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NDD - Ludwig Miami Beach Cocktail Drum Set


currypowder

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No guitar content, but still pretty cool, IMO.

While at the Arlington Guitar Show this year, I ran across this very cool 62 or 63 Ludwig Cocktail drum set. I became intrigued with cocktail sets a few years ago when Gretsch issued a USA kit. I don't think they make them anymore. Anyway, I had no way to get this kit home the weekend we were at the guitar show, so my buddy who lives in Austin took it home with him. This past weekend I was visiting Austin and had it shipped back home. It arrived yesterday. I still need to get some more appropriate cymbals, probably a 12 inch hi hat set and a heavier 16 inch crash to use as a ride/crash. 

It has in interesting sound. The snare sounds come from a group of snare springs that are pushed up and touching the underside of the snare head. It doesn't have the snap I'm used to from a 14" steel snare. Still, it's snappy enough. There's a round solid piece of wood about 5 inches below the snare head that separates the snare and bass side. The mounted tom is non-original, and I 'm not sure what brand, there are no markings. It sounds good, though. The pedal is also non-original DW-4000.

I'm not sure that I'll ever have much of a use for it. It could be useful for impromptu jam sessions or very small, quiet gigs.

For your viewing pleasure:

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Someone I saw had one of those on stage. 

As for the snares being under the batter head, I think those cocktail drums were usually played with brushes which would make the sound a little more different. 

Now you need a pair of cool sunglasses and a loud jacket to wear while playing that set up. 

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I wonder if a cable activated hi-hat would work with that so you could keep the same look?

 

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    The Neil Peart version :D :

    d4c540daee655770145306bc2e4935ce--hand-d

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    22 hours ago, Lockbody said:

    Sweet!

    I've never seen one of those before.

    I wonder if a cable activated hi-hat would work with that so you could keep the same look?

    I'm having enough trouble getting used to the kick pedal while standing. Any cable hi hat mechanisms is going to have to wait.

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    I've been sifting through some PDFs of vintage Ludwig catalogs. Depending on the year of the catalog, Ludwig variously called their cocktail drum the Las Vegas, the Resort, and the Miami Beach.

    I was going to try to expand on the info of cocktail drums, but this guy covers it well with video demos to boot.

    Later, drum companies came up with a different approach, which, with dedicated snare and bass drums, should sound significantly better than the one-drum, brushes-only approach. This was Ludwig's version introduced in 1967, called the Gold Coast:

    gold-coast4.jpg

    Notice it's still a stand-up kit, and I have to agree with Currypowder: I can feel the cramp in my leg just imagining playing bass drum while standing up.

    BTW, I've played at some gigs where the stage was ridiculously small; I almost wished I had a cocktail drum in those circumstances.

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    My wife had the kit that Mick is playing in the clip above in Champagne Sparkle.  They offered the option of a separate snare, small though it was and she took it.  A set of 13" hi-hats and a 16" Zildjian hand cymbal with a few sizzle rivets  completed the setup.  We had to do some Rube Goldberg-ing to get it all happening but it worked.

    Oh, and she spent 20 years drumming while standing on one leg (usually using a Roland inverted beater pedal and a kick trigger).  That's tough right there.

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