Product Review - Ludwig Element Series Standard Drum Set

To celebrate their centennial birthday, Ludwig-Musser Drum Company has released several new lines of drums. As my new band forms, I decided to buy a new kit to replace my aging Ludwig Rocker kit, and this decision was made in time to buy one of these new "birthday" kits. Sadly, I wasn't able to find any proper reviews for this drum set online, and so I was sort of pressured into buying a kit without really knowing if it would be any good. And so, after a few days of assembling, tuning, and otherwise adjusting my new kit, I've decided to write a review for those drummers (and parents of aspiring ones) who are considering buying this new drum set for themselves.

I decided to buy a student-level Ludwig Element Power standard shell pack, in wine red. The kit is remarkably cheap in price, costing only $491 at samash.com before shipping and taxes. This "power" configuration includes a 22" x 18" bass drum (requiring a 22" drum head, for those beginners who aren't sure about drum sizes) and a 14" x 6.5" snare drum. It also comes with four (yes, four!) toms, three of which are mounted, and the fourth being a floor tom. My kit has 10" x 8", 12" x 9", and 13" x 10" mounted ("rack") toms, and a 16" x 16" floor tom. The shells are 6-ply, with two plies of poplar on the inside and four plies of birch on the outside, giving the drums a big, full, roaring sound when tuned properly. The kit also boasts a "Vibra-band" suspension system for the toms, which helps improve the longevity of the drums substantially. The kit ships with a pair of 7A drum sticks, a tuning key, all of the drum heads you'll need to start (though they aren't very good), and plenty of extra parts. But if this is your very first drum set, you might have a difficult time putting everything together, as the drums do not include instructions of any kind, or any other literature for that matter (not even a catalog!). If you're having trouble, you might want to consult with a seasoned/ experienced drummer, perhaps at a local music shop, who might be willing to help you with the basic assembly.

I experimented with the stock drum heads, but as with any new kit, you'll want to replace these right off the bat. Stock heads (the heads which ship with the drums) are cheap, simple, and too thin for prolonged use. They're mostly included so you can play your new kit right out of the box. Not only do these heads sound terrible, they also won't last much more than a few songs. As resonant heads, though, the single-ply Ludwig-branded Remo UK heads aren't too bad. Personally, I use Aquarian Performance II heads on all of my toms, with Remo Ebony pinstripe heads (which are intended to be batter heads) as resonant toms heads. On my snare drum, I'm using a Remo Coated Controlled Sound Reverse Dot head, with one of the stock Ludwig-branded heads as a resonant. On my bass drum, I'm using a Remo Pinstripe Clear bass drum head as a batter, and I decided to keep the Ludwig Rocker resonant head because of its sound hole. With an Afghan blanket folded up and placed against the batter head inside the bass drum, it sounds like a thunder-clap; this bass drum, with its solid four plies of birch, sounds like a cannon if tuned properly. At the end of the day, with the aforementioned heads tuned to perfection, these drums honestly sound almost as good as a maple drum set that would cost thousands of dollars.

So, how is the hardware? Let's start with the bass drum. The bass drum rims (also known as hoops) are wood, and one of them comes with a rubber pedal guard to protect the rim from the grip of the bass drum pedal. This would be a great feature, but I encountered a small problem with it: my DW 5000 Turbo single bass drum pedal doesn't open wide enough to fit on the rim/ hoop with the rubber guard in place, so I had to remove the rubber piece to keep the pedal. Other than this mild annoyance, though, the hardware is fantastic. The bass drum spurs come pre-installed on the bass drum, and boast more than enough options for adjustments. The floor tom has standard legs as well. The kit includes extra tuning/ tension rods with two plastic washers per rod, which is always handy. The tuning lugs on the drums are mostly smooth, though a few were slightly rough the first time I used them. For mounting your tom drums, the bonus mounted tom comes with a mounting device which will let you attach that tom to a cymbal stand (just make sure the cymbal stand you use is large and sturdy; the mounting device itself is as heavy as the drum it holds).

But the real pièce de résistance is the Element set's fabulous primary tom mounting rig. The mounted toms all feature the Vibra-Band suspension mounting system. These metal and rubber mounts allow the toms to travel within a short stroke in a sort of loose suspension system, preventing the vibrations from damaging the mounting system or the drums themselves, and also preventing mounting rig noise from affecting the sound of the kit. The main assembly, which holds two mounted toms (the 12" and 13" toms in the instance of my own kit), links the toms on locking ball-turret mounts, which allow you to aim the toms in whatever direction you'd like, without needing to loosen and respectively tighten several different angles on a mount. Just loosen the grip on the ball turret device, and you can freely move your toms around however you like. This central mounting rig also features an extra grip, which you could use to mount a cymbal boom, another tom, or a small arm for other stuff (a cowbell, a moon block, etc.). This is extremely handy, especially for drummers who like to expand their kits.

Yet again, Ludwig has cracked out a home run. For years, I have asserted that Ludwig's entry-level kits are better than much of the competition's professional-grade kits. And with some tender loving care, these cost-effective kits can be tuned to a level of perfection that makes them comparable to Ludwig's more expensive lines of kits. Never before has this been more true than with the Element Standard series of kits. In my opinion, these are perhaps the best entry-level kits Ludwig has produced in years, far surpassing the earlier "Accent CS" product line of the past few years. I would recommend these drums for beginning drummers and professionals alike.

A quick note for holiday shoppers: If you're buying these as a gift for a new drummer, please note that these come in what we call a "shell pack." They do not come with a bass drum pedal, cymbal stands, cymbals, a drum throne (a drummer's seat), or anything of that nature, so you'll need to buy your aspiring drummer all of these additional components separately. Also, even though these are considered "entry-level" or "student-level" drums, they might be a bit too advanced, and thus a bit too expensive, for a drummer who hasn't yet devoted themselves to playing. You might want to think about shopping around a bit to find a cheaper set to test their interest level. But if you're confident that they're interested in drumming, and/ or if you want the best entry-level kit money can buy, look no further than the Ludwig Element Standard kit!