Steve, the factory is close to my house I am friends with the plant manager, Ludwig makes NO METAL PARTS except the aluminum band that goes around the drum heads they make. in the back corner of the plant are stacks and stacks of boxes from China with all the metal parts in them. the shells I'm not certain about, When I'm down there again I'll ask.

Is there a difference between "Made in America" and "Assembled in America"? I would say yes-and "Made in America" infers more than "Assembled in America". That is a shameful scam, and should readily be disclosed by Ludwig in it's advertising...This means a Gretsch Blackhawk metal snare is ALMOST as "Made in America" as a Superphonic. They get top dollar for "Made in America" Ludwigs, and now it just seems like a play on words.

Good ole EPA, And OSHA !!!

The Federal Trade Commission which regulates these type of business practices is pretty vague on the langauge of what made in the USA really means.

From what I can gleen from the non specific wording, in order to call something made in the USA,most of the value in parts and labor have to be attributed to the US.

I also didn't see anywhere on the Ludwig website,where they actually claim USA manufactuer.It simply states Ludwig USA.

The exception is the acrolite,which it clearly states is made in the Monroe NC factory and the Standard re issue which is made in Italy.

The mystery continues.

Steve B

Steve my comment about The EPA and OSHA was to the fact that not much metal fabrication takes place in the good ole US of A any longer.

I've wondered this myself. Glad you asked the question and very glad Mark can ask the source! I have toyed with checking out the newer Black Beauties and the newer deep dish Supras and Acros. Thanks for doing the homework. I have no desire to play the China drum game.

This is such bull! I hate that I don't even have the option to buy anything made in the United States. Remember even made in America can be twisted Mexico, Canada, brazil are all in "America" but not the United States. The auto makers pull this crap too with " North American plant"... in Canada.

I sell bicycles, not a single bike is from this country. The big U.S. manufacturers Trek, Specialized, Cannondale. all the frames are made in china, with shimano "Japanese" components made in Malaysia, Michelin "French" tires made in Taiwan. The Italians and Germans are the only ones that still make their own product.

Working in retail is becoming one of the most prideless jobs around. I sell foreign product to Americans so I can get paid us money to spend on foreign product. The only things I buy USA are used (my truck, car and drums) that doesn't help this country. We are nothing but middlemen.

I so wanted to buy a new Ludwig set, the more research I do the less likely its becoming.

It's just sad, and depressing.

> It's just sad, and depressing.

It's the modern 'Global' economy. We simply can't compete with third-world wages. I was a lithographer/printer for over 20 years. Third largest industry in the US and the best paying blue-collar job to be had back in the day. I watched as US company, after US company, started sending the work overseas. By the late 80's it was cheaper for a company to have their printing done in Taiwan and shipped half way around the world, than to have a US company and US workers do the job. We simply got undercut by workers who put in 16 hour work days for a dollar a day. How do you compete with that?

We all have to make up our minds that if we want American manufactured goods, we have to be willing to pay more for those items. It's a shame that old, established companies like Ludwig are forced by market realities to play word games about where the raw materials really originate. It really is sad.

John

Ludwig build's their high end wooden shells right here in North Carolina.