[B]1938-40 LUDWIG & LUDWIG 8x14 WMP/CHROME SUPER-LUDWIG (PROTOTYPE OR SPECIAL ORDER))

[Mike Curotto]

Hi,
I hope all is well during this Covid situation. I got this drum approximately 15 years ago from a good friend and fellow drummer/percussionist in SF. I never did photos or an article so here goes.Once again a special thanks goes to Bill Wanser (Olympic Drums & Percussion) for his help in dating this drum.

1938-40 LUDWIG & LUDWIG 8 x 14 WMP/CHROME SUPER-LUDWIG (PROTOTYPE OR SPECIAL ORDER?)


THE SHELL:
Looking at the outside photo one would think that this is a normal Ludwig 8 x 14 Super-Ludwig from the late 1930s..well, there is more to it that makes this drum a tad more quirky. The drum came to me 100% original and in excellent condition, no cleaning or polishing was necessary. The WMP is in excellent condition with virtually no yellowing at all. The white enamel badge is very clean with a tight, untouched grommet. Now for the quirkiness; looking at the interior photo you can see that the shell is aluminum with top and bottom maple 2” re-wrings. This leads me to the question was this a prototype snare or a special order snare? As always, I welcome your insights to this.

THE HARDWARE:
The chrome hardware is in excellent condition and like the shell, needed no cleaning or polishing.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
I used clear top and bottom heads so anyone looking at the drum could see the metal shell and maple re-rings.
As a lot of you know, aside from collecting rare/ultra-rare snare drums, I like the quirky ones also. To me this is a perfect example of quirkiness from the 1930s.
I wonder what the person who bought this drum was thinking 80 + years ago….Prototype or Special Order?

Enjoy,

Mike Curotto

[Jim]

Well that is fascinating indeed. Area 51 concert band for sure.

[grantro]

Beautiful snare!! Thanks for sharing!!

Cheers

[Hoppy]

Interesting drum for sure... even more so because it's 'the' precursor for other companies that have followed suit in the modern era, offering/offered metal shell snares with wood re-rings (like Q Drums for instance).

[vintagemore2000]

Very cool and interesting piece of History. Love it !!!