Cooper’s Vintage Drums
LUDWIG SNARE STRAINERS
1923-1965
While Ludwig & Ludwig had been
making drum products since 1909, this identification guide starts with drums
made between the years 1923 and 1965. By 1923, Ludwig was offering their “top
of the line” snare drums with the strainer pictured below. During the 1920’s,
this was known as the Professional Strainer and was used on their top models
until around 1929. This strainer would later be known as the Pioneer strainer,
being used on secondary models such as the Pioneer and the Universal snare
drums.
PROFESSIONAL STRAINER
1927 LUDWIG &
LUDWIG PROFESSIONAL MODEL
In 1925-1926, Ludwig & Ludwig
introduced a revolutionary snare mechanism called the Super-Ludwig. Patented in
January 1924, it was quite a radical departure from the simple strainers
previously available and offered individual snare adjustment. This was
especially useful for gut snares which would loosen under certain humidity
conditions. A drummer could change from a set of gut snares to a set of
silk-wire snares in a matter of minutes if desired. The snares also remained
under constant tension even when disengaged from the bottom head. Individual snare
adjustment was possible by the use of a screw driver. The Super-Ludwig
mechanism was available on wood and metal shell drums.
1927 SUPER-LUDWIG
Photo by Harry Cangany
In 1926, a metal snare guard was
offered that could be attached to a Super-Ludwig drum to protect the mechanism
from damage. The guards could be ordered from Ludwig & Ludwig for one
dollar along with instructions on how to attach them to the bottom tension
rods. By 1928 the guards were standard equipment on all Super-Ludwig drums and
various versions would see use over the next 50 years or so. Below is a photo of a snare guard from a
1920’s drum.
Snare guard as used on
both Super-Ludwig and Super-Sensitive models
In the
late 1930’s the snare guards were bolted to the bottom hoop.
~1929~
1929 was a very important year for
the Ludwig & Ludwig Drum Company. That was the year that owner William F.
Ludwig made the decision to sell his company to the C.G. Conn Company of
Indianapolis, Indiana (makers of Leedy drums). After the sale, the Ludwig &
Ludwig company was moved to Elkhart, Indiana where the Leedy Manufacturing
Company was now located. Both companies now had manufacturing operations in the
Leedy factory building.
LUDWIG & LUDWIG FACTORY, CHICAGO,
ILLINOIS - CIRCA 1923 - LEEDY MFG. CO. ELKHART, INDIANA CIRCA 1930
In the quest for the ultimate in
snare drum response (and drum sales), the newly acquired Ludwig & Ludwig
Drum Company offered even more snare strainer innovations to the drumming
public. The company introduced three new snare drums in addition to the already
popular Super-Ludwig model and Standard Model….
New for 1929: The Super-Sensitive, The
Standard-Sensitive, and The New Era Sensitive.
The Super-Sensitive (1929-1937)
The new Super-Sensitive drum was identical to the Ludwig-Super model but it
was given a second set of snares which ran along the underside of the top
batter head. This second set of snares was controlled by a lever mounted on the
side of the drum shell allowing the snares to be turned on or off for special
snare effect and added “snap”. The Super-Sensitive model which featured two
sets of snares was discontinued around 1937.
1920’s SUPER-SENSITIVE
Unknown
Source
The Standard-Sensitive (1929-1930) (Not Pictured)
The Standard-Sensitive drum also had this extra set of snares under the
top head. In addition, it also received a newly designed strainer which was now
called The Professional Strainer.
This Professional strainer was also used on the Standard (Professional) model.
It replaced the aforementioned Professional strainer of the early 1920’s which
was now relegated to Ludwig & Ludwig’s lower line snare drums, like the Universal Model and Pioneer. The
Standard-Sensitive drum did not appear to be very popular and was discontinued
in 1930.
Professional Strainer (used on Standard and
Standard-Sensitive models 1929-1937)
LUDWIG & LUDWIG
STANDARD MODELS WITH PROFESSIONAL STRAINER
Photo courtesy of Lee Vinson
The New Era-Sensitive(1929-1930)
By far the most unusual of the three
new snare drum models was the New
Era-Sensitive drum. This innovative drum had two sets of internal snares! One set lay under the top head and the
other along the inside of the bottom head, thus eliminating all external, visible
snare wires. These two sets of snares were also operated with levers attached
to the outside of the drum shell. Like the Standard-Sensitive model, The New
Era-Sensitive model apparently did not catch on with the drummers of 1929 and
appears to have been discontinued by 1930.
NEW ERA-SENSITIVE
Photos courtesy of Rich Kalinsky
1935-36 SILVER ANNIVERSARY
Ludwig & Ludwig strainers were
relatively unchanged until around 1936. That year, the company celebrated its
Twenty-Five year anniversary and in honor of this achievement, they unveiled
the Silver Anniversary line of snare drums. The Super-Ludwig, Super-Sensitive,
and Standard models all received a new look. In addition to newly designed
tension cases (lugs) and metal shells, the Super-Ludwig and Super-Sensitive
were given up-dated strainers and snare guards. The strainer levers were no
longer adjustable and were given a unique hook shaped design. The
Standard-Sensitive model with the second set of internal snares was no longer
offered.
NOTE: While the year
1935 was actually the 25th anniversary of the Ludwig & Ludwig
Drum Company (officially started in the Fall of 1910), the formal announcement
took place in the Spring of 1936 in both the Ludwig Drummer magazine and the
1936 Ludwig & Ludwig Silver Anniversary Editio n product catalog. Below is the announcement in the 1936 product catalog.
It is interesting to note that “Founder and President” William F. Ludwig left
the company the following year.
SILVER ANNIVERSARY
SUPER-SENSITIVE MODELS (1935 CATALOG)
1936 SUPER-LUDWIG
1936 STANDARD MODELS
PIONEER MODEL
UNIVERSAL MODEL
~1938~
1938 saw yet another change in snare
strainer design. The Ludwig & Ludwig Standard models were fitted with a
“New Design Strainer” which is usually referred to as the Standard three point
strainer. These new strainers replaced the previous Professional strainers
which were now being used on the Ludwig Concert Model 8x15 snare drum. The old
reliable Pioneer strainer was still seeing use on the Pioneer and Universal
models.
The Super-Ludwig
strainers were unchanged at this point in time. Below is a photo of a late
1930’s Solid Maple Swing Model.
1937
Super-Swing Model
~1940~
The Standard strainer was improved in
late 1940 with the addition of an extended snare capability. New extension
brackets were added to both snare and butt sides of all Standard model snare
drums. This allowed the snare strands to completely cover the entire diameter
of the bottom snare head, similar to the very popular Slingerland Radio King
snare drums of the same era.
In late 1941, a three position strike
plate was added behind the strainer lever, giving the modern Swing drummer the
option of tight snares, loose snares or no snare sound at all. Also that year,
a rather novel snare drum called the Moderne-Bi-Tone snare drum, featuring
plastic (Bakelite) lugs was introduced and the old Pioneer strainer was used on
this model. The plastic lug design did not catch on and it was discontinued
after 1941.
WORLD WAR TWO 1941-45
In late 1941, the United States
entered World War Two and by 1942, drum production was severely limited as
resources were being redirected to the war effort. Due to U.S. Government
restrictions, very few metal parts were to be used for drum making. As a
result, Ludwig & Ludwig produced a relatively small amount of Victory model
drums. These unique instruments were made using wooden lugs and hoops. For more
information on Ludwig drums and the war, click here: Ludwig Drums of WWII
The Victory snare borrowed a very old
snare strainer that had been used on the Tango models of the early 1920’s.
1943 VICTORY DRUM 1923
TANGO STRAINER
1943 LUDWIG &
LUDWIG VICTORY DRUM STRAINER
~1948~
World War Two ended in 1945 but new
drum production did not really resume until 1947-48. However, there were really
no new products and the old models of 1941 were being offered to the public
during the period of 1948-50. Below are some of the features listed for 1948:
1948 PIONEER MODEL AND
UNIVERSAL MODEL
(Ludwig & Ludwig’s “Artist series)
The pre-war white enamel badge was
modified slightly in design and for the first time, the Ludwig & Ludwig
badge listed Elkhart, Indiana as its location. This was to be the end of Ludwig
& Ludwig as an independent drum company. Pictured below is one of the last
drums to be made with the Ludwig & Ludwig badge and is date stamped inside,
August 1950 (0850).
LEEDY & LUDWIG
1951
In 1950, C.G. Conn merged their two
drum companies (Ludwig & Ludwig and the Leedy Manufacturing Company) into
one interest and named it Leedy &
Ludwig. This new company would utilize the best features of both and
managed to produce some beautiful and quite unique instruments in its
relatively short life. The new drum company published their exciting new
product catalog in 1951. It featured Leedy & Ludwig’s revolutionary new
line of drums called the Knob Tension
Drums. These unique drums were tensioned from inside the drum shells by a
series of knobs. When turned like a radio dial, the knobs caused several levers
inside the shell to exert pressure on a metal rims upon which the heads rested.
1951 KNOB TENSION SNARE
DRUM WITH “FEATHER TOUCH” STRAINER
The Leedy &
Ludwig company also offered a more standard line of drums which were basically
combinations of pre-war Leedy drums with a new badge and some Ludwig
components. The 1930’s-40’s Ludwig Standard extended snare strainer was used in
combination with the old Leedy butt side bracket for the Broadway snare drum. Ludwig &
Ludwig’s old reliable Pioneer strainer was used on the New Era snare drums as
well as other lower line drums like the Reliance model. Various combinations
were used during Leedy & Ludwig’s three year existance.
THE LUDWIG DRUM COMPANY
1956-65
C.G. Conn decided to get out of the
drum making business entirely and in 1954 they sold the Leedy name to the
Slingerland Drum Company and the Ludwig name to William F. Ludwig (Ludwig &
Ludwig founder and current owner of the W.F.L. Drum Company). Thus, the Ludwig
Drum Company was “born”- again- replacing the W.F.L. name. Slingerland chose to offer the Leedy drums as
a second and separate line of drums. Around 1955-56, both companies were in
business and published their first catalogs.
The new Ludwig drums were mainly W.F.L. drums with the name “Ludwig Drum
Company” on the old keystone badge. Between 1956 and 1959, Ludwig offered a few
different snare strainers on their top line drums. The “Classic” strainer was
carried over from the W.F.L. period.
Ludwig Super Classic Snare Drum
In 1959, Ludwig introduced a new snare strainer called the P-83 which was
used on their new Supra Phonic 400 metal snare drum, as well as other wood
shell drums. It would continue to see use all through the 1960’s and 1970’s,
although the throw-off lever was slightly modified (note the difference between
the strainer in the photo below and the strainer in the illustrations). A
variation of this durable snare strainer is still in use today!
Ludwig Supra Phonic
P-83 Strainer
Ludwig Jazz Festival
Snare Drum
The new Ludwig Drum Company offered two
Pioneer strainers. The P-85 Large Pioneer strainer and the P-84 Small Pioneer
strainer. Below are catalog illustrations of the various strainers from the
1959 catalog and the snare drums that used them.
P-85 Large Pioneer P-87 Classic P-84 Small Pioneer
3x13 Jazz Combo
Model 4x13 Las Vegas
Model
4x14 Downbeat Model
5x14 Pioneer Model
5x13 Super Porto-Pak Model
~1961-62~
For some reason, the
“Supra Phonic 400” snare drum was changed to the “Super-Ludwig 400” in 1961.
Also that year, the Ludwig Super-Sensitive model was again offered after almost
a twenty year absence. While the snare mechanism was very much as it was in the
1940’s, an updated snare guard was added. Of course, the Super-Sensitive no
longer had a second set of interior snares as in the past this new version was
really a Super-Ludwig. This was somewhat confusing!
Super-Ludwig 400
Super-Sensitive
~1962-64~
Around 1963, the Super-Sensitive
snare strainer received some new plastic components, making this the first time
that a plastic material was utilized in a snare strainer*. Also, the name
“Supra Phonic 400” returned, forever replacing the name “Super-Ludwig”. This
snare drum would become one of the most played and recorded snare drums of all
time and is still available today! A new aluminum shell snare drum debuted in
1962-63 called the Acrolite. It featured the P-83 strainer. As of 1963, the
P-85 Large Pioneer strainer was no longer offered.
*In 1941, Ludwig &
Ludwig offered plastic lugs on their Moderne Bi-Tone snare drum (see “Ludwig
Lugs” in this article).
SUPER-SENSITIVE STRAINER
ACROLITE MODEL
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