Denny Hair is asking for help from the vintage drum community.
Read moreDenny Hair selling Ludwig Stainless Steel collection to fund wife's liver transplant
1939 WFL 7 x 14 TWO-TONE (BDP/ROSE/BDP) TWIN SENSITIVE HOLLYWOOD SWING MODEL
I got this one off of Reverb. This drum has been around for a while and the owner worked with me on an even lower price. WFL two-tone pearl drums are pretty scarce so this was a good drum to add to the collection.
Read moreThe Drum Engravers, Part 2: John Aldridge Custom Works
I like to think of John Aldridge as a “Drum Jedi Master”. He is an endless wellspring of drum history, wisdom, experience and creativity. In this sequel to Part 1, I wanted to share some examples of John’s unique custom works with personal insights from John about their design. Many of these drums are from my personal collection and are greatly treasured. It is my hope that drummers will not only appreciate John’s incredible versatility, but also realize that “drum art” can be truly personal. Drum engraving is not restricted to scrolls and florets!
Read more1971 Ludwig Citrus Mod Finish...The Waiting Is The Hardest Part
Ludwig first introduced Citrus Mod sometime in mid to late 1968 along with the finish Black Panther. When these two finishes were released, Ludwig was in between catalogs as catalog ‘67(printed in 1966) was the current catalog and it would be several years before catalog ’71 (printed in 1970) would be released. Citrus Mod was featured on the back of catalog ’71 but by the end of the year the color was discontinued and catalog ‘73 (printed in 1972) appeared and Citrus Mod was removed from the color options. This means is that unless a store had a set for display, a dealer had the color in a dealer swatch or you saw another drummer using a set in this finish, it was unlikely that it was known that the color even existed by most consumers when the finish first appeared. By
Read moreChurch Find: 1970s Ludwig Smoky Vistalite "Big Beat" Set w Black Beauty
The drums are Big Beat sizes 22" bass, 12" and 13" mounted toms, and a 16" floor tom. The snare was another story. I could tell it was a 1970s Black Beauty. Ludwig re-introduced the Black beauty snare in the late 1970s. They made Supraphonics both 5" and 6.5" and Super Sensitives 5" and 6.5". I don't know how many of each one they made. I'm sure that information is available. If you have one, they are great snares to own and very collectible. The snare was missing parts and the heads were taped up and cloth applied to kill any snare drum sound the poor drum tried to make. I could tell this drum was a diamond in the ruff.
1952 WFL Porto-Pak Outfit No. 986P in Sparkling Red Pearl
So here is one I hope you all can dig and my latest addition to the collection:
An immaculate 1952 WFL Porto-Pak Outfit No. 986P in Sparkling Red Pearl with era correct additional floor tom ordered with set. This was an estate sale treasure find!
1962 Pre-Serial Ludwig Combo/Club Date in Blue/Silver Duco
This set is without a doubt the cleanest and nicest "duco" kit I've ever seen. We all know that the hands of time are not kind to these 2 tone paint finishes and every set I've encountered has had numerous paint chipping, flaking, spider webbing etc. Basically killing the appearance. I was truly in awe. So a BIG THANK YOU to Chris Hawthorne at Hawthorne Drum Shop out of Pittsburgh PA for answering my million questions and sending ALL those pics!
Read more1924 Ludwig & Ludwig 6.5 x 14 White "Crystal" Plastic Moderne Bi-Tone Model #19
White “Crystal” is one of Ludwig & Ludwig’s rarest finishes and was only around for less than two years, 1941-42. The Crystal finish was highly distressed, more like “Crustal”, I mean really beat up... as my good friend John Aldridge would say, “this drum is as ugly as home made soap”.
Read more1926-27 LUDWIG & LUDWIG 5 x 14 10 LUG 12 PT. FLORAL ENGRAVED DeLUXE ALL-AROUND MODEL (cat. no. 1)
This drum was on EBay about 13-15 years ago. It was an early morning (1 am) ending auction so I waited up for it and sniped it right at the end. The drum was found in a closet at the Long Island Grotto #44 Masonic Lodge in Brooklyn, New York. There was a name pin that came with the drum so I googled Walter T. Morris, Long Island Grotto #44 and made some phone calls but no one was interested in helping me with the history of Walter T. Morris so I’m just reporting what I have in front of me.
Read more1970s Ludwig Amber Vistalite Pro Beat Drum Set
The set I am featuring from my drum room is a 1970s Amber Vistalite Pro Beat set from Ludwig. They are strikingly beautiful. The Pro Beat sets have a 24X14 bass drum, 18X16 floor tom, 14X10 and 13X9 mounted toms. Most Pro Beats set have a 16X16 floor tom as well. When I bought this set there was no 16X16 with it. I plan to purchase one to add to this se
Read more1960 Ludwig Downbeat Outfit No. 988P in Oyster Pink Pearl
This kit is my personal "holy grail" set and as a Ludwig collector/player is pretty much at the top of the vintage list and falls, as I was told, under the "go and try to find another" category.
Read moreFor Sale: "The Most Costly Drum In the World" - The Wm. S. Hart All Gold Ludwig Snare Drum
The William S. Hart All Gold snare drum, made by Ludwig & Ludwig in 1925, owned by one family since then, is about to see the light of day. Some lucky person is going to be able to buy it and I hope I get to chronicle the story. Donn Bennett is the broker - www.DonnBennett.com . Since William S. Hart started off as a Shakespearean actor, I will quote the Bard with a little bit of a change as I daydream about this drum….. “This is such stuff as dreams are made on”.
Read more1920s Ludwig & Ludwig Drum Set (May be listed on DrumSellers.com soon)
Read moreI saw the pictures on your web site of a nearly complete drum set from the same era. I have an absolutely 100% complete drum set from the 1920's that has the oil painted mountain scene on the bass drum, two sets of spikes, (it was actually used a lot) the foot pedal, the high hat with cymbals, foot pedal and all, the snare and stand, the floor tom and stand, the chicken drum and holder, the wood block and holder, the cow bell and holder, the tambourine and holder, the accessory table with cymbals, cymbal stands, the complete set of turtle shells, etc . . . I can send you pictures if you want. I am willing to sell it all for the right price, though shipping may prove to be difficult. I have been told by many that it may well be the last complete set from that era. My uncle played them a lot. He got them in high school and played in many big bands. He was the drummer in the local Lansing, MI band called Buddy K and played with the Dorsey brothers and many other big bands that often traveled without drummers.
1919-21 LUDWIG & LUDWIG 5 x 14 ENGRAVED/GOLD PLATED TRIUMPHAL MODEL
This one is a blast from the past that I really never did an article about. This drum is on pgs. 14-15 in my book: THE CUROTTO COLLECTION. The story behind the purchase of this drum took a few turns for the worse before I was able to get involved. This drum was listed on EBay in the early 2000s. There were a number of bids, a lot of interest and the drum was reaching a pretty good price. All of a sudden a number of bidders withdrew their bids because someone had posted to the seller that his drum was a “6-lug” drum.
Read moreCocktails Anyone?
Ludwig(WFL) started making cocktail drums in the 50’s as a means for singers and lounge acts to quickly get on and off a stage using up as little space as they could. Several different models were made including a set that included a 4x13 snare drum that attached to the side of the drum. This model was known as the Las Vegas model and was made around 1959. Other models had the main drum that relied on a set of snares that pushed up against the head to create a snare effect. A baffle was used inside to separate the bass drum sound from the snare sound. Ludwig’s stand up cocktail drums came in a 16x24 size and some of the lower end models were single headed leaving the bottom open.
Read moreThe Ringo Effect
The color is also an absolutely stunning example of mid 60’s Oyster Black. It almost looks three dimensional and though Ludwig still had this color in 1968, it was slowly being phased out when Ludwig started using the bowling ball version. It’s actually pretty hard to match Oyster Black pieces as the pattern could change from batch to batch. All three drums have this beautiful match and the color is just hypnotic.
Read more"Vintage"...But Not So Vintage
Why am I writing about a modern set of drums? Because I am one of those people that puts my faith in a product that is used time and time again, like my old Ludwigs. I know that my new Ludwigs will sound great at every gig and I can count on them to do what I need them to do. They still look as nice as the day as they came home with me and best of all they have shared a lot of gigs, late nights and long car rides with me. I plan on using these for a long time and when I am old and not playing much. These “vintage” drums will have a rich history behind them much like some of the vintage drums I own currently. Hopefully, someone else will take care of my drums and keep them in good shape for future generations as I imagine that these drums should far outlive me.
Read moreAdolph Grotzky’s 1928 Ludwig Drum Kit
In the world of vintage drums, there are those rare instances where an almost century-old premium drum kit survives the ages intact. Here is the story of one such time capsule, a stunning 1928 Ludwig Drum Kit with all of the cymbals, traps, drumsticks, banjo-style drum key, early 1900’s set list, and an enviably beautiful 6.5 X 14” engraved Black Beauty in De Luxe finish. This drum kit was handed down from grandfather to mother to grandson. What makes this kit so special is not just that it survived, but that we are able to hear the tale about the original owner and how it came to arrive one day at Jim Pettit’s Memphis Drum Shop. Craig Grotzky, grandson of Adolf Grotzky, was kind enough to share this classic American tale of survival through the terrible Depression Era as well as the important part this Ludwig drum kit played in their lives.
Read moreLudwig Hollywood Kit in Citrus Mod finish
The late 1960s was the psychedelic era. Without trying to explain what psychedelic means I will just present the finish on this drum set to illustrate it. Wild and weird colors became part of what it was all about. Ludwig Drum Company produced three drum finishes that were truly wild and weird looking. The three were Psychedelic Red, Mod Orange, and Citrus Mod. This kit is a good example of Citrus Mod, the rarest of the three finishes.
Read more1929 L&L 5x14 Standard Sensitive Snare - Mahogany/Decorative Inlay Finish
Here’s another unique snare drum that has just entered the collection. A special thanks goes to my good friend Bill Wanser of Olympic Drums & Percussion (Portland, Oregon) for making me a very fair deal on this snare drum and for his expert shell restoration. This drum was “ridden hard and put up wet” and needed a lot of work but I think that the finished product was well worth everyone’s efforts.
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