Ludwig Drums

I bought this snare used because I wanted the typical aluminium sound. It's not just a myth: it provides a dry, powerful and very warm sound. I equipped it with an evans G2 head and a pure-sound blaster timber as the "made in taiwan" original one wasn't so efficient. I compared it with a supraphonic, but for the few differences (chrome imperial lug, timber) I was better off with the acrolite and I love the black galaxy look!!! I also own a 6.5"x14" black nickel DW overbrass which has nothing in common with the acrolite but which complements well my sound panel. The missing star is for the stainers P85, which stands out as the weakest link if you're a heavy hitter!!!!

I had dreamt to play on Ludwig drums since my teenage years when I was listening to John Bonham, Ringo Starr, Clive Deamer and later listening to Jordan Rose, Questlove, etc. I first purchased a Ludwig breakbeats. And finally a Ludwig classic maple natural finish (bass drum 20"). These drums sound really good, although it took me a little while to figure out what head to use for the kick. I ended up buying an Evans Emad Heavyweight and it sounds very good. I like how the toms sing on these drums.

This review is for a Ludwig Drum kit from 1969, the same kind that Ringo Starr used and made so famous. The studio that I work at has one of these, with four pieces - a kick, a snare, a floor tom, and a rack tom. Back in the 60's it doesn't really seem like the different drum kit had different names, as finding a proper name from the kit that we have seems near impossible as it doesn't say anything on it other than 'Ludwig Drums.' I do know that it was the same kit that Ringo and so many others had played, and it's perfect for getting that vintage rock sort of drum sound. We have a few different drum kits at the studio, but usually drummers will bring in their own kit. When they don't, this is usually the first kit that gets used unless it's totally not appropriate. The owners of the studio have kept these drums in pretty good shape, as they sound great and get regular head changes and all that. They're not going to give you that thick, in your face sort of drum sound, but it's a different sound that I prefer most of the time. I wouldn't think that it would be too hard to find one of these kits on sale, but definitely be prepared to pay a decent amount of money since these are highly sought after and have so much historical significance. You'll also find a lot of them in less than stellar condition and many kits will most likely need a little bit of work since they're only getting older. Beyond the history, this is simply a great sounding drum set that is perfect for recording. This is the quintessential rock drum sound from the late 1960's and early 1970's.

The Ludwig Drums Vistalite Snare is a vintage snare drum (depending on when yours is from of course) that is part of the full Vistalite kit. The particular kit that I've used this snare with is from the 1970's. It's not the thickest snare in the world, but it's also not the thinnest as it's right there in the middle in terms of depth. Like all Ludwig drums, it's built extremely well and it's built to last. The one I've used is over 30 years old and is still in great shape - both looking and sounding. Which leads me to the sound of this instrument, which is in a word, great! It's got the perfect amount of crack to it, as it's the kind of snare that cuts through a mix extremely well. It's definitely on the brighter side of snare drums, but in general that's how I like my snares anyway. I was an engineer on a series of live recording sessions and we used this drum on almost all of them so I really got to know the sound well. It's definitely best suited for rock and pop that is up beat, but it will certainly work across the board if you need it to. I'm not sure if they are still making this drum, but if they are I would imagine that it's changed a bit in the more than 30 years since the original was made. While it's a great drum for recording, it's not the be all end all and you can't get every desired sound from it, but that's going to be the case with most snare drums. The Ludwig Vistalite kit as a whole is a great kit, but it's not the tightest and definitely has a vintage vibe to it. All in all, the Ludwigs Vistalite Snare is an awesome snare drum with a lot of pop that's great to have around the studio...

The Ludwig Accent is a decent entry level kit. Ludwig is one of the most notable drum companies with a strong track record of great kits and famous drummers who played them. It is safe to say that they will never put out a bad product. That being said, the Ludwig Accent is most definitely one of their lower end products. An extremely common kit, I have played on multiple Accent setups with the stock hardware. In my opinion, this drum kit has a good value. There are some entry level kits that are better, such as the Yamaha Rydeen or the Gretsch Catalina Birch, but there are others that are a lot worse. There are different sizes this kit is offered in, but in general I feel like the toms and bass drum are large. Even the snare drum is a few inches deeper than most entry level snares. Some people may find this appealing, but I think it is a little overambitious. The sheer size makes this kit slightly less versatile and the toms are more difficult to tune. The drums do produce an excellent volume, as well as having characteristics best suited to rock music. The juniper and mahogany shells are pretty deep and have decently warm character. The tom mounts and lugs were typical low end material, not good but not bad. The hi hat stand, bass drum pedal and cymbal stand that come with the kid are decent. The bass drum pedal especially is pretty comfortable and responsive, though I have a soft spot for low end pedals. The cymbal stands are adequate but could be sturdier. Of course, it is difficult to be critical of an entry level drumkit such as this. The Ludwig Accent does not disappoint. It is not my favorite, but it is still very good and it offers an excellent value. To a great extent, it is all up to personal preference. People who invest in the Ludwig Accent will not regret it.

I always wanted a US made Ludwig drum set. I purchased a Ludwig Keystone Powerbeat, 22X17, 12X8, 16X16 and 14X51/2 in Granite Glitter. It looked great out of the box. However, when I went to check the lugs were tight against the shell I noticed that 2 on the snare drum had a gap between the lug and the shell. I took the head off to tighten the screw, but was unable to. I took the lug off but was unable to get the screw properly into the lug. There was a problem with internal thread on the lug. The retailer changed out the lugs for me, and the new lugs went on fine. The kit came with a QC certificate signed by an employee. Clearly he/she hadn't inspected the snare drum properly. The overall finish was just OK on the bearing edges and several of the lugs were only loosely screwed in place to the shells. I was disappointed that such an iconic drum manufacturer could be so sloppy with the assembly of their drums. I would advise anybody looking to purchase a Ludwig USA drum set to check the assembly carefully. The drums do sound good, especially the bass drum. The small tom was more difficult to tune than I expected, and I suspect the bearing edge is not perfect. Overall a good sounding drum kit, bit a bit more attention to assembly and QC would help improve overall quality.

Brass shell. Black finish (obviously), Chrome hardware and lugs, supra-phonic technology whatever that is. I'm not a snare nerd. I'm a producer. The studio I work in most of the time has about 5 or 6 snares to choose from. Our black beauty is the standard model, and we hardly ever have to tune ours. Some snares are very finicky about needing to be maintained a lot but this is not one of them. So that's good. We typically aren't fans of metal snares because they tend to sound "ringy" or "pangy". The black beauty is actually quite warm yet defined and sort of crisp sounding in a way. There's a couple of things I've found about the black beauty during my years recording it. In the drum room it sounds out of place sometimes, and almost obnoxious in the mix. But for some reason when you record it, the thing blends perfectly. It has this very distinct tonality to it. Go listen to "assassin" by john mayer. That is a perfect example of the black beauty. It's a cutting yet warm snare that sticks out of the mix in all the right ways. Put some reverb on it and magic happens. The weight on the black beauty is great too. People are usually surprised when they feel it for the first time as it looks like it would weigh a lot more. We have a couple other steel snares that weigh something like 50 lbs. The black beauty is half that. We probably use this on over a 3rd of the tracks we do. It might be the most popular snare in studio. Surprisingly the heavy metal guys seem to like it more than anyone. It's a great snare and one of my favorites.

This is a phenomenal drum kit that we have at the studio I work for. I would say that it's among the best I've played. It has phenomenal tone and can really apply to a wide variety of music styles, from rock to gospel to jazz to pop and R&B, as well as country and folk-rock type stuff. While there are a ton of great newer kits that are perfect for rock music, they don't really come close to this one in terms of versatility. While the actual sound of the drums isn't really all that different from song to song, it's just such a great sound that it'll work for pretty much anything. You can leave it up to the engineer to make the drum sound better for different kinds of music, assuming you're recording with it. I'd stick to studio use with it as these are pretty old nowadays and you don't want to damage it as they aren't exactly replacable. The mark of a great drum set as far as I'm concerned is that it sounds remarkably different from player to player. This kit is a perfect example of that. You put a funk drummer behind it, it sounds funky. You put a rock drummer behind it, it rocks. It's as versatile as the player behind it, if not more so. Tuning it differently isn't really going to mess it up or change the sound too drastically. I'd say that it's definitely one of the more expensive drum kits you'll find, considering it's age, it's build, and the Ludwig name. But it's definitely worth it if you are looking for the best. The only competition it has is with other old Ludwig kits, which are just as good, as well as other vintage kits that are as awesome (of which there aren't many around).

The recording studio that I work at has a Ludwig Drums Custom 26" Bass Drum, and this is one of the coolest drums I've ever used. I don't know too much backing information on the drum, but I do know that it was custom made probably about 15 - 20 years ago. I couldn't tell you anything about what it's made out of or anything, but it isn't part of a full drum kit. While it is it's own kick drum, you can certainly use it with a full drum set if so desired. I've personally only used the drum on it's own as I hit it with a mallet. Being that this drum is 26", it's really big and has the sound to match. While you're not going to get a super tight sound out of it, I would generally only use it when I'm going for the opposite of that sort of sound. This drum in particular has been used on a number of notable recordings, and seems to be a favorite for anyone who uses it. In fact, I was told that a few people even wanted to buy the drum straight up! They of course were denied which brings me to my use of the drum. It's a really boomy sounding kick drum and is just perfect for getting a super deep and wide sound. I don't know how it would sound on a full kit, but as a supplement to a light kick it sounds really awesome. I was going for a really ambient and wide sort of sound, using the drum as really it's own thing rather than trying to match it up with the drum set I had already recorded. I'm really in love with the way this drum sounds in general...Since it's a custom drum you aren't going to be able to get this exact one, but any 26" Ludwig bass drum should be similar...

The Ludwig Drums Black Beauty is a top notch snare drum that I have used inside of the studio. I've used the drum a number of times in tandem with a full drum set, and have become a big fan of the drum for a number of reasons. First, the drum has an extremely full bodied sound. It is perfect for those types of recordings where you are looking for a deep snare drum sound. While it is a deep sound, it also does have a good amount of snap to it, so I find that it still cuts through the mix very well. The drum is very sturdy and well made, which is something that I have come to expect from Ludwig, so I never have to worry about it breaking during a session or anything like that. The Black Beauty also has a very sleek design, which is always good if you want to impress your clients! While I don't own this drum as I'm not a drummer, I have used the drum on enough recording sessions to be able to say that it is one of my favorite drums to record with. I don't think that it is suitable for all types of recordings, but when it works, it works extremely well. The main thing as an engineer is to know when to use it, which can be tricky sometimes. The price of the Black Beauty isn't cheap as this is a high end snare drum, but for those drummer and studios looking for a top notch snare drum to add to their rig, you must know that this is the price that you are going to pay. If you're looking for a full sounding snare drum you should definitely be checking out Ludwig's Black Beauty as I don't think you'll be disappointed that you did.

I had only ever played vintage Ludwig kits and the Accent when I came across the Epic Series. I was immensely impressed by the appearance at first glance. I usually don't get this reaction, but the faded shells went very well with the hardware. I couldn't wait to get a chance to test the waters. I was also curious to give it a shot because the shells were an interesting fusion of maple and birch. I love these woods, but wasn't sure how well the arrangement of ply would work. I have to say, I was very pleased with the music I could produce. The snare was great. Well balanced and sounding good at all dynamics, this was the highlight. The toms also sounded great, totally exhibiting the projection of birch wood. The bass drum was solid as well, though it was a custom kit and the size was smaller than the usual issue. I played this in a studio and they took very good care of it. It is difficult to judge a drum kit having never messed with it over a long period of time. I know they kept it tuned up well and changed the heads. Despite this, I am positive that the sound of this kit was amazing regardless. The hardware was solid, and had a very unique appearance. There were god numbers of lugs, and the tom rack was logically designed. I never got a chance to play the bass drum pedal or cymbal stands that are stock because these were swapped out. I have actually heard some bad things about the Epic Series, such as too high of a price for its quality. While I never owned this kit, it can compete or surpass many other lines in the same range. I would suggest this to someone looking to upgrade to a mid range setup for a reasonable price. Also, if you like the sound of maple but desire more birch like projection, this may be a good choice.

The Ludwig Drums Chrome Steel Shell is a snare drum made by one of the best classic drum manufacturers around. I've used this snare drum numerous times for recording even though I am not a drummer myself. I has a pretty deep sound and definitley provides a good clean crack as well as full bodied sound. It is a very sturdy drum and is made by a reliable company so you know that you can trust that it has been made well. Like most engineers would, I record this snare drum with a Shure SM57 and this definitely gets the job done. I will also use another 57 on the bottom of the snare in order to give me choices when it comes to mixing. It has a good sound for all types of music, but I mostly use it for rock and pop sessions and it works fine for these. I don't record too much jazz, but this doesn't seem like the type of snare drum that would be good for jazz so I would recommend sticking with pop and rock for this guy, although it wouldn't sound bad if you used it for other genres. It has a good look to it and has a large enough body to give off a really full sound that works great in the studio but will also work for live shows. The price is very reasonable as it doesn't cost much at all as far as snare drums go. While Ludwig definitely makes better snare drums, as far as price goes the Ludwig Drums Chrome Steel Shell is one of their best deals. I would definitely recommend checking out this snare drum if you are in the market for a reasonably priced one as Ludwig is a reliable company with a great reputation for a good reason!