Jump to content

The Return of Ludwig-Musser


Recommended Posts

Easy trivia question: Who was the last corps to play on Ludwig/Musser at DCI Finals?

Just finals, don't know, but Blue Stars used them their first year back in WC and they sounded horrible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just took delivery of 5 Ludwig pit stands. They are so cheap it is unbelievable that Ludwig stamped their name on the box. I understand why I couldn't find a close-up picture anywhere on the web, and why the stands were on major clearance.

A few years ago I was at PASIC and William F. Ludwig was singing his book, so many people just walked by and didn't even care. Sad to see this once proud company get no respect, mostly for making junk when it came to marching percussion. I'm looking forward to a turn-around.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tom - in drum terms, where the major lines are virtually even as far as quality (and for that matter, retail pricing), the relationships and marketing involved go a *long* way towards product penetration. May not be so much the case in brass, I don't know.

Mike

I would totally agree. I am saying, Ludwig has failed at this attempt recently. There was nothing separating them from the competition except their product was not of sufficient quality. I will go back to my assertion that Jupiter/Mapex made R&D their marketing. Because, drum corps are NOT the market these guys are after. Ultimately, the market is HS and Collegiate Marching Bands. Drum corps should be the R&D lab for this effort. Jupiter/Mapex should prove that to all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm pretty sure switching to Jupiter was motivated by financial reasons first, anything else second...That's marketing...

Correct. Financial...and...they actually have a track record of working with and listening to the corps who they sponsor. Mapex and Dynasty now have a foothold in the DCI drum corps market. Gone are Ludwig, Slingerland, Premier for the most part. It's really four horses? Yamaha, Pearl, Dynasty and Mapex? Am I correct?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What Ludwig has done to turn around their drum set division is very impressive. The drums are excellent! I think it would be great, especially in this day and age, to see a great American company make a

big comeback in the marching world.

I'm also a big fan of the Ludwig Grand Symphonic line of timpani.

Are the drums all made in the US?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Correct. Financial...and...they actually have a track record of working with and listening to the corps who they sponsor. Mapex and Dynasty now have a foothold in the DCI drum corps market. Gone are Ludwig, Slingerland, Premier for the most part. It's really four horses? Yamaha, Pearl, Dynasty and Mapex? Am I correct?

You're correct. Yamaha, Pearl, Dynasty and Mapex are the Big Four. Ludwig is stuck as a niche line right now, Slingerland is long gone, and Premier is mostly gone. (Though in the UK, they have... er, had... a dominant share due to pipe band sales.) And Mapex is kind of a distant fourth as far as numbers go, mainly because the others have been selling for many more years.

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was Boston in '99. They switched to Premier the next year.

right before Premier started to crash and burn

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would totally agree. I am saying, Ludwig has failed at this attempt recently. There was nothing separating them from the competition except their product was not of sufficient quality. I will go back to my assertion that Jupiter/Mapex made R&D their marketing. Because, drum corps are NOT the market these guys are after. Ultimately, the market is HS and Collegiate Marching Bands. Drum corps should be the R&D lab for this effort. Jupiter/Mapex should prove that to all.

until Mapex makes tenors and bigger basses that don't weigh a ton, I dont expect to see a big jump. Having dealt with them the last two years for a project, in HS no way, for smaller kids the drums are just too #### heavy to carry

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...