Yes, you're correct...This question gets asked a lot...so much, in fact, a fellow forum member started this thread to which people could refer:

http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=9441

Nice looking drum!

Top rim looks wrong.........it's rounded where the t rods pass thru.....(ears)

bottom hoop looks more squared off,as it should....................

p(drum is brass) < 0.00001

p(magnet sticks to ludalloy snare) = 0.0

p(magnet sticks to steel) = 1.0

p(magnet is any use as diagnostic tool) = 0.0

1. does it weigh about 8lbs. +/-?

2. does it have crimped snare beds?

3. badge has no serial #...correct?

Mike Curotto

It may not look like it,but the two rims are identical, aside from the hole for the snare wires obviously.

It does have a serial number, which is how I could date it to 1969. If crimped snare beds are what i think they are, then these ones are not crimped. I have two scales that are not very precise, one says 7 pounds, one says 8. Everything points to this being a Ludalloy snare, as far as the date and everything, but I was confused because people say to scratch and look under the finish when in doubt, and this looks like brass (or maybe copper) under the finish where it has flaked inside.

Are you aware that plating is done in stages (a series of thin coats) using different metals, and a layer of copper or nickel might be put down on the bare aluminum (ludalloy) prior to the chrome layer to help it stick? That helped but didn't stop all the pitting and peeling. Pity.

Have you read the link which O-lugs posted? Mlvibes deals with the issue of "pre plating" and the copper color you see. You need to read past the first page of that thread.

The plating process is easier to understand from the automotive perspective. Whether you start with bare steel or buffed copper, at least two layers of plating follow -- a layer of nickel and a layer of chrome. But high quality plating requires either very thick nickel or a minimum of two layers of nickel.

To achieve highly durable automotive chrome plating suitable for outdoor exposure it's important that it have at least two layers of nickel plating before the chrome, namely semi-bright nickel followed by bright nickel. The reason for this involves galvanic corrosion issues. The bright nickel is anodic to the semi-bright nickel, and sacrificially protects it, spreading the corrosion forces laterally instead of allowing them to penetrate through to the steel.

Since the drum isn't exposed to the extremes of outdoor weather exposure I think it's a fairly safe bet the drums were simply single dipped in Ni prior to Cr.

Although the opacity of the head makes it difficult to determine what actually is exposed, it doesn't look like copper plating bleeding through to me - in a different picture I may have a different opinion.

I did give an automotive example, 'tis true. But putting chrome on aluminum successfully also calls for intermediate coatings. Not because we play drums in the snow a lot x-mas3, but because it is very hard to get chrome to stick to aluminum long term. Hence all the de-plating problems of peeling, pitting, and so on all these years later. The fact that the inside of that 1969 Supra is peeling is probably a hint just on its own.

So you think we are seeing Ni Hoppy?

Disclaimer: I'm not a metallurgist, but I have some familiarity with scientific methods in general. So I defer to anybody who has lots of hands on experience with plating. I learned about the use of a brass or copper layer from talking to some specialist (expensive!) re-plating people locally. They don't have any specific Ludwig information, but they know plating with different metals (and the difficult interactions thereof).

Looks like some kind of oxidation to me rather than an intermediate coat of copper... I can imagine the chrome disappearing because it is such a thin coat (like in the millionths of an inch thick coat), but I would expect to see Ni before Cu. Without a better image it's tough to tell.