Ludwig-Musser

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Ludwig-Musser's logo.

Ludwig-Musser is a drum and percussion instrument manufacturer owned by Conn-Selmer, Inc.

[edit] History

The company was formed in 1910 as Ludwig & Ludwig by brothers William F. and Theo Ludwig. The brothers' first product was a bass drum pedal followed by timpani. Production then expanded into other types of drums and banjo-type instruments. Because of the Great Depression, the company had to merge with the C.G. Conn Company in the 1930s. William, who disliked his lack of involvement with the design and manufacture of the instruments, left the company in 1936 to open his own company, the W.F.L. Drum Company in 1937.^[1]

William's son, William F. Ludwig, Jr, says his most memorable moment was "my bid to buy back the Ludwig name from Conn in 1955 - against my father's wishes." In 1955, the Ludwig division was purchased back from Conn and renamed the Ludwig Drum Company. In 1966, Ludwig purchased the Musser Marimba Company, which produced mallet percussion.

The Ludwig brand received its greatest boost in popularity in 1963-1964 when Ringo Starr of The Beatles prominently displayed the trade name on his bass drumheads, immediately above the Beatles' logo. This was done at Starr's insistence, to exhibit his pride at playing the brand after years of using inferior drum kits. The Ludwig company expressed their appreciation to Starr in 1965 by presenting him with an inscribed, gold-plated snare drum. Following Starr, Led Zeppelin's John Bonham became the next world class drummer to endorse and use Ludwig drums throughout his entire career. Many other Rock and Roll drummers used Ludwig drums at one point such as Eric Carr (KISS), Alex Van Halen (Van Halen), Nick Mason (Pink Floyd), Ian Paice (Deep Purple), Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake, and Palmer), Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge), Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix), Ginger Baker (Cream), Alan White (Yes), Michael Shrieve (Santana), Don Brewer (Grand Funk Railroad), Paul Wright, Bill Ward (Black Sabbath) and Jethro Tull's first three drummers (Clive Bunker, Barriemore Barlow,and Mark Craney).

The Ludwig Drum Company are famous for their Vistalite drum kits. Vistalite was the trade name used by Ludwig for its line of acrylic (mostly see-through) drums in the 1970s. Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham was widely recognized for playing an amber-colored Vistalite drum set while singer/drummer Karen Carpenter played her entire career on Ludwig Vistalites. She had an entry level set, which was forest green with a gold strip, two sets of silver sparkle Vistalites which she bought and numerous sets which were donated to her by Ludwig. The first set of silver sparkle Vistalites is on display in The Carpenters museum at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles. Richard notes a particular set, on his website, that was donated for use in the 1976 television special, a set of jelly bean Vistalites where every drum was a different colour. The second silver sparkle and the jelly bean sets are currently packed up in Richard Carpenter's storage warehouse.

Stainless Steel drums were another idea from Ludwig that they are famous for. Originally designed in 1973 as a custom job for Carl Palmer of ELP (for which the weight of the entire kit was estimated anywhere from one to six tons). Ludwig brought the concept back in 2007, in commemoration of John Bonham, but only sold 100 kits.

Going into the 1980s, Ludwig saw a lot of changes. They introduced a new line of heavy duty hardware, abandoning the much-loved modular system in favor of a less expensive L-arm/double braced industry standard hardware system. Also 6 Ply drums were introduced, replacing the 3 Ply w/ reinforcement rings. Until the 90's, Ludwigs drums were made of maple and selected hardwoods. It wasn't until the late 90's that they started making all maple wood shells. Ludwig has maintained a reputation for exceptional sounding and projecting maple drums into the 2000s. Ludwig started branching out with exotic wood finishes supplied by Steinway and Sons. They also have an import line called "Accent" made in Taiwan, and another import line called "Accent CS" made in China. Ludwig remains one of the few "name" American drum makers left. The company is a subsidiary of Selmer, and is no longer family-run.

Mod Orange is a wrap finish, that was introduced by Ludwig Drums in 1967. It was produced from then and up through the 70's, but was put on a shelf. The recently it was reissued on the Ludwig Classic Maple series drums. The name refers to the mods, who were a part of British subculture during the 1960s, and according to the pattern of the finish, it must have been the more psychedelic part of the mods.

Along with Mod Orange, Citrus Mod and Psychedelic Red were released in the late sixties and put up in the 70's. Some Black Panther kits are said to have Citrus Mod underneath the finish. (Why waste a good drum?) These two finishes are exceptionally rare now and Citrus Mod especially! Psychedelic Red has been reintroduced by Ludwig but sadly taken away yet again in the new 2008 Catalogue.

Ludwig snares are very popular. One of these is the Ludwig Supraphonic, considered to be the industry standard for snares for professionals such as John Bonham, Ian Paice, Ginger Baker, Carl Palmer, and Steve Gadd, all used this drum exclusively throughout the 1970s. The Super-Sensitive was a type of strainer that came out in the 60's and was popular through the 70's for it's sensitive response and precision controls. The Black Beauty model, a black nickel-plated brass shell drum first manufactured during the 1920s, is now highly prized by collectors and players alike.

Ludwig's resurgence in popularity has continued steadily from 2001 though 2007. Although Vistalite sales declined toward the end of the 1970s, Ludwig reintroduced them in 2001. Sales of clear Vistalite and Bonham-replica amber Vistalites have been strong enough that a multitude of other percussion companies have followed Ludwig's lead and now make their own acrylic drums. In 2007, Ludwig reintroduced the "classic" shell which consists of maple reinforcing rings and poplar wood plies. Familiar names have gone back to endorsing Ludwig. Bun E. Carlos of the rock group Cheap Trick just passed his 30 year mark as endorser. Like his father John, Jason Bonham is now a Ludwig endorser.

During the 1925-1930 period, Ludwig made, among their other banjos, two models of ukulele banjo, each being prized by players of the instrument; Ludwig is known by collectors as being one of the three best historical makers of ukulele-banjos; the others being Gibson, and Jack Abbot.

Sadly, William F Ludwig II died on March 22, 2008.