I'm putting these drums up on ebay tonight - I figured I'd list them here as well and give you all the first shot at them...sorry in advance for the long description - just trying to be thorough! Regarding price - given the uniqueness of the kick drum, combined with the finish, I'm really not sure as to the value. Any suggestions?
- Pictures in next post -
Up for sale is a set of 1964 Ludwig drums in the Galaxy sparkle finish. The kit consists of a 12x20" bass drum and an 8x12" rack tom. All parts (excluding the heads) appear to be factory original and the chrome is very clean. The Galaxy wrap is clean and shiny, and is mostly blemish free. The gold, silver, and red flakes are still bright, but the green is faded.
12x20 Bass Drum, serial no. 5366
- Clear maple interior
-16 Large Classic Lugs, T-rods and Claws
- Rail consolette mount
- Early 60's straight cymbal mount
- WFL style fold out spurs
The bass drum is factory original; there is no evidence of it being a cut down downbeat kick or a converted marching tom. The 4 digit serial number dates the drum to early 1964. There is one mention in the 1964 drumset catalog of a 12x20" drum, however it is a 'budget' model outfitted with single tension lugs and no mounts. This drum is likely a custom order or simply an anomaly from the factory. If anyone out there in vintage drum-land has any info or theories, feel free to contact me.
Given the size and the rarity of Galaxy sparkle, this is a pretty unique drum, possibly one-of-a-kind. It sounds fantastic — it's punchy like a Jazzette but with more low-end. Sound files are available.
Overall it's in excellent condition. There are two small holes on the top of the drum where the rail mount was shifted to the center, and two more holes partially hidden under the spurs (one per spur). All holes were professionally plugged with poplar dowels. Pieces of Galaxy wrap were cut from the hoop inlays to cap the holes on the top, and standard black wrap caps the holes near the spurs. The repairs are very easy to miss, and were difficult to capture when photographing. The insides of the shells were not harmed when leveling the dowels. The hoops were recently refinished with gloss black lacquer. The hoop inlays are missing a few pieces; they appear to have cracked around the staple holes. As a result, there are gaps about 3/8" between each section of inlay. The long strip on the batter side hoop is also broken but the joint is tight and hard to see. The rail consolette mount is in excellent condition, except for the L-arm, which is pretty chewed up.
8x12 Rack Tom, serial no. 4094
- White resocoat interior
- 12 Small Classic Lugs
- COB hoops
- Early 60's style mount
- Red BB muffler
This drum is all original (excluding heads) and is in excellent condition. The only major issue is that the tom mount is stripped. Instead of replacing or repairing it, I decided to leave the drum original and mount it on a snare stand when playing. As far as I can tell, all hardware, down to the screws and washers, is factory original. Overall the wrap is clean and shiny, with a few light scratches here and there. There is one patch of noticeable scratches about 2" below the badge, which is photographed below. The chrome is smooth with minimal pitting. One lug is worn on top. The chrome over brass hoops are in very good shape with one small ding on the edge of the bottom hoop. The interior is perfect; there is a trace of a red date stamp, but it is too smudged to read. The red BB muffler is all there. The bearing edges are smooth.
Sorry for the long description; here are some pictures. I have about 2 dozen additional high resolution images - contact me and I will email additional photos asap. Feel free to contact me anytime if you have questions about the drums. [email][email protected][/email] Thanks!