By Bill Wanser
28”x14” Ludwig & Ludwig bass drum, 5”x14” Ludwig & Ludwig Super-Ludwig snare drum, 8”x12” Slingerland Radio King tom, 16”x16” Radio King floor tom in a cradle.
The Ludwig & Ludwig catalog of 1937 offered a Super -Ludwig Drum outfit consisting of a 14”x28” single tension bass drum, 5”x14” Super-Ludwig snare drum in “Abalone Pearl,” plus various other traps and cymbals, but no ‘separate tension’ tom toms. Slingerland, however, did offer separate tension tom toms in its 1936 (and presumably 1937) catalog in “Abalone Pearl.” Leedy also offered separate tension tom toms in 1937 but their pearl covering, although the same color and pattern as the “Abalone Pearl,” was called “Oriental Pearl.”
My speculation is that when the original owner bought the Ludwig & Ludwig outfit in 1937, he/she wanted to add tunable tom toms. Slingerland offered tunable tom toms in “Abalone Pearl,” which was the same name and pattern as Ludwig & Ludwig’s, which might have been the reason they chose Slingerland.
Whatever the reason behind the mix of Slingerland and Ludwig & Ludwig drums, we have a 4- piece set in excellent, almost original condition. The only alterations to the set are with the bass drum. The bass drum originally had center post, single tension tuning. Someone in the past changed the posts out to Ludwig bowtie lugs, but still single tension tuning. The “bowtie” lugs were replaced with Ludwig Imperial lugs from a thrashed late 1930s bass drum, making the drum look and feel more era-correct and matching the snare drum. The other alteration that was done by someone in the past was to install disappearing spurs in the bass drum. This work was done very nicely and does not detract from the look of the bass drum or the outfit.
Adding a very nice touch to the set is an original painted scene on the front head of the bass drum. The head is in perfect condition.
The Super-Ludwig snare drum falls into the “Anniversary Model” era with a date stamp of 3703 (March of 1937) with tapped lugs. By late 1937 Ludwig started using swivel nuts in the lugs, getting away from the problem of the threads stripping out. The snare drum has no stripped threads, and everything functions perfectly and with original individually adjustable snares. The bass drum and snare drum have matching date stamps.
The two Slingerland tom toms are in very good original condition with no issues. Calf skin heads are present on both toms as are the “Radio King” stamped rims. The 16” tom has a double stamped “Radio King” rim (“Radio King” stamped twice on the top rim). The calfskin heads are not really usable. One head on the 12” tom is split, the 16” tom has one head with a small hole, and they’re just played out.
This set was quite dirty from being used in an environment that caused the hardware to become covered in grime. This all cleaned up nicely but there were two character memories left with the bass drum and the floor tom. It was the habit to store your lit cigarette between a tension rod and the shell while playing the next tune. This resulted in a burn spot. The bass drum has a slight burn spot on the top (hardly noticeable) and the floor tom has one below the top head (more noticeable). This is not uncommon to see from drums of this era and only adds to the fact that this was most likely a “working” set that has many stories to tell.
Many people consider the “Top Hat and Cane” or the “Autograph of the Stars” pearl covered sets to be the rarest of “Pearl” covered sets. Add “Abalone Pearl” to that short list as well. There may be fewer “Abalone Pearl” sets out there than “Top Hat and Cane.”
This rare set can be seen at the Chicago Drum show in May this year at the Olympic Drums & Percussion booth.
By Bill Wanser, https://www.olympicdrums.com/