Today I took delivery on a drum that a guy back east was letting go of, as he pared down his collection of drums in retirement. He was very happy to hand it off to me, because he'd read my blog and FB posts and understood that I would give it a good home.
It's a a 1961 Ludwig Cub, a model that first came out in the mid-1950s and continued to appear in subsequent catalogs through 1977. Based on the badge design that shows up in the catalogs, I'd have to guess that my Cub was made sometime between 1960 and 1967. It could have been made earlier but the badge design doesn't support that hunch, especially since the first Cub was produced with a WFL badge (before the Ludwigs were able to buy back the rights to use their name when Conn let go of the Ludwig product division in the mid-50's).
(from the 1964 Ludwig catalog)
It took some effort, but I found the date stamped on the inside of the drum.
It's certainly in better shape than the Slingerland I recently repaired and rebuilt.
The most curious thing about this drum is that Ludwig chose to leave the strainer alone throughout its production history.
Even when the drum's badge changed in the 1970s (to the classic Blue and Olive badge of my high school years), the strainer never had a throw-off lever added.
Why? The twist-tension strainer was old technology, old past the point of common sense. What was the point of continuing to offer such an outdated drum?
The only logical answer I've been able to come up with is similar to the one that is often the case with practice pad designs that have been carried through a decade or more of catalogs: the model wasn't a huge seller in its alter years, and Ludwig had backstock it need to move. It's highly possible that the latest years of the Cub's offering may have included drums made several years earlier and had the badge changed, though I'm not sure how I could confirm that.
Since the drum came to me with all original parts, I'm going to leave it alone for now. When the weather warms up just a little more, I'll think about whether or not I'll choose to change anything out and make it a serious player. Since the Slingerland drum can fulfill that role, this may be a drum I leave as is for the long term. But it is a really sweet little drum and I am happy to give it a home.
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