Restoration, reconstruction: vintage Ludwig practice pad, 1960s

I picked up this vintage Ludwig pad in a bundle that also included some cool, old Rudimental instruction sheets. It’s one of the older pads with a plywood baseplate. It uses an insert inside, a smaller plywood disc cut to the size of the head and rim (8”). On top of the smaller disc is a layer of dense rubber foam that allows for a nice rebound when the head is tightened over the top of it.

The wooden disc does not attach to the baseplate. It simply rests on top of it, with the pressure of head, rim and tuning rods holding the pad together.

Older models of this pad used a thicker insert of foam rubber, set inside a circular metal band that was sized to serve as a bearing edge for the head to lay on, under the outer rim. This pad lacks the circular band and uses a plywood disc instead. I don't know which came first, but I suspect this version may be either a newer version without the metal band, or possibly someone's homemade revision because the metal band was broken or lost. I don't know.

I took the pad apart so I could clean the components and figure out how improve assembly.

The challenge with this make and model of pad is that Ludwig stopped making it over forty years ago, and stopped making replacement parts at least twenty years ago. So any fixes I chose to make to this pad today would have to be with an eye towards semi-permanence.

I took the pad apart, cleaned the head as best I could with warm soapy water and set it aside to dry.

Then I looked at the baseplate. The threaded posts were easily removable by gentle tapping out with a small hammer. The center threaded post hole, allowing the pad to be mounted onto a stand, took some more forceful tapping with a small punch. The plywood is soft and easy to damage, so I took my time. The three small “feet” also came off pretty easily with gentle prying of a tiny flat blade screwdriver.

Then, I flipped the baseplate over. The side hidden by the disc and rim was black and clean. I decided that reversing the baseplate might help mitigate some of the warping brought about by sixty years of one-way tension.

(My camera went on the fritz while I was doing all this disassembly and reassembly. Once I got it to work again, I didn’t really feel like doing the whole process over again. If you want to see one of these pads unpacked, check out Rick Dior’s awesome YouTube videos, and get thoroughly schooled on how and why these old Ludwig pads are so cool.)

After I cleaned as much gunk off the head as I could, I put it back on. Replacement heads are very hard to come by for these old pads, and since this head had no holes and only a few small dents, I felt it still had some life left. But to make sure I could get more mileage, After I tuned it up, I applied a black dot from Cardinal Percussion. It basically turns the head into an affordable mock-up of Remo’s CS Black Dot head, and offers some additional protection and durability for the center of the head.

I also added a second set of washers to take up some of the stack height on the threaded posts. Simple 5mm washers, available at any bike shop or hardware store, do the trick here.

I decided against reinstalling the original feet. They’re tiny and warn down, and offer almost no traction on a tabletop. I spot-glued four squares of thick mousepad material and will eventually replace those with the big white rubber feet I’ve used on other similar pads.

Once this is all done, it will make a nice portable pad I can use and enjoy anywhere.

You can find the 8” size now and then on Reverb, eBay and elsewhere. The 10” size is much harder to find, and when you do you’ll have to pay a lot for it.

Vintage Corner? Xymox convertible pad, early to mid-2000s

Yeah, okay, "vintage" is pushing it a little. But this was a cool find that I decided to spring for.

In the mid-2000s, Xymox Percussion began producing pads with a snare sound, created by cutting out a recess in the bottom of the baseplate and installing snare beads. For a time, The snare beads were encased in a removable metal box that could cling magnetically to a metal plate on the underside.

Later versions, simple placed the metal beads into the recess, which was embedded with screws, and enclosed them with a metal plate and nuts that attached to the screws. Those later versions were made in such a way that the nuts went on permanently, and removing them could damage the whole pad. This version of the snare sound assembly is found on Xymox's own pads, and has been licensed to other companies including Vic Firth and Ahead.

In the mid-2000s, HQ offered a gray, 8" RealFeel pad with the same removable box, on license from Xymox. It wasn't on the market for very long (possibly because that was when the HQ business was being sold to D'Addario/Evans, but I'm not sure of the exact dates). That 8" HQ pad is extremely hard to find today.

This 10" pad dates probably from just before the HQ version. Underneath the laminate is an actual gum rubber layer. This was subsequently replaced with neoprene in later versions, which doesn’t give as satisfying and response or sound.
The snare box is made of cast aluminum, with steel plates that cling to the magnetic panel inside the recess in the underside.

Note that this early version allows you to open everything up to adjust the number of beads you want inside, for a customized sound.

Sadly, this early version doesn't offer as obvious a snare sound, even when you remove a few beads to give the remaining beads more room to rattle. But when you remove the snare box, there is a noticable difference in sound without the snare beads.

It's a really interesting moment in practice pad history, and fun to play.

Vintage Corner: Billy Hyde Natural Rebound Pad

Billy Hyde was a noted drummer who was featured on Australian television in the 1960s and 70s.

He developed a practice pad design that proved so popular it became standard equipment for drummers throughout the British commonwealth. A number of British drummers still use this pad in their studio and on the road. Eventually, Hyde founded a music company that made and sold the pads, and which later expanded into a full retail music business.

The business went into receivership in the 2010’s and was later picked up by a relative who restarted the business. It continues to in Australia, though it was licensed the design and manufacture of the pad to other companies. Today, most of the Billy Hyde pads are made under the auspices of Stagg in the UK.

The original Hyde pad came in an 8” size. Today, they are available in 8”, 10” and 12” sizes.

The Billy Hyde Natural Rebound Pad was constructed of rubber fitted around a wooden baseplate, with a threaded hole on the bottom so it could be used on a cymbal stand. 

Here’s an original Billy Hyde pad that dates from the 1970s, and a copy made for Promark in the 1980s or 90s.

The Hyde pad has a softer, more supple feel, while the Promark copy is denser and harder.

The pads aren’t bad. While the difference in feel and tone is noticeable, both offer a decent rebound that’s good for concert and drumkit players. The 8” size is nice for travel. While all sizes include a threaded hole underneath, I would probably use the largest size in a snare basket for stability.

The originals can be found on eBay, but expect to pay higher prices for shipping and VAT if you’re ordering from the US.

Update: Ludwig aluminum practice pads

I currently have four Ludwig aluminum practice pads in my collection, ranging from the 1950s through the early 1980s. One of the pads came without the rubber suction cup feet on bottom.
Without the rubber feet, I could only use this pad on a stand. I wanted to replace the feet.

After contacting Ludwig and learning that replacement feet for this pad had been discontinued long ago, I went looking for another solution.

After looking at length, I finally found a solution online.

These are sold by multiple outlets (including the evil Amazon, which I will never use). I found mine on eBay and the price was right.

Update: they arrived, and I installed them. See below.

The feet fit the threaded holes fine. However, they run a bit long. Two solutions are to either cut the posts shorter (though this could be difficult without bolt cutters, and then you'd have to clean up the top of the threads to screw them into the pad base); or to use washers to take up the stack height. I chose the latter solution and it seems fine.

Two pads, one company: Ludwig aluminum practice pad

 #practicepadhistory

L to R: two pads, one company.

On the left, a WFL practice pad from the early 1950s.

On the right, a Ludwig practice pad from the mid to late 1950s, after William F. Ludwig Sr. was able to buy back his original company and name from Conn in 1955. 

Both made of die cast aluminum alloy, with gum rubber. The rubber feet on the bottom of the WFL pad don’t have suction cups. The feet on the Ludwig pad do. 

Both are designed to be used on a tabletop or on a stand (as noted by the receiving port and thumb screw). Some earlier WFL models did not include the port for a stand. 

There is a later version of this design with black rubber and a more modern Ludwig logo, made through the mid 1980s. The black rubber does not have the same response or feel as the tan gum rubber, but it’s not horrible.

The black rubber feet are notorious for falling off or cracking off with age. 

If you’re persistent, you may be able to find replacements through vintage drum dealers. 

The later versions of this pad (black rubber surface, modern Ludwig logo on a black decal) can be found online at various auction/sale sites, ranging for anywhere from $20 to $50 depending on condition.

(Stock photo)