After looking into some snares, I decided on the Ludwig 402, chrome over brass, 6.5x14", apparently the most recorded snare and the one Bonham used.

Nothing turned up on e-bay so I ordered one new through the local music store. It took 6 months and the guys at the store said Ludwig were known for their tardiness. When it finally arrived, it didn't even have die-cast hoops, which were specified in the order. It appears to be a Ludwig error.

While I was waiting, I also heard:
- in recent history, Ludwig were charged a huge fine for illegally dumping chemicals

-that no one at the company actually has the name Ludwig, hence their slack service

-that their quality is inconsistent, although at the store they reassured me that their snares have been fine.

I haven't paid for the drum yet, and they'll refund my deposit if I wish, and I'm wondering if I should take it and order Ludwig cast hoops, or forget it and be patient in finding one from the 70s.

What do you think?

Thanks

dunno if this is the exact one you're looking for, but:

http://www.classicdrums.com/index/item_id/443/


i'd advise against buying the one you talked about though, seems kinda shady.

best of luck

-a.c.

dude, wait.

new ludwig snares are great, but you will find a better deal on ebay if your patient. im surprised that you haven't seen any on ebay, as 400's and 402's were and are incredibly popular.

is there any reason your after the 6 1/2" model in particular? personaly i think that the 5" model sounds way better.

as for the chemical thing, if thats your bag then vote with your wallet and don't support the modern company, buy old.

so the new ludwig snares have the same good quality as the older ones? this is actually my main concern. i was hesitant when i heard about the fluxuating quality of the new kits.

what is it about the 5" that you like? i decided on the 6.5 because it seemed to be more widely preferred in terms of recording, and, well, because it's the one bonham used and that's a hard sound to top.

as for breaking environmental laws, i do tend to vote with my wallet, but i'm still trying to verify this.

i will swear by ludwig drums all day long, and might even go so far as to say i have no interest in any other brand. i have a huge boner for the drums ludwig made in the 60's, 70's, and even into the 80's.

and with that being said, i my ludwig snare (challenger series), which is almost brand new. go figure.

you can hear my 70's ludwig vistalite floor tom, 80's ludwig kick, and 00's ludwig snare on the track "what would jeffry do?" on the link that's right below this line. i love them all. ludwig rules. if they had to kill 10 kittens to make each drum shell, i'd still buy 'em.

the thing i like about the 5" shells are that they have in my opinion, a slightly better tuning range. if your really after that low fat back thing in particular then go with the 6.5", but i think you might find the 5" to be a little more versatile.

in terms of quality i would say that the snare drums are rock solid. i cant comment on their modern kits as i neither own one, nor have i really had much of a chance to road test one. but fuck yeah the snares are solid.
the only thing that i would do is change out the snare wires and replace the heads with your prefered model.

at the end of the day, both the 5" and 6.5" snares are really good. test drive both before you buy if you can, because the tuning ranges are quite different. if you like to really crank your batter head, then you might find the 6.5" chokes a bit earlier than the 5". unless your bonzo.

I bought a new kit from them a couple of years ago, which did take around 4 or 5 months to arrive, but I was told that that would be the case when I put my deposit down. They got all my custom options right, and the quality of the drums is fantastic. I also own a 60s 400 snare, which sounds fantastic, and is practically incescernable from a friends 90s 400, so I'd say they're fairly consistent, and in my experience still a good company to deal with.