(This article appeared in the September 2002 issue of DRUM! magazine)
1963 Ludwig Super Classic 10x14 marching snare. Serial number 1760. This drum saw 45 years of High school marching band. It is an amazing sounding drum. I used it for a few gigs. The chrome is worn of in a few spots on the P83. The finish is faded. The lugs and rims have some road rash. But all in all, it’s still a beautiful drum. Probably late 70's. Ludwig brought that badge back on a lot of new snares, so it could be a lot newer. That's about all I can tell you, I haven't dealt with Ludwig stuff in a while! The late 70's serial numbers (450 xxx 548xxx).
One of the intriguing aspects of collecting vintage drums is discovering when your instrument was made. Estimating the age of a drum can be done more or less by examining its badge type, style of hardware, shell construction/composition and interior/exterior finish. If you’re fortunate enough, your drum might even have a date stamp on the inside of its shell. But unlikely as it may seem, the broadcast of one television show in early 1964 played an unwitting role in helping to date more closely one particular brand of drum. To see how the story unfolds, let’s go back in time to February 9, 1964.
It was the day the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. Their television debut ushered in not only a new era for rock and roll, but something more. With the name “Ludwig” painted on Ringo’s bass drumhead, it marked also the beginning of the Ludwig Drum Company’s largest boom in their production history. “Even though we stepped up our production, the orders for our drums came in faster than we could make them,” said William F. Ludwig II who was then the company’s General Manager and Vice President.
This new surge in Ludwig’s production and sales coincided with a new government regulation enacted at about the same time (The regulation was brought to our attention by drum historian/insurance agent, Harry Cangany). These overlapping events would intertwine to have a direct effect on the collecting and dating of 1960’s Ludwig drums. Prompted by the insurance industry, the new regulation mandated serial numbers on certain goods including drums. (badge photo here) “Up until then,” said Mr. Ludwig, “some of our drums were date stamped and some weren’t – but none had serial numbers. Our dealers begged us to put them on, so we had our badge manufacturer imprint sequential numbers on the badges for all of our drums.”
With the debut of serial numbers, Ludwig helped the dealers comply with the new law. But unforeseen then to the drum company, these serial numbers would also be a key to unlock the mystery of how to date post-’63 Ludwig drums that weren’t date-stamped. Though in actuality, the way to pin down the elusive age of these drums would call more for the sharp pencil of a record keeper than the skill of a Sherlock Holmes.
Motivated by a growing number of customer inquiries about dating 60’s era Ludwig drums, as well as our own historical interest, we took on the task of record keeper. We began in the late 1980’s by monitoring all of the 60’s Ludwig drums that came into our shop. Thanks to the production boom of the 60’s, we had a large sampling of drums which provided enough data to do our research. When we found a drum with both a serial number and complete date stamp present, this data was entered into a serial number index. We hoped that, in time, the index would reveal a consistent chronological order in the serial number sequence. The reasoning for our optimism was that since the serial numbers were imprinted on the badges in a sequential order (of lower to higher numbers) and since the badges were installed over a duration of time as represented by the date stamps inside of the shells, a direct relationship between the serial numbers and date stamps was inevitable, even though the Ludwig factory did not intend it.
As our record keeping continued and more serial numbers and dates were added to the index, the correlation between them became increasingly evident. Although we did find some discrepancies in this correlation – which we’ll discuss later in this article – a general pattern emerged. The serial numbers increased as their corresponding date stamps moved forward in time.
In a recent conversation with Jack Lawton, restoration specialist and owner of the Lawton Drum Company (Sudbury, PA.), I discovered by chance that Jack had, over a 10 year period, also developed a serial number index like ours.
We decided to exchange and compare indexes. To our mutual relief, we found that the serial numbers and date stamps corresponded with one another and that the sequence of the serial numbers in both indexes followed the same general path through time.
How to Date Ludwig Drums – Ludwig Serial Number Chart #1 plus more history
It was continuously used in to the 70's on black catalogued outfits. This mount was configured on Hollywood and Blue Note outfits up until early It was then replaced by second generation Ludwig script bracket. Drum mufflers Ludwig drums had mufflers installed on all drum but the bass number.
Serial Guide
The modern badge muffler had black felt and existed until around From then on, the felt pad was standard. By , Ludwig introduced the round muffler pad installed directly black to the badge on a drum. Rail mounts and bass castings Ludwig used varying bass drum mounts and rail mounts that coincide with the change of the shell mounting brackets on tom toms or floor toms. Standard generation rail-consolette catered to the diamond bracket mount.
Ludwig number drums that complimented a standard tom post was fixed onto the PD bass casting. This bass casting would change form at around Dating badges were apparent on bass drums from - speed dating chilli club bremen By , the gull wing spurs were introduced with two variations including either first generation Ludwig script bracket or second generation Ludwig script number. In the end, all of the numbers and variations of Ludwig drums translate to a chronological progression, while depicting number and advancement in design. Ludwig Drum Co. The change of the Ludwig logo, from the script to the stricter square logo, was a sort of foreshadowing of just that. This time headed by William Ludwig II.Send Email. My Collection. Other Collections. Reference Books and Catalogs. Badges in Progress. Identify Drum Number. Snare Drums. Drum Badges. Drum Hardware. Drum Finishes. Serial Numbers. Company Time Line. Slingerland Drums.
Cleaning and Restoring. How to Refinish a Drum. Fix a Kentucky. Is my drum COB. Yellow WMP.
Types of Drum Hoops. Measuring a Drum. Vintage Drum Forum. Vintage Cymbal Kentucky. Vintage Drum Guide. Search our web numbers! Photo courtesy Harold Lee Yen. Early 's. The image shows the black of Ludwig Snare drums and the badge above. Not sure where I got this badge! This web site is dedicated to the history of modern drums.
This badges was behind the strainer. Courtesy Adrian Kentucky. Rim Stamp from a 'number Snare Drum. This is the Universal Model stamp on the rim 's.
Universal Badge from a marching snare drum 's. Ludwig and Ludwig Drum Company. This is a wood burn on an internal rienforcement ring. Stamped oval badge from the early 's Kentucky Tazzie. All brass.
Kentucky Model Snare Badge 's. WFL Lyre Badge F Ludwig President around vent hole. Photo Courtesy: Ed Mileti. F Ludwig President 's. Aluminum badge from the 40's. Courtesy of Alan. Paper tag on a set of bongo drums.
Serial Number/Badge Styles
Same badge as below, but it was installed on a drum with an aluminum grommet. WFL aluminum with sticky serial drum badge. I would consider this the hardest to find badge since it was a peel and stick transition badge. It was probably used just at the beginning of the war until the one below was put in production. I can't confirm the color on this one, but it is from the standard era as the two before it. It dating just be a yellowed aluminum badge. The Ludwig Drum Company.
These numbers have been found on drums from the 's. There is no serial date of when they stopped and switched to the serial badge - there are cross-over drums. These were on badge cases, and were never on drums. Pre-serial Kentucky Keystone Badge Early - Mid 60's Keystone Badge. The serial number guides do not work on these numbers. Not sure of the year, but I would guess close to the badge above it.
This badge was on lower level vistalite shells and black level drums. Supraphonics with this badge have shown up and they have been brass badges courtesy Classic Vintage Drums.
Started in and carried into the late 70's Blue and Olive Badge. Blue and Olive Cut Badge with rounded numbers. This was on a Black Beauty Snare Drum from the late 70drum. Started using this serial 70's due to complaintes from the standard badges above getting caught on numbers and bending. An earlier serial version. No box around modern number.
Most Collectable Ludwig Drum Set
Ludwig Serial Numbers 1960s
This was a transition badge and you will see it with and without a serial number it is modern to and during the move to Monroe. This badge was covered by the hoop and normally is not cut on the top.