very nice. what a find! that is most likely a 98a version. they were 10" with 16 double row jingles and adjustable tension hooks. sound like yours? they also made the same with single jingles as well.

mike

Mike - Yes, sounds like the one I have... which year catalog do they show up in? This thing really sounds amazing! I'd never seen one from Ludwig, or knew they existed.

John

i found it in the 71 datalog and then another. the pics are a little hard to tell what color the metal is though. the descriptions lined up however.

you mentioned 8 tension rods. is that correct for sure?

mike

Yes, 8. See photos. They are the ones that wind into clips on the end.

John

Looking at that second pic, it sure looks like eight lugs Mike.

BTW John, that thing is sweet!

I bought one brand new around 1964-66. If memory serves I paid $13.00 for it. Look in Ludwig's catalogs from that time see if they're not shown listed as "Ludwig tunable tambourine" or something similar. They do sound excellent because they are constructed with real nickel-silver jingles, once common on all quality tambourines. However, I remember it as being uncomfortable to hold and quite heavy. Mine disappeared on Bourbon Street in New Orleans around 4:00 o'clock am after a gig at the Sheraton.

crying2-07

Mendozart - Yes! You gotta hear this thing... amazing sound. Listen to some of the old Motown records, -that's the sound-!

Bucky - Yes, heavy, kinda clunky to hold. I imagine these were meant to be mounted and played like a Pandiero. The jingles and the overall tone of this thing is just stomp-down, seriously good. I'm in love with the thing.

I play a lot of New Orleans second line rhythms, so I incorporated a 13" Pandiero into my set-up about 4 years ago. I'm not only used to including tambourine sounds into my playing, but I have riffs and fills I've developed that depend on the Pandiero. I'm going to swap out my Pandiero for this Luddy model for a bit just to see what it can do. I'll report back after I've had a chance to play around with it for a bit. I must say though, the sound of the Ludwig puts my 13" Pandiero to shame. The difference is like night and day. My Pandiero sounds dark, low-pitched, with an almost bass drum-like attack. The Luddy is more on the bright, high-side, it cuts and the tom sound is much higher than on the Pandiero. Lots of attack to the head. Lots of stick with just the right amount of jingle. Like I said, I'm loving this thing.

John

the reason i has asked about the tensions rods was this. the catalog lists them as having nine tension rods when i was trying to identify it. i thought maybe the catalog had a typo. but i found one in a completed ebay auction that also has nine.

in the 60's ludwig had a metal tambourine that looks like it was made from the same ludalloy material that ludwig used. it had a finish much like an acro. i wonder if these with the bronze color are anodized like that?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Ludwig-Metal-Tambourine-Gold-/350695487897?pt=Vintgae_Drums_Percussion&hash=item51a7147999&nma=true&si=0EU6Cgo4lQfimrHhCLorbXVlMl8%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

mike

Mike - That's the one I have! Only mine is in much better cosmetic condition than the one in the auction. My tambourine obviously has one tension rod missing if they originally came with 9. No matter, it tuned up very well with the 8 lugs, no problema. It was hard finding a way to get them exactly opposite to each other because of the jingles. But I got them close enough that when I tuned it up, I got the same note tapping an inch in front of each lug. The tambourine is 'in-tune'!

Thanks for all the info. I really never knew these metal jobs existed. If any of you run into one, snag it, you'll be glad you did. I have never heard a tambourine that sounded this good. No BS.

John