You can smell the vintagey goodness on this beautiful ’40s WFL kit. We have had a lot of drums come through the shop the last 2 years, but this one takes the cake…
William F. Ludwig Drum Company (WFL) 4-Piece Drum Set in Gold Sparkle.
A little history on WFL-
In 1909, William and Theobold Ludwig (brothers) started a drum company in Chicago called Ludwig & Ludwig. They began making kick pedals and snare drums, but soon expanded into full kits. By the 1920’s they started to really make a name for themselves, and in 1923 they were the largest drum manufacturer in the world with over 200 employees.
Unfortunately, as we all know, in the late ’20s the Depression hit. They were forced to sell the company to C.G. Conn, who owned the Leedy Drum Company at the time. Conn kept the Ludwig & Ludwig name and moved operations to Elkhart, Indiana. William Ludwig actually stayed on the Conn staff to help the manufacturing and stay a part of his creation.
It didn’t take long for William to get bored, and in 1937 he decided to go off on his own and begin anew. He created the William F. Ludwig Drum Company, known as WFL Drum Co. So, for a while in late ’30s through the ’40s, WFL was in competition with Ludwig & Ludwig- his old company.
In the early ’50s, Conn combined their drum companies to form Leedy & Ludwig. It was short lived, because soon Conn decided to drop the drum business and quit operations. In 1955, William was able to buy back the Ludwig Trademark, and over the next few years he transitioned the name of the company to what we all know today… LUDWIG.
Sealing the deal as the leader in drum manufacturing, in 1964 Ringo Starr made Ludwig a household name by appearing on the Ed Sullivan show with his new Ludwig kit… the first appearance of the the Beatles in America.
This is a great WFL project kit from the late 1940s. Shells are 14 x 24, 9 x 13, 16 x 16, and 5.5 x 14.
The good: matching vintage shells with original hardware, original calf skin heads (batter heads damaged), original WFL hardware (hi hat stand, snare stand, kick pedal, kick spurs, etc.) included, also comes with a trap case, wood block, and cowbell.
The bad: kick is out of round, snare strainer is missing some pieces and is currently non-funtional, & one of the kick drum lugs is broken but we have the lug and claw.
The ugly: kick drum has a trouble spot where the shell was “punched in.”
Probably won’t see another like this in a loooong time!
And as always – be sure to check out the Music Go Round St. Louis Web Site to see and buy all of our gear!
