stay tuned...

Ya gotta wait for the Italian post (welcome to my world). I followed the advice I saw on the Forum...the one about not speaking too soon about an acquisition for fear some jealous competitor might blow the whistle to the seller but today I got the tracking number. W e g o t t a w a i t n o w. Soon as I know, you know.

One of my favorite shows...and I saw it first run!

OK, kids, here's the story. This is unfamiliar territory for me. As most of you know, my collection is primarily Gladstone (with a little Gretsch added for flavor). Since I needed help, after receiving the drum I contacted expert and good friend Mike Curotto. Here is my inquiry:

Hi Mike,

Hope all is well.

Need a little help if that is OK.

I feel confident in my knowledge about Gladstone and Gretsch, but I'm a little out of my league here. I just bought a Ludwig Super Sensitive on eBay. It is gold plated drum with a 1966 serial number (312286). Since I am not knowledgeable about the gold drums Ludwig put out in the 60's I naturally referenced my copy of the Autumn 2008 Traps that included your 6 1/2 Gabor drum. I knew about the other 3 gold commemorative drums (from the Ludwig book) but not the Gabor drum. I was also not aware of the 24 "Top Ludwig Dealership" gold plated drums. You noted that John Aldridge supplied that information. You also noted those 24 drums were not heavy brass. As you are probably aware, there is an excellent thread on the Vintage Drum Forum, "Is my Ludwig Brass??"-Lets Clear this up". Besides weight, the other indicators of a brass vs. Ludalloy shell are a seam and performing a scraping of a lug hole in the shell. The thread continues to say that the seam is not always visible so I did a scraping on one of the lug mounting holes. It is indeed aluminum. The seller claimed "brass" in the listing (probably judging by the copper pre-plate interior). I also protected myself by specifically asking "Are you certain this is a brass shell?" and he responded "yes, is messing." My German friend told me "messing" is brass in German. Though it may be difficult, I could get my money back, if not from him, through eBay's buyer protection plan's "isn't as described" option. Naturally, I am curious about this drum so any information would be greatly appreciated. As you can see from the pics (these are from the eBay listing and the quality sucks), it is a 5 X 14. Though my knowledge of Ludwig is limited, I am confident with my knowledge of gold plating and I can say with certainty the plating is old, probably original. Could this be one of the 24 drums? I wonder if Ludwig dealers in Europe were also awarded drums or did Aldridge specify that 24 were the total? (Though I get the significance of 24) I got this drum in Austria. I found the drum through the Vintage Drum Forum and they are waiting for a posting.

Mike kindly responded with:

Hi Chet,

All is well here, collecting snare drums as we speak!

I hope Italy has been good to you.

I saw that drum on eBay and the Forum...You can easily get your money via eBay/PayPal as they both have become very buyer friendly.

I'm really not sure if it's one of the "24" or an after market plating job although it does look worn so there's vote for original or at least a 40+ yr. old plate job . My common sense tells me that someone wouldn't spend the money to gold plate an aluminum Super-Sensitive drum so there's another vote for one of the original 24.

I've gotten 5-6 drums back from Japan over the years so it is quite possible that one of the 24 made it abroad.

I would check with John Aldridge as he may have another insight or two to add to the mix. (I cc'd him with this email)

That's about all that I can come up with...did you try asking the seller where he got it?

Keep me in the loop as to what you come up with.

Fortunately I sent a message to the seller and he promptly responded with "if it does not please you, it can retour to Austria" so all's well. Too bad because I'd love for it to have been "spot on."