Hey, folks! First of all, this site has been an invaluable resource to me already in dating my kit (as well as knowing what to look for in a vintage kit). Thanks.
I just picked up my first vintage Ludwig kit over the weekend. Not sure if it was the best deal, but I snagged them for $700. According to the information I've read here it appears to be a 1967 Ludwig in Champagne Sparkle. Dimensions are 14x20" kick, 8x12" rack tom, and 16x16" floor tom. Unsure what model drum these might be as well as what the plys may be made of. Any ideas for figuring that out? The only date stamp I've found was in the floor tom which read May 29, 1967. Here is the photo gallery.
The floor tom and the kick drum are in fantastic shape. Both drums have bearing edges in decent shape, kick drum hoops are in good condition with surprisingly little wear. I even got the cymbal mount for the kick drum, although I don't believe I will end of using it. Floor tom legs seem legit although it appears someone replaced one of the rubber feet at some point. Most of the hardware is in good shape, just old. Not a lot of pitting to be found.
The reason I am posting is because I am trying to figure out what may have happened to the rack tom. The bearing edges are in fair condition and it looks like it took some damage during it's life. It appears the drum was dropped and then repaired. The shell behind the mount is dented in as it is behind a couple of the lugs. The wrap was redone and appears to be original (matches the other two drums perfect in color) except it was as though whoever did the repairs didn't match things up with the hardware so the original holes are about 1/4" off all the way around the drum. It does not fully adhere to the drum as it approaches the bearing edge. I try to show most of this in the previously mentioned imgur album.
The inside of the tom seems ok and the drum does not seem out of round. I did note the drum heads fit snugly on this tom which I assume is because the wrap isn't fully glued at the edge. The lugs seem like they also may be slightly different than the lugs on the kick and floor. The three lines at the very top are the same length instead of the middle line being slightly longer like on the other drums. Could this drum have been a knock-off or a factory second? Maybe it is just a hacky repair job. Hoping someone might be able to give me some insight.
I plan on gigging with this kit so I am happy as long as the drum sounds good. I will probably attempt to replace the rack tom with an equivalent from the same year later on.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far! I tried to be as thorough as possible with my descriptions. Please let me know if more information or photos would be helpful.
