Vibes, it's too bad if you have to re-wrap IMO because that finish looks to have ginger-aled quite nicely. I mean this in the nicest way - I wish I had this particular problem...[i.e. your kit!] :)

Mitch

The badge under the muffler knob and opposite the mount was standard operating proceedure on all toms at the time. It made them "omni-directional" so you could mount them on the left or right of a holder and the badge wouldn't be visible either way.

I also have a Colosseum snare with the metal wrap and the rivets. Also crazy since that steel wrap is not about to shrink (which was the reason for the rivets, shrinking plastic wraps pulling apart at the seams). All I can figure is that the riveting proceedure was a fixed part of the production proceedure so they went through the motions even when it wasn't necessary. Probably better to do them all than to have to make the workers use their brains and differentiate between types of wrap that did or didn't actually need rivets.

Send them a polite note along with your pics and perhaps a link to this thread. (has good background info on you/playing) I'd offer to ship them and they should wrap and return them on their dime.

The rivets were used because OSHA (or the Illinois version of said same) banned the use of the type of glue Ludwig used on the seam (which was apparently different than what was used to glue it to the shell). There was no other adhesive available at the time that worked as well so they used a combination of rivets and another "OSHA-friendly" adhesive on the seams, which is why the rivets were found on both pearl wrapped and COW drums.

I will never rewrap them unless Ludwig offered to fix them for me. The toms are not that bad, even though they have pulled a little, and the silver rivets do not stand out to bad on the silver sparkle. The Bass drum is the worse, but the seams are under the bass and you don't really notice it. I do have pics of me on stage playing the kit in 81. And a special order, don't know if they keep records of orders from dealers that long ago. They actually have not faded much if at all. just 34 years old. I'm sure Father Time has done something to them. I have always kept them out of the sun in cases except the last 11 years stationary in a studio. The last time I played them out on a gig was in 1990. Now that I have them all detailed and in the living room so I can see them good I may take them out on a gig. They are a lot heavier than my three ply's. And they really are fantastic sounding drums. Never had a problem in that area.

The ginger-ale was wishful thinking on my part then; probably my favourite wrap, maybe because you can't buy it.

Speaking of which, that song, "Too Late..." no words to tell how that takes me back. It's a privilege to talk to you here.

Mitch

Mitch, I think you can still get the vintage Silver Sparkle wrap. Precision, or Jammin Sam's. I don't know if it is a perfect match with the old Silver Sparkle . I'm sure someone here has matched some up. I was of the assumption that all the sparkles match except Champagne. I do have a Ludwig birch piccolo snare that has ginger aled on one side. I think it was left with that side in the sun or something. Nice little snare. Wish I had a Silver Sparkle Jazz fest.

And I still play "To Late To Turn Back Now" in my solo act. I never have tired of it after all these years. Another song I play and never tire of is "Sade" "Smooth Operator". I would love to play with her. Something about those simple songs.

Here are all the Silver Sparkle drums I own. I guess some have darkened a little. The original concert toms from 74. The 6" 8" and 15" 16" seem a little darker. I have 3 odd balls in there. The Camco bass and tom. That Gretsch floor Tom seems a tad brighter. The Camco's and Gretsch are 73 from what I can find out. I sometimes use those in a 4 piece set.

That is one nice collection of SS drums. Precision has a ginger glitter that I like a lot, seen it in person a couple of times. I really meant that real vintage ginger-aled, splotchy SS has to happen over time and can't be bought new...I like "aged" over "pristine", a bit weird that way lol...

Again, beautiful collection and some great music you were involved in. Cheers!

Mitch

I've got an orphan 18 floor tom with the 'rivet rash'. Poor thing sits dejected on a shelf in the garage. It's red (don't remember the official Ludwig wrap name) and has shrunk a bit. The problem with this drum is, as the wrap shrunk, it split in five or six spots around the drum. Other than that, it's a great shell. I keep saying I'm going to wrap it in something nice, but so far I haven't. Great shells from that era, just poor decisions on Ludwigs part about the wrap. Oh yeah, no - and I mean zero discoloration. I would have expected some, as most of the drums I've seen have discoloration / rust around the rivet seams.

I used to own a Ludwig Nightmare in champagne sparkle with matching 14" x 5" snare. Those shells were great on the old Nightmares and you don't see too many of them around these days. ;)