Restoring Old Quads

[ussglassman]

I have 2 old sets of Ludwig quads I'm restoring, one of which is from the 1983 Freelancers. They are currently in pieces, and all I have is the drums themselves, no harness hardware. I'm looking for an aluminum rack/harness combo that I can bolt the drums to. Any ideas?

Thanks!

[Quadman1]

I have 2 old sets of Ludwig quads I'm restoring, one of which is from the 1983 Freelancers. They are currently in pieces, and all I have is the drums themselves, no harness hardware. I'm looking for an aluminum rack/harness combo that I can bolt the drums to. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Wow - My brother and I marched quads in the 1983 Freelancers! Those drums were beautiful in Black Diamond Pearl. One of our Tenor line, Robert DuPriest, and his brother John, a bass drummer, did the assembly on those drums when they were new in the spring of 1982. Here's a link to a story about the DuPriest family from the local paper in Loomis, CA: http://theloomisnews.com/detail/132292.html

I believe Rob still teaches the drum line at Del Oro High school.

As you might recall if you've seen old photos or videos, we set up the drums in an unconvetional arrangement, like trios with the smallest drum on the right front. The Freeelancers used this setup for about four years (1981-84). We used the commercially available Ludwig mounting belly plate, then bolted the three larger drums (12"-13"-14") together (each of these drums was attached to the belly plate). The 10" drum was bolted to the 12" and 13" drums. We also had some extra brackets underneath to solidify the setup. We used fiberglass carriers made by Ron Menke (of Blue Devils fame). Rob and John also created a plywood "stick table" that fit in between the three main drums and featured routed-out recepticles for hard (wooden beaded) mallets and felt mallets, plus holes that suspended a pair of puffy mallets. They also installed a PVC tube to hold a pair of timbale sticks (later we switched to regular wooden drum sticks, for use in the last part of our drum solo in '83). We also had a tambourine holder. In '83, we even used Ludwig die-cast hoops on some of the drums. Needles to say, they were heavy! The front edge of the 10" drum stuck out almost 3' from our torsos, creating a huge amount of leverage and lots of back pain!

If you can find a mid-'80s vintage Ludwig bracket, you'd bee in luck. You'll need a bunch of bolts to re-connect the drums. Hard to say what you'll be able to find.

By the way, where and how did you come across the drums?

[pearlsnaredrummer77]

As you might recall if you've seen old photos or videos, we set up the drums in an unconvetional arrangement, like trios with the smallest drum on the right front.

Kind of interesting. A friend of mine marched in the Ohio Brass Factory around the same time and they used a similar tenor set-up.

[MikeN]

Are you looking for an original or an aftermarket bar / spacers?

If you're looking aftermarket (and don't mind drilling), then the world is your oyster. I had good luck with the XL Omnirails when I was reconditioning quints - just be sure to ask them for the reinforcement plates to go on drums 3/4 as it helps prevent them slipping downward over time.

Mike

[sday88]

Kind of interesting. A friend of mine marched in the Ohio Brass Factory around the same time and they used a similar tenor set-up.

Glassmen also used this setup somewhere around 1989/1990.

[sday88]

I have 2 old sets of Ludwig quads I'm restoring, one of which is from the 1983 Freelancers. They are currently in pieces, and all I have is the drums themselves, no harness hardware. I'm looking for an aluminum rack/harness combo that I can bolt the drums to. Any ideas?

Thanks!

I still have my Ludwig quads from 1987. Do you need any pictures of how they were all connected?

[KnightFire D&B Corps]

I have 2 old sets of Ludwig quads I'm restoring, one of which is from the 1983 Freelancers. They are currently in pieces, and all I have is the drums themselves, no harness hardware. I'm looking for an aluminum rack/harness combo that I can bolt the drums to. Any ideas?

Thanks!

I have an old set of Ludwig tenors that has a frame and vest carrier. The drums themselves aren't in that great of shape. Contact me through my website www.knightfiredrumcorps.org my e-mail is on the website.