquer kit from 1967 with BBs and white interiors. The quest continues.Burger Kin

I would like to see that Vistalite set up close. In particular the badges...

Two things. They could have been made by the Vista Fake company prior to them showing up in the collectors hands.

Or as stated already it was a marching bass drum converted to the set.

My guess is that said Faker probably has as many 18" bass drums as you want....In fact if you search enough you might find other Ludwig Vistalite Jazzettes on the Internet.

I wonder if I'm going to get in trouble for this.... Said faker likes to go after people that say they sell fakes...

Then again if said Faker contacts me then they for sure are making fakes since I make no reference to any particular Faker...

Unless they feel guilty about it...

David

Interesting! "fake" Vistalite Jazzettes? What a concept! I am absolutely in the dark in regards to Vistalite stuff. How would a Vistalite expert tell a fake Vistalite kit, I wonder?

Oh, here's something along the lines of Ludwig's "inconsistencies" that might be of interest...

I happened to weigh the drums of the two "Jazzette" kits' drums I own. Between the drums from '67 and the drums from '69, the small toms and 12 X 18 bass drums weighed essentially exactly the same....BUT the 1967's floor tom, weighed a half a pound more than the '69's! -same 3-ply shells/woods, etc. Yes, the BB tone control probably weighed a little more than the rotary style, but like I say, all the drums weighed the same -EXCEPT for the FTs. I can't undertsand it -unless they just happened to use some extra-dense wood plies with the '67. Crazy!Burger Kin

The fake vistalites go much further then the Jazzette, but how is it we are having trouble finding any wood shell Jazzette drum sets, when I have seen at least 4 Vistalite Jazzette's in multi color configurations???

Is it at all likely a jazz drummer would order a Vistalite set when it was really a "rocker" drum of the time in an odd color variant....

So I say throw out the Vistalites unless they are for sure real....

I can only see a hip Jazz Cat walking into a club gig with that kit Eye Ball

Other then that, I do not have much more to add so I will stay out of this thread...

David

Hey guys, I just measured the bass drum and it is indeed a 12x18! I guess I thought it was bigger but it's not. I guess that makes my set an uncataloged jazzette! Here is a pic with the 18 nest to a 14x22 1963 bass drum. The other is with the tape measure. I also managed to get a shot inside the venthole of the 12. You can see the granitone interior here and all the drums are like this inside. My serial numbers are as follows:

BD 1192958

TT 1192950

FT 1193690

The serials are pretty close! Hope this helps with the info.

-Kurt

S W E E T !!!!!! band2 Welcome to the club!

This is probably shallow of me (pun intended), but that makes your set about 100 times cooler! Wow, and such close serial numbers!

Do we need some sort of secret handshake now or something?Keep on Pl

Here is a shot from the NH drum show where I displayed the set with my Ludwig history collection.

AWESOME!!! WOOOHOOO!!!! YIIIIIPPPPEEEEEE!!!!!!Cool Kiss Group Hug