MUSIC GEAR
FEBRUARY 21, 2022
Story Of The Ludwig Drum Company
This is the story of the Ludwig Drum Company, a drum company that invented the bass drum pedal and pioneering the modern drum set.
The Ludwig Drum Company was founded on December 11, 1909 by William F. Ludwig and Theobald Ludwig in Chicago, Illinois. The company started with the concept of designing and producing functional bass drum pedals. Their first bass drum pedal was the forerunner of the bass drum pedal we use today.
Ludwig made drum-set history after discovering the technology of using springs in the bass-pedal. This invention greatly facilitates the percussion game by reducing the number of percussion players. It was such an instant success that the following year the invention became even more commercial.
The new bass-pedal invention allows drummers to stay playing longer, faster and less tiring. In 1918, drum-sets began to be marketed and the first drum-set marketed was the Ludwig “Jazz-er-up” consisting of a 24″x 8 Bass-drum, 12″x 3 Snare-drum, bass-drum pedal and pedals-cymbals, cymbals on bass-drums and wood-blocks.
Ludwig then added accessories in the form of two “single headed tuneable”, tom-toms, cowbells, two-tone blocks and triangles. Called tuneable because around the rim tom-tom equipped with bolts so that the tension of the skin tom-tom can be adjusted. If the bolt is tightened it will produce a higher pitch tom-tom sound and if the bolt is loosened it will produce a lower pitch sound. From this set, the modern drum-kit began to take shape and become what it is today.
The manufacture of drums was soon followed by the development of the snare drum and the revolutionary design of the Balanced Action tuning timpani in 1916. In 1917, Ludwig was contracted to manufacture rope drums in support of World War I.
Theobald Ludwig died in 1918 and William continued on his own. By 1923, the factory was the largest drum manufacturer in the world, employing 240 workers. The Black Beauty Snare Drum, still made today, was designed in the pre-depression era between 1926-1930.
In the late 1920s, the company was sold to the C.G. Conn instrument company and William stayed on to run the company for Conn. But then he left and started a new company of his own, The WFL Drum Company. He wasn’t able to use the “Ludwig” brand because the trademark belonged to Conn.
In 1937, William’s son, Bill Ludwig Jr. started helping his father by starting a new company. His first significant product design was the revolution for the bass drum pedal known as the “Speed King”.
In 1955, William was able to purchase the Ludwig trademark back from Conn after the company quit the drum business. The WFL brand then changed to “Ludwig” drum again.
This brand became more and more famous after Ringo Starr (The Beatles drummer) started to use the drum around 1960s. The fame of The Beatles Band made Ludwig’s popularity increase rapidly.
It was on February 9, 1964 when The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and made their historic American TV debut. The Ludwig logo on the Ringo Starr’s bass drum exposed to seventy three million people TV audience at the time.
The publicity resulted in Ludwig’s sales doubling quickly to $13 million, which prompted production to increase to a 24/7 production as the company became the foremost drum manufacturer in North America for twenty years.
Apart from Ringo Starr, Ludwig also endorses many famous musicians in the world. Such as Neil Peart from Rush, John Bonham from Led Zeppelin, Roger Taylor from Queen and many more.
Ludwig Drums Company is now a subsidiary of Conn-Selmer Company and their headquarters are in Charlotte, North Carolina, United states.
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