Hi!

i.m.h.o. this is a 70s 6 ply maple Ludwig shell with some extra-holes ("raw non-pro home made").

If you have re-wrapped the shell, it´s obvious that the grommet has been replaced.

But, the main point, the final product looks really nice as is!!.

pd: If you have some extra bucks, I´ll recommend you black wood hoops with pink inlays, that will turn into a real beauty

What's the size of the shell. Looks to deep to be a 70's Ludwig. Probably an 80's or 90's Ludwig.

Cam

Oh yeah, I put in a threaded gold grommet from Jammin Sam's. But the one on the drum when it was black was a simple spread grommet, and was obviously done at home. Which makes sense, as the keystone badge was not original of course.

It's 16x22. BTW, my main suspicion about this drum concerns the date stamp. I can't find another example of a stamp that's only two numbers, rather than six.

My vote: Not a Ludwig. Here's my reasoning.

Ludwig stopped using date stamps entirely in 1972. So even if they put a 2-digit stamp on a drum (I've never seen one), it wouldn't have been this late in the 70s. This is a pretty exhaustively researched source: http://www.gretschdrumdatingguide.com/ludwig-dating-guide.html

Even though their own website says differently (!), Ludwig didn't introduce six ply shells until 1979, as evidenced by this 1980 catalog (which explains the change): http://www.vintagedrumguide.com/images/ludwig_sets/1980_sets/1980_shells.jpg

So we have a drum with the wrong plies for the time period that the (wrong) date stamp is claiming to be from, with poorly drilled holes, and a home-made grommet to hold the wrong-period badge?

As Maury Povitch might say: "Ludwig? You are NOT THE FATHER of this drum!"

its a tough call since its hard to see the shell plies, however i think its a 80's ludwig:

- i don't know any other company who make thick 6 ply maple/poplar shells in the late 70's/80s. plus its 16 deep, that wasn't offered til the 80's.

- badge placement seems to be from the late 70's, but i do not know if that continued into the 80's. at sometime the badge placement was moved to side of the reso in the 80's. also, the dbl tom mount looks to be centered with the badge hole.

- kick mount and spur holes seems crude but not uncommon. however the lug holes are clean with no enlargements and its drilled for dbl spurs (granted one set might of been drilled later) but that's a clue in itself.

Here's a somewhat better pic of the plies. I'm not at home or I'd take a closeup.

I don't think the "76" is a date stamp or if it is it doesn't mean 1976 as Ludwig was still making 3 ply drums at the time. As far as the holes not being "Cleanly done" I don't think this would rule out Ludwig as the ones who did the drilling, particularly on a late 80's or early 90's drum.

What is the diameter and depth? Ludwig didn't start doing deeper shells (16" and deeper) before around 1980.

+1! definitely not referring to a date. at least in a "Ludwig way"