Thursday, November 18, 2004

Vintage Ludwigs by M2

The Ludwig drum set used in SOUL AMP was purchased for me by my parents 2nd hand when I was 13.The set was like new after 5 years with it's first owner.

Shot From the Cat Box

Constructed in 1970 the all maple,blue sparkle shells have held up amazingly well.This kit has seen literally hundreds,if not a thousand break downs,setups,and gigs over the last 34 years.It is a typical rock 5 piece set with a 12"x 9" and 13"x 10" rack toms,16"x 16"floor tom,22"x 14" bass,and a 60's era 14"x 5 1/2" supra-phonic stainless steel snare.Remo Ebony Series (medium weight) heads are used on all toms..batter side and resonant.The batter tom heads each have a "Dead Ringer" foam muffling ring applied to their underside.This gives the toms a wonderfully warm round tone with little to moderate sustain,and no obnoxious overtones.They are dynamically sensitive as well.The toms really sing when played at gig volume.No modification was needed for the studio.The bass drum is equiped with an Aquarian Super Kick 2 ply head.This head is self muffled with an integrated thin white foam ring around it's internal perimeter.This head is awesome.An Attack brand "No Overtone" head serves as the front man on this drum. It would make a very poor choice as a batter head,but works fine as a resonant. Contrary to it's name,this head wreaks of overtone.Live,this bass drum sounds HUGE.The tone,punch,and projection are amazing.In the studio,the front head was removed and the front of the bass was wrapped in foam insulation to help the mix.It kicks ass.The pitted old Ludwig snare has a Remo Ebony on top,and a standard Remo "snare side" on the bottom. Muffling is regulated by the stock internal damper.This drum provides a nice snare "pop" and an awesome cutting rimshot that is great for penetrating live. This old set of Ludwigs is a life long friend. If you're not happy with your crappy Pearl/Tama sound,ditch them and start looking for vintage maple Ludwigs.


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