Nice find! Can't wait to see pics.
Hello everyone, long time no see! Preparing for college has kept me busy this year so I haven't been on here much. I'll get right to it: my old Boy Scout troop bought a new trailer that had been sitting at a Church for 2 and a half years exposed to the elements, the trailer itself was owned by another scout troop so it had some gear in it that they told them to take with the trailer. They found two marching drums, a bass drum and a snare drum, and they called me to check them out. I quickly found that both were made by Ludwig and they're both stamped different dates in 1958 which I'm assuming are their manufacturing dates, the bass drum unfortunately was painted white and looks terrible but the snare looks fairly decent and I'm wondering if it's worth it to restore them. Mainly I'm concerned if the bass drum is worth restoring and what might be involved in that since it was painted, I don't want to sand it because I'm afraid I'll make the drum thinner and I don't want to use paint thinner because I'm afraid I'll damage the wood so I have no idea what the best course of action would be there; the snare just needs cleaned up and some new heads and it should be good. I'll post the picture of the Snare in the next post and then the Bass Drum.
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Snare drum pictures:
September 6 1958, I'm assuming this is the manufacture date
15-, I'm not sure what this is but another number like this (2.8) is on the bass drum shell
"A" and "R", a signature, perhaps the person who made the shell?
EDIT: FlyByNight pointed out the signature is probably "W" and "R" and I am inclined to agree with him.
The shell seam, I've never seen a wrap come through the seam like this. There is some slight damage here.
Last edited by The_Epsicle; 08-11-2015 at 11:00 PM.
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Snare drum pictures:
"WFL Drums, Ludwig drum co. Chicago U.S.A", the badge, it's really loose and can spin all the way around.
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Snare switch, little corrosion but nothing too serious.
I've never played marching snares so I don't know what this is or if it's original.
The bearing edge on the reso side
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Snare drum pictures:
I forget what this is called right now, but the thing that holds the snares on the side opposite the switch.
The whole drum with a fire extinguisher for scale, the drumhead is what came on this snare and they are 15"
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Bass Drum Pictures:
October 1st 1958
2.8
The whole drum with a gallon of milk for scale, I haven't found a tape measure to measure this yet.
The hoop next to the shell, I think the whole drum may have been wrapped like this hoop in the middle but I can't know that for sure.
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Bass Drum Pictures:
The seam of the drum inside, note the splintering near the bearing edge.
Not sure what this is called but it is for attaching the marching harness, the paint chipping is the worst at this section and you can tell it was not done correctly.
Some mounting hardware and a lug nut, this section of the drum was taped up with music notation that had since faded.
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This might sound crazy, but I used that exact bass drum model when I was in high school band. I looked a lot worse than that. I remember the plastic strip on the hoops just stapled in, and one hoop had a bad crack in it so we cranked it down to keep it from coming apart. The wrap was bubbled and it tore right from the rivets holding it together. Just a flapping piece of wrap.
Did the heads have Ludwig label stickers on them or where they printed on? I remember the labels were stickers on the one I used.
I believe that says W.R on the snare. It's unlikely the first letter would be a lowercase.
The bass drum was originally owned by a Catholic High School so that would make sense, the heads were Remo's I do not have the originals. The plastic strip on the hoops is stapled in as you've pointed out, was the rest of your drum wrapped like the plastic strip on the hoop? I see what your saying with the snare, that is probably "W.R".
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Interesting, I'm thinking if I wrap it I'll do the same wrap that's on the little strip of the hoops. I think I'll pass on the rivets though.
Upon further inspection both drums are single ply drums that are steambent, I'm not sure if this is just what Ludwig does or not but they seem to have stayed together very well considering they were stored in a non-climate controlled trailer for two and half years.
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got some work ahead of you there!
The seam on the snare is how they used to make them. They would cover the wood with wrap when it was flat, then form it into a circle. As a result, the wrap was part of the plies.
The bass would make a fantastic start on a vintage kit. You can use paint stripper gel to remove the paint, or, just sand it smooth and put a wrap on it. Definitely worth the time and effort!
-Brian
"Too many crappy used drum stuff to list"
Play the SONG......not the DRUMS!!!
"I think that feeling is a lot more important than technique. It's all very well doing a triple paradiddle - but who's going to know you've done it? If you play technically you sound like everybody else. It's being original that counts." ~ John Bonham
w. R. = Wrap Red. Apparently instructions to the the assembly line guy that was to finish the drum. They used to make the drums by orders for schools etc...
all the best...
Welcome back The_Epsicle! Great story on the Ludwigs. You've rescued some history by stumbling on these drums. Curiosity got the best of me so I did a quick search and found this. The description and process on how Calderwood Percussions was able to restore this drum is rather brief and I'm going to assume there was a lot more work involved than what's stated in the caption. Good luck and keep us updated if you have time between your busy schedule. Again, thanks for starting this thread. It's been rather dead around here and I hope your questions can stir up some interest.
Last edited by late8; 08-12-2015 at 09:17 AM.
Not the least of which is convincing my Scout troop to part ways with them, the issue is they've wanted a marching snare for quite awhile to use for cadence in parades but after looking at this snare I really, really, really like it and don't want to see it get tossed back in that trailer to get hauled around and dinged up like it was before and then have it sit over winter. I think if I buy them a decent marching snare they will be willing to part ways with these drums considering they were about to throw the bass drum into a dumpster when I got there and were only keeping the marching snare as a curiosity.
I was unaware they ever manufactured drums that way, that is very interesting, thanks for sharing. Thanks for the confirmation on the paint stripper, I was just concerned as to what the various methods of paint removal would do to the shell, if they're safe I'll use them.
Thank you for that piece of information, makes perfect sense! I've recently discovered a marking on the inside of the bass drum, it's too faint to get a picture of with my cell phone but it is clearly an "S" got any ideas?
Thanks for sharing that! I only wish there was some way to figure out what wood they are made of. I haven't looked to see if the drums are in true or not but they were stowed in the trailer with the heads on so I am hopeful the tension kept them in true for the most part. I will keep you all posted as I find out more about these drums.
Wear hearing protection.
Acetone is a great for paint/lacquer removal and used on fine furniture and cabinets. The evaporative properties are extremely rapid which is great for wood since nothing has a chance to stain or seep into the grain but the fumes are extremely toxic and Acetone must be used in a well ventilated area preferably with a fan blowing directly on you or even safer when used outdoors. Acetone is fairly inexpensive and comes in quart or gallon sized containers. I used Acetone to strip the glue that had been holding drum wrap on for over 20 years.
Acetone is also very corrosive. It ate through 3 pairs of heavy duty rubber gloves and after it leaked passed the hole in my glove, my fingers came into contact with the residue and my finger tips became dried out, then cracked and peeled. It was very painful to say the least but it made for quick work since I had to strip 4 shells.
Acetone:
Wet sanding with 100 grit sandpaper and Acetone outdoors:
Before:
After:
Last edited by late8; 08-12-2015 at 05:27 PM.
Wow, great kit late8!
I talked to my troop and they decided to just give them to me, so the drums are officially mine! However, I will be moving to Nebraska for college this week so this project won't start until next summer, I'll update you guys when I make some progress.
Wear hearing protection.
-Brian
"Too many crappy used drum stuff to list"
Play the SONG......not the DRUMS!!!
"I think that feeling is a lot more important than technique. It's all very well doing a triple paradiddle - but who's going to know you've done it? If you play technically you sound like everybody else. It's being original that counts." ~ John Bonham
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