Those lugs are the rarest of the rare.

They certainly are! They don't come up for sale very often. Those that I've seen on eBay sell quickly and for whatever price the seller is asking!

-Mark

There were relatively few drums that Ludwig made which used those lugs (I forget what Ludwig called them)...and the lugs that are out there are on the drums!. It would have to be a matter of finding one of those drums that is beyond repair and is being parted out in order to get those lugs.

There might be a way to get a machinist to mill you some facsimiles that would be functional....but that would likely cost more than the drum, itself! Or, maybe you could use some of those older brass-nut lugs that all the custom drum builder of the 90's used to use and then put one up and one down next to each other in the shell holes. That way, you wouldn't have to alter anything to make it a functional drum. But, yeah, it just wouldn't be "right".

I dunno, man. Good luck!

thanks Lads, I found my Black oyster jazz festival easier than these... I may use some of the Premier super 4 offset lugs or older Leedy or just single point lugs and make a great player out this shell... cheers

Hi J.R.!

I hope you do come up with a way to use your Downbeat shell. I do caution against those single-point lugs, though. I have a Tama snare drum with 11 lugs on top and 10 on the bottom. It uses the single point lugs. The original shell was thin one-ply maple. Those single-point lugs ruined the shell from a previous owner applying way too much tension. I had another shell built, a plied shell, and now the drum doesn't get played, but is part of my collection.

-Mark

Good point..Even the original Ludwig lugs would "twist" and oval the holes. If you look closely at almost any drum that incorporates these lugs, you will see that the lugs are not perfectly level when under tension. It's just a drawback of the design in combination with the lightweight, poplar-core shell. J.R. might want to consider bending some heavy washers for the single-point lug idea.

yeh not a fan of single point lugs...but if I do use them for now I will use larger backup washer under lug and inside shell to strengthen to contact load... cheers