This is excting news. As you know, Ludwig has done a wonderful job of recreating the 60s and 70s shells. The Legacy shell is the 60s 3 ply maple/poplar/maple with reinorcement rings and a rounded baseball bat edge, and the Classic Maple is the all-maple 70s era shell with no rings and a 45 edge. About two years ago I suggested to the good folks at Ludwig that the next logical step would be to create the 50s era shell, which is essentially the Legacy shell in terms of the number of plies, the reinforcment rings and the baseball bat edges, but the shell from the 50s was mahogany/poplar/mahogany. By recreating this shell the wonderful sound of the warm 50s mahogany Ludwig drums (sold at that time as "WFL") could be reborn. And, it would give Ludwig buyers a sonic palette to choose from:

- The 50s shell for that ultra warm mahogany sound so highly sought after by players and recording studios alike.

- The 60s shell for the added brightness of the maple for those classic rock sounds.

- The 70s shell for the much brighter sound and projection sought after in the 70s.

Well, the good news is that the 50s shell is back and it will be called Legacy Mahogany. These sets will be available in the classic sizes associated with the period (9x13, 16x16, 14x22, 14x24), but also in some smaller sizes such as 8x12, 14x14, 14x20, 14x18. These smaller sizes were not seen often, if at all, during the 50s, but with the addition of these sizes to the new Legacy Mahogany series you will be able to experience this warm sound in drum set configurations to suit any musical style.

What could be better?

You'll be seeing these here soon because we are extremely excited about this new product. Stay Tuned! And, if you want to really make this a "vintage" look you can purchase our vintage reproduction rail consolette tom holder for you and we will mount it free of charge.

NOW, FOR SOME FUN! Check out the pics of the finishes below!!

Steve

MAHOGANY SATIN:

JUMBO WHITE MARINE:

BURGUNDY SPARKLE:

 JUMBO BLACK DIAMOND PEARL:

 ONYX MARINE PEARL (a beautifully aged version of WMP in the onyx pattern): 

NICKEL SPARKLE: