Hi,

Ah, the Chicago Vintage Drum Show, one of my absolute favorite places to be! After a few months of negotiations this drum was purchased at the 2012 Chicago Vintage Drum Show from my friend and fellow collector Bun E. Carlos.

1935 LUDWIG & LUDWIG 5x14 "TERRA COTTA"* STANDARD MODEL

*"Terra Cotta" is the unofficial name that has been given to this un-cataloged Ludwig & Ludwig finish. As we know, there were a number of L & L finishes that were mentioned briefly in various Ludwig Drummer Magazines but never made it to any L & L catalogs. Streaked Opal was a catalogued finish from 1930-35. When I saw the photos of this drum my first thought was that maybe this was a later run of Streaked Opal but Bun E. came up with a great rebuttal, he said: "If it was a later run of Streaked Opal then why have we not seen any other examples?" Makes sense to me...or...could this be a special finish to honor Ludwig & Ludwig's Silver Anniversary? A one-off special order? As of this writing this is the only example known to exist in this finish (that is not to say that there are not other examples out there**). Thoughts? On a lighter note, Joe Luoma called it "Streaked Opal Squared."

The Shell:

The finish is in great shape but I was still able to clean off a few layers of age. You know by now, Maguire's #17 Clear Plastic Cleaner and #10 Clear Plastic Polish brought everything back to life. The finish did have two small areas where there was some "lifting" so I had my friend Al Schneider (the original Drum Doctor) do the dry towel and hot iron trick, everything turned out fine. The solid mahogany shell is in-round, the white interior is clean and there is a very nice 3510 (October 1935) date stamp. The brass oval badge is right at the transition period just before the L & L white enamel badge era starts.

The Hardware:

Most of the original nickel plated hardware is in good shape but still needed the normal cleaning and polishing. The nickel plating on the bottom rim was pretty "cloudy" so I had Les Hadnagy at Avenue Plating put it on his buffing wheel and the nickel came back to life. The 8 Silver Anniversary-era Imperial lugs are tapped with no inserts. I am happy to announce that all 8 lugs are in great shape and are not stripped. Here's an important tip: Don't let stripped Silver Anniversary-era Imperial lugs be a deal-killer, negotiate appropriately and buy the drum. Your remedy is simple, a 12-24 Hela-Coil, just make sure that you have someone that knows how to do the correct repair/installation.

Of-the-era top and bottom Ludwig calf heads and James Snappi wires rounded out this cleaning/restoration.

Postscript:

**Well, here we go...a few days prior to the Chicago Show I got an email and some photos from well known collector/dealer Doug Carrington, it read: "I thought that you might be interested." To my surprise and delight there it was, a 1935 Leedy Broadway Standard in the same finish! We arranged a deal and the drum was also purchased at the 2012 Chicago Vintage Drum Show. Now there are two known examples. Stay tuned for the rest of the story but for now I've included a photo of the Leedy next to this Ludwig & Ludwig.

Enjoy!

Mike Curotto