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Ludwig Drums – History of the Ludwig Drum Co.

Ludwig Drums

Ludwig drums has been around for a long time. In fact, they were around before Pearl drums, and Tama drums. The Ludwig Company was created by 2 German brothers William F. and Theobald Ludwig. Before they joined together to create Ludwig& Ludwig Co., they both worked as percussionist and manufacturers for Leedy Drums. However, in 1909, they branched off to start their own American Drum Company. This was due to the disappointment in the current drum equipment of the time. Inefficient drum pedals, and poor quality hardware forces the Ludwig’s to take the time to develop new designs that would change the world of drumming.

Before Theobald passed away of the flu at the age of 28, the Ludwig and Ludwig company spent countless years creating new age metal drum pedals. Fortunately the older brother, William, lived and thrived until his death in 1973 – he was 93 when he died. During the 1920’s, Ludwig drum equipment ws doing very well; however, because of the stock market crash of 1929 this American drum company took a huge plummet. This caused William Ludwig to sell his company to GC Conn Manufacturing. Eventually, the market grew, allowing William to branch off yet again and take back his company to work with his son, William F Jr.

Ludwig didn’t become very popular until world reknown drummer Ringo Starr played a Ludwig drum set live on the Ed Sulivan show. With the logo “Beatles” printed on the bass drum, Americans immediately fell in love with Ludwig. Because of this, Ludwig led the way in America. At least until Japanese companies such as Pearl, Tama, and Yamaha started to flood the market in the 70’s. This was tuff competition, specially with the introduction to electronic drums and drum machines. Today, Ludwig is owned by the Selmer Company, where they still produce a wide array of drums and drum kits. Here is a list of some of their popular kits in production:

Ludwig Accent CS

Made from select Veneer woods, this kit offers professional features and sound at a very reasonable price. Great entry level kit.

Ludwig Classic Maple

9-ply 100% maple shell. This classic drum kit has a huge sound. Known for its John Bonham style, this kit is top quality.

Ludwig Classic Birch

Same quality as the Maple, but with 7-ply Birch Shells. Made fort the advanced drummer, this smaller tom kit has unparallel sound..

Ludwig Vistalite

This kit truly put Ludwig on the map. With its unique clear acrylic shells, and loud volume, this kit is a one of a kind. Ludwig has the monopoly on Vistalite kits

Ludwig Maple Snare Drum - A beautiful, maple 6-ply snare drum. Offers alot of attack for such a light weight snare.

By:Dave Atkinson

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