Surprise Ludwig Find.

[trieck]

I purchased this beat up Ludwig shell on eBay thinking it was an old wooden olive badge drum. I figured I would restore it.

When I removed the wrap on the drum, surprise! It seems to be a 3 color acrylic drum?

Can anyone tell me anything about this drum? Is it a vistalite?
The serial number is : 1292865

Thank you,
Tom Rieck

[Ludwig-dude]

It appears to be one of the alternate pattern Vistalite toms....probably mid 70's.....

[NewDecade]

Welcome Tom!

A surprise find indeed - What was it covered over with? A regular wrap?

Here're links that have Vistalites - at the page bottom, there is a *similar* tri-color shell - albeit transparent - called 3 Band Swirl

http://www.vistalites.com/reference/history.htm
http://www.vistalites.com/documents/76catalogue.htm
http://www.griptoad.com/JonBlanton.html

Also, from your lugs, it could be a marching drum:
http://www.vistalites.com/documents/75catalogue.htm

From your pic, I can't tell how opaque your red is - And I haven't seen any yet like this one - the others, other than the white, seem transparent. Perhaps yours is a rarity? Freaky Chewie:

I did see mention of a 1976 Bicentennial Kit:
http://www.angelfire.com/biz6/ludwigvistalites/
[most of the way down the page - above the Vertical Bar - under "Construction"

Also - the VDF Ludwig S/N page puts your drum right into 1976:

Blue & Olive Badges >1976 917xxx - 1290xxx

[Ludwig-dude]

Welcome Tom!

A surprise find indeed - What was it covered over with? A regular wrap?

Here're links that have Vistalites - at the page bottom, there is a *similar* tri-color shell - albeit transparent - called 3 Band Swirl

http://www.vistalites.com/reference/history.htm
http://www.vistalites.com/documents/76catalogue.htm
http://www.griptoad.com/JonBlanton.html

Also, from your lugs, it could be a marching drum:
http://www.vistalites.com/documents/75catalogue.htm

From your pic, I can't tell how opaque your red is - And I haven't seen any yet like this one - the others, other than the white, seem transparent. Perhaps yours is a rarity? Freaky Chewie:

I did see mention of a 1976 Bicentennial Kit:
http://www.angelfire.com/biz6/ludwigvistalites/
[most of the way down the page - above the Vertical Bar - under "Construction"

Also - the VDF Ludwig S/N page puts your drum right into 1976:

Blue & Olive Badges >1976 917xxx - 1290xxx

A true Bicentennial Vistalite drum then....cool!

[trieck]

Thank you for the responses.

Yes, it was just a regular wrap. The inside appears to be painted white which adds to the opaque look of the drum. Yes, It also appears to have been used as a marching snare due to the lugs, etc.

There is a partial separation at the seam area which someone seems to have tried to glue at some point. There are also some additional holes that seem to have been drilled with slight cracking around the holes.

Is this drum worth anything to anyone? I am not a Vistalite collector and would be willing to part with it if it could be of more value to someone else.

Thanks,
Tom

[NewDecade]

Aah, Painted inside - that explains it.

Not a Vistalite guy either. I have no idea what it's worth. From the bits I've read about Vistalites - that cracking is probably not unusual, especially in a marching/parade drum - I'd think a lot more stress on the shell from the jostling hardware. - - Also, I understand that they can crack from over-torquing the nuts 'n' bolts.

Maybe post it in the "For Sale" section of the forum - on the home page - down toward the bottom. Also, If it were mine, I'd dig into the Vistalite web sights for interested buyers. Those folks, no doubt, know the value of them, in consideration of condition.

This link is from the Vistalite sites question "What Are My Vistalites Worth?"
http://www.vistalites.com/reference/valuation.htm

Hopefully, you can at least get back what you paid for it guitar3