Ludwig-Musser

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

1 History
2 Notable endorsing artists
3 Notes
4 External links

[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 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.

Going into the 1980's, 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. 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.

Ludwig snares are very popular. One of these is the Ludwig Supraphonic, considered to be the industry standard for snares for professionals such as Steve Gadd, who used one almost exclusively throughout the 1970's. The Black Beauty model, a black nickel-plated brass shell drum first manufactured during the 1920's, 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 follwed 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.