Hi,

Here's a very early Ludwig & Ludwig DeLuxe Model (Black Beauty) that came to me from a nice gentleman named Steve in Shawnee, OK. A special thank you goes to John Aldridge for putting in a good word for me in order to make this deal happen. Another special thank you goes to Bill Wanser* for allowing me to use the following excerpts from his yet (I wish soon) to be published book and again to noted Black Beauty authority John Aldridge** for his take on this drum.

1921-22* or 1919-21** LUDWIG & LUDWIG 5x14 6 LUG/SCROLL DESIGN DeLUXE MODEL

*The first reference to a finish option other than the “standard” nickel over brass or natural wood shell with nickel plated fittings is in catalog “G” from circa. 1921-22. This first finish option is introduced as the “New Inspiration Model” with the following description. “ The shell is made of spun brass, gunmetal finish: the counter hoops and snare strainer are gold plated, a combination that has a most attractive appearance.” The “Inspiration” model could be had in any of the available sizes by adding the letter “A” after the size number. At the same time Ludwig & Ludwig also offered an all Gold Model, assigning the letter “B” to that option. (shell and fittings plated in real gold)The third option offered was the DeLuxe Model with the DeLuxe finish. This finish option was introduced between 1922 and 1923. The DeLuxe Model is the “Hand Engraved-Gunmetal Finish,” (what we know today as the “Black Beauty.”) The shell is “hand engraved in a beautiful scroll design on gunmetal finish.” “The rods, lugs and counter-hoops are special plated with the Ludwig DeLuxe Finish that resembles real gold yet wears better.” Try not to confuse the DeLuxe Model with the DeLuxe finish. The DeLuxe finish refers to plating on the fittings and was an option available on several other models as well.

Thank you Bill Wanser!

**Bill's right on target if you only go by catalog dates. The one thing Ludwig was consistent about through the years and still does, is to put items in the catalog after they are in production. Since they didn't do a catalog every year, it's safe to assume that new items were added every year. I agree with the 1923 "official" cutoff date for six lug bb's, but not his reasoning for specific dating at 21 or 22. The only feature on this drum that would date it earlier would be a "patent applied for" instead of pat pend. on the P-338 strainer. Those flat hoops were replaced with single flanged hoops before the switch to 8 lugs in 1923. If your drum had single flange hoops, I'd go along with Bill. I've seen patent applied for stamps on six-luggers with single flange hoops too. I'm going to stick with 1919-1921. And there's more from John... Hey Bill and Mike,

You (Bill) hit the nail on the head with your last word (speculating). But it is fun to try and take all the clues and speculate. In the end, no one really knows, because it's just as possible that a drummer swapped hardware on the drum at some point, either for preference or to replace a broken part. It's nice to think I know something about all this, but in the end, the ballpark answer is the only right one that can't be argued with. Or to quote Bill "sometime between catalog "G" (1919 maybe?) and the 1923 catalog they started producing the DeLuxe model"! That I can agree with unconditionally.

Thank you John Aldridge!

Hey, what's three years amongst friends anyway?

The Shell:

The heavy 2-pc. shell is in pretty good shape for a 90+ year old drum. There were a few minor dings and dents that I was able to smooth out pretty easily. The gunmetal finish and scroll engraving is pretty well preserved thanks to the clear lacquer coat. I did lightly clean and polish the clear lacquer and was happy with the outcome. The shell came back to life. There is no "Ludwig Chicago" shell engraving that we would soon see in the top panel just left of the P-338 strainer on later 6 lug and 8 lug DeLuxes. The top rim does have the oval "Ludwig & Ludwig Chicago" stamp, so all is good.

The Hardware:

It looks like all of the original hardware is present and accounted for with exception of one tension rods washer, an easy fix. The DeLuxe-finished hardware shows its age a bit more than the shell, especially the top and bottom rims. One of the trickiest areas of restoration is dealing with steel flat band rims. It really doesn't matter what the plating is, the real problem is that the base metal is steel. I'm not sure if it starts at the factory or if it is simply just the elements of time but most of these late teens/early 1920s steel flat band rims that I've dealt with are rusted through to the finish as is the case with at least 75% of the top and bottom rims on this drum. This leaves us 3 options to deal with : 1. Re-plating. 2. Doing some type of cleaning, preservation or restoration. 3. Leaving everything as is. We all know that rust does not sleep so I usually stick with option #2. I cleaned both rims, got as much of the rust off as I could without ruining the existing DeLuxe finish and then I added a few coats of Nicolas #2105 Special Gold Lacquer spray to hopefully seal and preserve whatever DeLuxe finish was left. The brass hardware is a little easier to deal with because where ever the original gold lacquer has worn away the original copper plating has just tarnished making it very easy to get the tarnish off and to polish (Cape Cod Polishing Cloths) those areas where the original copper was exposed. After a shot or two of the aforementioned gold spray, the lugs, collar hooks, tension rods/washers, P-338, and butt plate all came back to life but still look their age.

Of-the-era top and bottom calf heads and silk-wound snares rounded out this restoration.

As a note of comparison I added a photo of this drum with a later model 6 lug 5x14 DeLuxe that has single-flanged rims and the "Ludwig Chicago" engraving in the same panel where the P-338 strainer is located.

Some observations:

NB: All of the parts on this drum are shown on the left side of the photos.

1. Different lug used on 6 and 8 lug DeLuxes and other models vs. 10 lug DeLuxes and other models. Same c-c hole spacing but both ends "eyelets" and "bases" of the lugs on this 6 lug DeLuxe are different than that of later models.

2. Noticeable difference (cruder looking) in the manufacturing of the 8-32 lug attachment screws on this drum vs. later models.

3. Nickel over brass cup washers used on 6 and 8 lug DeLuxes (and other models), raw brass cup washers used on 10 lug DeLuxes and later models. L&L's way of cutting plating costs?

4. Different tension rods used on the early DeLuxes vs. later DeLuxes.

5. Different style (longer lip) collar hooks used on 6 lug DeLuxes and other models, shorter "lips" on later models.

Enjoy!

Mike Curotto