Hi, first time posting here. I just lucked into a Ludwig Acrolite "Prototype." or 1st generation, however you call it. It has the orange peel finish, the baseball bat dampener with the red felt, the un-serialed Ludwig seal, the welded seam, the P-83 strainer, the aluminum hoops, the whole deal. It's in incredibly good condition, so good that I'm wondering if it's not all original. The heads and almost certainly the snares are newer.
Anyway, I've uploaded pictures, was wondering if there are any Ludwig connoisseurs on here that could help out with some info. It sounds fantastic, so whatever the case, I'm quite happy. I plan to swap out the aluminum hoops with some chrome ones so as not to bend them.