Ludwig Big Beat restoration

This project came to me in early 2015 when I lived near the Reading area in a small village called Shinfield. Browsing the pre-loved adverts I saw the normal red flag of: ‘old drum kit’ – how many times have we seen that one and realised it’s a Taiwanese Pearl Export copy! As it turned out this one was less descriptive being ‘black’ in a barn on a farm in a big case but apparently belonged to the drummer who played with Mungo Jerry?! As with all these things I tread with trepidation but as it was quite local so I thought I would give it a shot and have a look.

Luckily I had a Touran for work at the time and as these double up very well as a van I headed off prepared to collect a big case and I was glad I did. On arrival at the farm I was shown to a dusty corner where I found this huge 4 wheeled flight case which was built like an absolute tank. At this point I had an inkling that this might have been worth the trip as the case was a pretty good bit of kit and looked in very good condition.

Pushing it out into the yard it behaved like a rogue shopping trolley due to the weight but with the catches released I was greeted with that familiar musty smell of ‘old drums’. On further inspection I found a very well crafted interior with drums tucked inside each other. Lifting the first one out I spotted a lovely deco lug design and it dawned on me this was an old Ludwig in some shape or form – albeit a pretty knackered one!

12, 13, 16, 22 came out one by one including hoops for the toms and a single, but utterly battered, bass drum hoop. According to the owner he had acquired the kit from a pub up the road where he had played guitar on local jam nights until it closed and this kit was left in the basement – sadly maybe flooded at one point he pointed out. The landlord had told him that the owner had played in a few well know groups, one being Mungo Jerry, but no more information came forth.

I would say looking at the shells and the lack of re-rings and clear interiors that  this was probably an early/mid 70s big beat – confirmed by the thin metal curved spurs (which were thankfully present). A deal was struck – £250 if I remember correctly – and after the highly amusing task of just getting this huge case into the motor I headed off to investigate further.

Part two of the journey of this kit was to try and find some kind of evidence that it was indeed used by Mungo Jerry’s drummer of whom there were 6. Sadly this was impossible and after Google / YouTube searches till the early hours I gave up. We’ll never know but it’s a nice idea none the less and one I think could probably be true so it will always be ‘Mungo’s kit to me (Shame it wasn’t Ringo’s Mahogany Duro!). If this kit ‘rings a bell’ please let me know as I would love to know if this yarn was true.

Restoration time…

Len Howe (so sadly no longer with us) was the man for Ludwig parts and he provided me with everything to bring her back to former glory. The Black cortex was OK  but the 12″ was quite ‘rashed’ so although I restored the whole kit I actually sold her as a ‘one up – one down’. The 12” I kept and re-used in a WFL orphan kit which can be found in the project pages if you are interested. It’s strange that these early kits are less desirable than the 3 ply shells which is a shame as the construction is excellent and sound really quite ‘luddy’.

This is what was done:

• All hardware removed
• Exterior cortex polished and sanded inside
• Interiors sealed with clear-coat and reproduction paper interior labels produced (see below)
• Lugs and fittings soaked in Coca Cola and cleaned with silver foil. Washed, polished and new foam inserts added to all the lugs to reduce unwanted noises (These lugs can be quite annoying and buzz when played).
• New reproduction Blue and Olive pointy badges sourced from Len were fitted with fresh grommets.
• Clear Ambassadors all round and a smooth white reso on the bass with a period correct early 70s small vinyl cut logo.
• Sadly all the T rods were long gone so tension rods were used on the bass with Ludwig claws.
• Bass hoops were sanded, filled and sprayed satin black then fitted with new silver sparkle inlay.

All in all I think she looks the part and the pictures show both 4 and 3 piece set ups.

I mentioned above the new paper labels which were re-created. I trained as a Graphic Designer so using the computer I reproduced the interior labels and after a printing them on a few different paperweights I was able to get a good match to the original item.

I didn’t replace the dampeners as they are rare and expensive, a job for the next owner! and most people now use moon gel or something similar to get the right sound.

I you have a kit in a similar state which needs restoring please let me know…

Sold via eBay in Summer 2015