Ludwig & Ludwig Top Hat set

[MikeJtone]

This is an original Ludwig & Ludwig Top Hat set that must have been custom ordered after the war. The shells are dated 1945 & 46, the bass drum & the snare have brass badges & white interiors & are dated 1946. The floor tom & the tom tom are white badges & clear interiors & are dated 1945. The sizes are 9x13 Tom, 12X14 Floor Tom, 7X14 Snare & 14X26 Bass. This is not the usual configuration for these sets normally there was an additional 11" tom mounted on large rail that held both the 11" & 13" tom toms & from what I understand these sets were made in the early 1940's (41?). Another anomaly is that the floor tom is a 12X14 with leg mounts & 7 lugs. But this set was originally was made this way, there are no extra holes whatsoever.

[jaghog]

uve got to be kidding me that is so awesome man oh man

[Ralf]

Awesome kit. If you would have asked me 30 years ago, I would have considered this finish as crap for the bin, but in the meantime I love this black painting over WMP. Bowing

If I recall correctly, here in Europe such a kit was sold via ebay for approx. EUR 2,000 a few months ago.

Ralf

[Dave in VA]

This is an original Ludwig & Ludwig Top Hat set that must have been custom ordered after the war. The shells are dated 1945 & 46, the bass drum & the snare have brass badges & white interiors & are dated 1946. The floor tom & the tom tom are white badges & clear interiors & are dated 1945. The sizes are 9x13 Tom, 12X14 Floor Tom, 7X14 Snare & 14X26 Bass. This is not the usual configuration for these sets normally there was an additional 11" tom mounted on large rail that held both the 11" & 13" tom toms & from what I understand these sets were made in the early 1940's (41?). Another anomaly is that the floor tom is a 12X14 with leg mounts & 7 lugs. But this set was originally was made this way, there are no extra holes whatsoever.

Hello....WOW !!!! Can you tell us any details on how you discovered this set and what condition it was in when you received the kit? What is the value of the Kit?
Thanks,
Dave in VA

[larryvonludwig]

Wowie! Please tell us more about the history of this set and maybe more pictures.
larry

[MikeJtone]

Thanks,,
I bought this set from Steve Maxwell who a top notch vintage drum dealer, he told me that this drum set had been in another drum store for nearly 50 years. My understanding is that the drum store where this set has been for many years took these drums in from the original owner to sell (must have been back in the 50's) & that is where they had been since he came into pocession of them. It would be interesting to find either the original owner or someone in the family who might know about how these drums came to be ordered this way - but at least the drums are here to speak for themselves. It is kind of neat to have this original finish in a 4 piece set.

Mike

[jomeli57]

NICE!! Eye BallEye Ball

[drums2xs]

Congrats on your kit , it looks like you hit the mother load Bowing.

[FatherTime]

Now there's something you don't see everyday. Love the kit!

[MikeJtone]

Thanks again for the compliments on the set!

Referring back to some questions & comments from Ralf & Dave & Larry -

As far as value goes these are expensive sets, maybe this set has a few check marks against it because it is a later dated set and it is not in the original configuration - but you could say that it adds value due to its rarity & uniqueness?

Here is a link to a set that was sold in Europe - don't know when but the numbers are definitely in the ball park.
http://www.vintagedrumyard.com/archvdetail.asp?product=Vintage%20Drums&style=Drum%20Kit&manuf=Ludwig&ref=L26111316TH1

So if another original set in good condition sold for $2,000 Euro's, I would love to be the buyer!

I will dig up a couple other pictures that I got from Steve.
Thanks again,

[vintage drum bug]

Please put those on a bank's giant safe deposit box!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rillow64]

WOW!Mind Blowi Nice friggin kit man

[Joeyboom]

ha ha. . .JTONE IN DA HAOUSE !!!!! ExcitedExcited

[infiniteninjas]

I've heard the '41 versions of these kits (before WWII put the kibosh on metal hardware for 4 years) are the holy grail of collectable drums. Donn Bennett in Bellevue, WA has one in his museum in his shop, and according to his little placard there are maybe 15 in existence worldwide. Don't know about the later ones, but this is definitely extremely valuable. What are the cymbals? Is the hardware original?

[MikeJtone]

Infiniteninjas,
No cymbals came with this set, the cymbals in the picture are a 22" Old K ride & 15" Old K hi hats. It is my understanding that everything on this set is original except the heads & the snare wires. Something cool (to me) is that the bass drum is a virgin drum. There are no holes except the vent hole where the badge is, the tom mount & the legs mounts are attached to the hoops.

I forgot to mention that the inlay on the hoops is also not original, it is the new top hat wrap that was used to complete the hoops. Sorry about that.

[tamadrm]

Congrats on owning a piece of history,they are just beautiful Yes Sir

Steve B

[grantro]

Sweet!! Beautiful set you have there JTone!! It`s one you don`t see everyday...Thanks for sharing...

Cheers

[kevins]

Dang, Mike....Holy Grail there, man!!
Congratulations, they look great!!
Kev

[Kona]

I can see you playing these in a Big Band knocken em dead.....Man what a beautiful set of drums.
I don't know if a big band is your thing but when I see these drums that's what I think of.

[MikeJtone]

Thanks, Joey, Mark, Rillow, Kevins, Granto, Tamdrm,
Gary, I wish that were true! I do love the big band sound & would gladly play these drums if I were in a band, but no band would have me as their drummer - not talented in that way. :(

I will be kind and just say that my taste for vintage drums exceeds my ability to play them!

But I can at least still tolerate my own drumming, at least they will get played a bit. Good luck on the CG project, that should be close to being finished?

Mike