Vintage Corner: Ludwig tuneable practice pad, circa 1960s - 70s

In the late 1960s, Ludwig began producing one of the nicest practice pads ever.

It came in an 8” (P-359) and a 10” (P-750) size, with heads specifically made to fit the pad and also the Ludwig tuneable tambourine made during the same time.

The tuning was enabled by threaded bolts, inserted from the underside through holes in a wooden platform. The earlier models used a plywood platform, while later models used a fiber board made of compressed wood fibers.

The wood base was then covered with a foam layer, the head and a metal rim. Long threaded nuts screwed onto these bolts, shaped square and the same size as a lug bolt, able to be tensioned with a standard drum key. When tightened down, the bolts and nuts held the whole pad together. 

The pad had a great feel, very close to that of a real snare drum. And Ludwig sold the pad for about a decade, likely until the costs of production got too high and other pads were being developed.

Ludwig continued to make the parts for the pad for a few years after discontinuing the pad itself, and continued to offer the replacement heads for quite awhile after that (because they also fit Ludwig’s tuneable tambourines, which remained in production into the mid to late 1980s).

I have one in the 10” size, and a couple in the smaller 8” size. 

They play well and the response is unparalleled, even among more modern pads.

I use these pads often in my studio as they have a feel that is the closest to a concert or kit snare drum.

If you want to know more about these, Rick Dior has a video that features these among his favorite practice pads. Rick is a craft maker of custom drum sticks from exotic hardwoods, so he knows his way around a workshop. This is his favorite practice pad, and he buys up as many as he can find on the used market in order to replace the fiber board bottoms with new ones he makes from plywood in his workshop. I think he probably has at least a dozen of these pads, and is on the lookout for even more.

I won’t go to that extent, since I don’t have a workshop and honestly don’t need ten or twelve of the same make and model of pad. Plus, all three of my current pads have a plywood bottom, so the response is as good as it can be. 

There are a couple of cautions if you want to get into these pads:

First, no other head currently being manufactured will fit these practice pads. NONE. Period. To find these heads you have to buy another old pad and swap heads. I have spent far too much money trying possible replacements and none of them fit. I believe the reason for this is that the metal hoop used on these heads is very narrow, in order to fit under the metal rim. 

Ludwig now offers a cheaper tuneable pad (Model 379) that comes only in the 8” size. It has a lot of plastic and rubber and hardly any metal. They offer replacement heads for this newer model, but these heads will not fit the older pads. 

Second, you cannot tension these as tightly as you would a modern tuneable pad. These pads were meant to be versatile enough for concert practice and for marching drummers who played on lower-tension drums with Mylar heads. The wood is not strong enough to withstand the higher tension, and you will deform the wood base if you tension the pad too tightly. (Rick Dior removes the metal hardware from old pads with deformed wood, cuts a new round of thick plywood the same size, drills the holes, paints and finishes the wood, and then rebuilds the pad on the new wooden base. It’s more work than I can do, or even feel a need to do. I’m content to look for perhaps one more pad in each size so I can have spare parts as I need them.)

Ludwig offered a later version of the replacement heads for these as part of its Ensemble series. The Ensemble heads for these pads are meant for use on their tambourines as well. The Mylar is thicker than on the older heads and has a nice coating on it. My 10” and one of my 8” pads both have this head and it has held up beautifully over the decades in spite of the obvious wear.

At this time, Ludwig no longer makes any of the parts for these pads, including the heads. So the only way to bring these pads back to life is to buy old ones for parts and piece together a completed pad. Very occasionally, maybe once a year, someone may offer the long threaded nuts and washers online, but expect to pay a high price for them. (To date, I’ve never seen the metal rim available separately, but miracles can happen.)

Average selling price online for the 8” pad in 2024 runs between $40 and 90, depending on condition.

The 10” pad is much harder to find for sale and you should expect to pay $60 or more for one depending on condition.

If you came of age in the early days of high-tension marching drums with Kevlar heads, these pads may not appeal to you. But old farts like me still enjoy chopping on them.