Has this kit spent most of it's life in a studio? This just looks like a studio for some reason. They don't look all that faded, but the lighting could be a bit misleading.

The Motown studio kit was a mix of drums: Ludwig, Rogers, Gretsch, Slingerland, and some no-name pawn shop drums.

http://www.moderndrummer.com/updatefull/200001778/%20%20Secrets%20Of%20Motown

If you're looking for great vintage sounds, you won't find anything better than this kit. Everybody has their favourites--Ludwig, Gretsch, Slingy, etc.--but they're all great drums. A 1967 Ludwig Super Classic is going to sound fantastic.

As for the price: 1000 pounds is probably about right for an oyster finish kit. Because of the Ringo connection, oysters tend to go for more than other Ludwigs of the same era. And I'd expect that Ludwigs are generally more expensive in the UK than they are in the US, so the price sounds about right to me. Any experts care to chime in?

It turns out the snare was just an old supraphonic 400, badly pitted, but managed to get the blue oyster for £700.

Seems to have had one owner, and well looked after. No cracks, not even many blemishes, and no extra holes drilled, so happy days.

Thanks for the help guys, now just to decide what skins to put on it.

Coated ambassadors first I think, maybe even fiberskyns...anyone tried them on a Ludwig. Ultimate warm sound I hope...

Cheers

Even though the Supra is pitted, you may consider going back for it. It is, even in poor condition, still a sweet snare, none others like it. If you don't like it, ebay it. You'll likely make couple quid on it, if you can get it cheap enough.

Yeah I thought about that, but I already have one. Leave some for the next man as they say :)

This guy owns a storage company and once people leave things to him he sells them on.

Loads of other things like maple gretsch kits in there, he's getting in touch when he gets it all together! Wowsers....

Well done! Sounds like a great deal. Oyster Blue is such a beautiful finish, and Super Classics are just great drums. As my drum teacher used to say, "there's no rock drum like a Ludwig."

There's a thread elsewhere on the forum about the best heads for Super Classics. It's hard to go wrong with coated Ambassadors. Coated Emperors would sound great too, I think. Many people swear by Ludwig Heavy Weathermasters, which I believe would have been the original heads on the drums. I have Aquarian American Vintage heads on my 12" and 15" '60s Ludwig toms, and they sound beautiful, warm and dark. On the bass, I have a Ludwig Silver Dot on the batter side and a vintage repro Ludwig head on the reso, with just a felt strip on the batter for muffling. It's only a 20" bass, but with that setup, it sounds huge.

I tried Fiberskyns on my Gretsch kit years ago and wasn't happy with the sound -- there was too much attack and not enough resonance for my taste. But that was with Ambassadors on the resos; maybe putting Fiberskyns on top and bottom would have worked better. I have a Fiberskyn on my wooden Gretsch snare now, and I'm thrilled with how warm it sounds.

Enjoy those drums!

Hey Section2,

Thanks for that!

This is the kind of thread I was searching for when I saw the drums for sale. Something which had info such as rough price guide, what skins to out on it when you get it etc etd, so much appreciated!

I might put the Fiberskyn on my Ludwig snare, and coated ambassadors on the blue oyster, seems a good start.

I agree about the attack and resonance of the skins, and think they are better suited to snares.

Unsure about the snare, but might just try and ambassador on it too and see how I go. SO much of it is about tuning, which I have done a lot of, and feel pretty happy with my efforts. I'll go search for other posts on tuning and skins, but many thanks for your input man!

My pleasure! I hope my pricing advice was accurate. I'm in Canada, where vintage drums are much more expensive than in the U.S., so sometimes my estimates are a bit off. There are people on the forum who have a lot more expertise than I do. But from what I've seen, an oyster Super Classic should go for around what you paid, or more.

Glad we could help. Welcome to the forum -- stick around! It's fun here.

Enjoy those drums, and post pictures when you get them all set up. We love pictures.