(Continued from page 2)
The next Chart #2 gives an overview of the serial number sequence as it progressed from one year to the next. Using a simple formula, we have estimated, to the nearest thousand, the average count of serial numbers used for each individual year between 1964 and 1969. For those of you who enjoy mathematics, the formula is: 800,000 (the approximate aggregate of serial numbers used 1964 through 1969 based on our serial number index), divided by six (the quantity of years spanning 1964 through 1969), equals 133,000 (the average yearly increase in the serial number progression).
Based on this calculation, Chart #2 shows a cumulative yearly growth of 133,000 serial numbers from 1964 through 1969. Since each one of these serial numbers corresponds to one individual drum produced, then our 133,000 yearly estimate, if correct, would have to reconcile with Ludwig’s yearly tally of drums produced during that same period. To verify our calculations I asked both Mr. Ludwig and Mr. Gerlach how close our yearly serial number estimate was to the drum company’s yearly drum production output. Their respective answers were, “The 133,000 figure is extremely close to what we were doing” and “It’s right in the ballpark.” When using chart 2, keep in mind that these serial numbers are close indicators only, i.e. the serial numbers marking the beginning and ending of each year cannot be distinctly established due to Ludwig’s factory procedures just mentioned, and the discrepancies that those procedures caused in the serial number/date stamp-relationship.
Ludwig 1960’s Serial Number Time Chart #2
DATE SERIAL NUMBER
1960 to late 1963……………………………no serial numbers
1964………………………………………………………0 – 133,000
1965……………………………………………133,000 – 266,000
1966…………………………………………..266,000 – 399,000
1967……………………………………………399,000 – 532,000
1968……………………………………………532,000 – 665,000
1969……………………………………………665,000 – 798,000*
(* Note: At approximately the 750,000 mark in the serial number sequence, Ludwig discontinued the brass Keystone badge and replaced it with the blue and olive parallelogram-shaped badge).
To understand the cause of discrepancies, let’s go back in time to the Ludwig factory of the 1960’s. The manufacturing division at Ludwig was divided into two basic departments: the wood shop and final assembly. Shells were constructed, wrapped in mylar, and date stamped in the wood shop. Then the shells were drilled and hardware, heads and badges were installed in final assembly.
The date stamp didn’t determine when a shell would be sent to assembly. “It was it’s size and finish,” Mr. Ludwig explained. “The shells were made in advance of the orders coming in. Sometimes we had thousands of undrilled shells all stacked up on shelves. When assembly needed a certain size shell in a particular finish, it was pulled from the shelf and sent off to them. We didn’t pay any attention to the date stamps and if a shell wasn’t needed to fill an order, it stayed on the shelf for days, weeks or months, sometimes years.
Due to the time lapse between when a shell was date stamped and when the badge was installed, some of the drums assembled on the same day with closely matching serial numbers had date stamps that were months apart from one another It also meant that some of the drums with production date stamps close to one another, would have badges with serial numbers that were tens of thousands of digits apart.
Further adding to the creation of discrepancies was Ludwig’s method of storing, retrieving and installing badges. Mr. Ludwig explained, “Most of the time when a new shipment of badges came in from our manufacturer, we still had a few boxes of them left in stock, so we just stacked the new boxes in together with the old ones. When assembly needed more badges, we just took any box at random and put it on the assembly bench. We didn’t try to keep the boxes in order or try to install badges in order by serial numbers. Our main concern was to keep things moving.”
Since there wasn’t any system of stock rotation whereby the boxes were used in the order received, I asked Mr. Ludwig about the probability of a leftover box or two stagnating for months at the bottom of a stack. Mr. Ludwig replied, “I would say in all likelihood that’s just what happened.” At a production rate of about 11,000 drums per month, it meant that for each month that passed, the serial numbers on the unused badges inside of a stagnant box would fall 11,000 digits behind the progressing sequence of serial numbers. After a period of time, when the stagnant box was opened and the badges went back in circulation, the serial numbers on those badges would naturally be out of sequence with the others. For example, when a badge that was out of circulation for three months was eventually installed on a drum, its serial number would be lower than, and discrepant to, the more current badges being installed, by an amount of 33,000 digits. Refilling the assemblers’ badge bins was also a source of a limited amount of discrepancies. Since the bins were not always completely empty before being refilled, some badges remained at the bottom, stagnating there for a period of time before finally being used.
On one rare occasion we acquired a drum with a 1967 date stamp and a serial number corresponding to 1965. This was a much bigger discrepancy than any we had encountered. So, thinking the badge was unoriginal, I inspected it’s condition and grommet as well as the interior of the drum shell for signs that the factory original badge had been removed and replaced by the one on the drum. My inspection confirmed that the badge was original. (For detailed information on inspecting and authenticating vintage drums, see “How to Inspect a Vintage Drum“) The explanation of the cause of so large a discrepancy came unexpectedly during one of my conversations with Mr. Ludwig when he happened to mention this to me, “Once in a while we found a misplaced box of badges that was overlooked and sitting around the factory for a couple of years. So we opened up the box and used the badges.” John Aldridge, editor of Not So Modern Drummer magazine, informed me that he had once found a Ludwig drum with a discrepancy of 5 years between its date stamp and serial number.
There was also a crop of late coming discrepancies that didn’t spring up until about October of 1969, when the three decade reign of the small Keystone badge came to an end. At this time the Ludwig Drum Company introduced their new logo, new badge and some new finishes. During this transition period, shells wrapped in the new finishes were stored together with the older shells wrapped in the older finishes. For a limited time, the new badges (parallelogram-shaped blue/olive color) were installed concurrently with the remaining supply of the older Keystone brass badges. This resulted in some drums having a new finish but old badge, and
With the end of the 1960’s Keystone badge came also the close of an historic decade in music; a decade that inspired unprecedented numbers of young people to take up a pair of sticks and learn to play the drums. The boom of the 60’s also provided a generous supply of drums for those who, in the future, would become interested in collecting them and preserving our heritage. Little did Mr. Ludwig know the effects their role would have on the decades to come. Reflecting on the past he said to me, “No one thought of vintage drums or collectors when we were making all of those drums back then. I never dreamed I’d be talking to you now about all of this 35 years later.”
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