You didn't say how much you spent, so I can't judge.

I won't judge, even if you reveal the figure.

If they sound as good as they look, then don't second-guess yourself. As my grandmother used to say, use them in good health.

That's a very encouraging and thoughtful response, and I thank you. I guess I did put quite a bit of emphasis on "Should I have?"

But I would still would like to know a few things if anyone has the knowledge and the time...

Am I right about the date? What size tom am I missing (badge faces forward with tom on left side... is there like a 14" or something)? What is the name of the kit series?

Also... should I replace heads and snares asap or wait as long as possible? If I should switch, what should I switch to?

Otherwise, yeah, they were totally worth it! I call her Sandy Flatts...

You mis-measured the bass drum. It's not a 20" bass drum. It's a 22" bass . I can tell because it has ten lugs.

The tom mount was meant to hold TWO tom toms, so the configuration was likely a Big Beat and, therefore, is missing a 12" tom.

Other than that small point, the kit looks really nice.

The finish wrap is called "Mahogany Cortex"...or, possibly, "Walnut Cortex" (upon second glance) and is really tough stuff. It's basically countertop laminate that was also used as a wrap for drums!

It also appears as if you have the original Weathermaster "dB" series drumheads, too. Wow! That's great....but be careful of them because you can't get them like that anymore! I know what you mean about the sound. Those drums with those heads are THE Ludwig sound, in my opinion.

So, yeah, in order to tell you whether or not you got a "good deal" we need to determine two things:

1. How much did you pay?

2. How much do you love them?

By the way, #1 is irrelevant if the answer to #2 is, "A LOT!" flowers2

P.S., Yes, your date of 1976 is correct.

I would switch heads but SAVE the originals!. Or, you could at least keep the bottom drumheads (resonant side) original and just change out the batter heads. I would switch heads to any of the major brand names' medium weight, single-ply, clear heads and on the bass drum, I would use a clear Remo Emperor bass drumhead. I say this because I think that's what's going to behave most like the original vintage heads. If you start switching out the heads for something too modern then you'll lose that Ludwig sound.

Thank you! A "Big Beat" eh? Cool... If I'm missing a 12" tom, then why does the badge on the 13" face forwards when on the left? Did the badges on these drums typically face toward the drummer when mounted?

You're right about the bass, I just assumed based on some things I'd read... my bad. But... I'm glad!

I guess at this point I should come out with it... for the Supraphonic, the rack tom, floor tom, bass drum, all the original hardware and skins discussed, 2 vintage Ludwig straight stands, vintage Ludwig hihat stand, and a vintage Slingerland kick pedal, I paid $500.

I'm VERY happy with the sound, look, and feel of these drums. I was motivated to look into vintage based on my research regarding good snare drums. This kit kicks the snot out of my Pearl Export in SO many ways!

I've got a bud that has this exact same kit in these exact same sizes, and he paid $500.00 without a snare drum, so you've done quite good!

First of all, YOU GOT A GREAT DEAL!

Second of all, the badge on the 13" tom tom should be on the exact opposite side of the tom mount...correct? On earlier, "keystone badge" drum shells, the double tom configurations had the "problem" of the 12" tom badge facing the audience and the 13" always facing the drummer. In the 70's, with B/O badge drums (like yours), the solution was to mount the badge opposite of the tom mount so that, then, BOTH drums' badges would face kinda outwards and sideways -no matter on which side of the bass drum they were mounted.

Ooooh... Ok that makes sense. I used to mount my Pearl's with the badges out & at an angle, so i guess it just didn't hit me that it is DIRECTLY opposite the mount. That makes sense, and will still look good if I stumble across a suitable 12" someday.

And also... REALLY!?! That's really REALLY cool to hear, especially since I'm out on a limb here waiting for the old kit to sell - knowing that I love the kit, AND that it was a steal makes it that much more worth it, you know? :-)

Thank you all for the info, I'd been dying to post on here since I brought it home!

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