I've sent you a PM regarding the research.Your serial number is about a 1976-ish number (based on Rob Cook's work), which doesn't sit in the series along with the blank serial number blue/olive badges which are around 1970 (and consistent with that date stamp of yours).
Osahead2 - I would not rely too heavily upon Rob Cook's guide when it gets into the 1970s period. I give it credit as the only of the four published guides (Rob Cook's The Ludwig Book, Ned Ingberman's article in DRUM! in 2002, Ludwigdrummer.com's chart, and John Aldridge's Chaotic Creativity article in DRUM! in 2005) (three of the four are here: http://www.vintagedrumguide.com/serial_numbers.html) that attempted to do much with B/O badge drums, but it has some issues. It is based upon a small number of reports from the B/O badge drums. What I have discerned is that the bulk of the B/O badge drums are also reported in Paulo Sburlati's book. If you read Mr. Sburlati's book you learn that many of the dates from his B/O badge drums are not based upon date stamps, but appear to be estimates. Because data was lacking, Cook's chart omits some years and then appears to lump multiple other years together into 1976. Therefore, with Cook's guide, the lack of reliable data points was compounded by some rough date estimates and some confusing presentation of the data.
Cook's Guide for Blue & Olive Badges (copied from Ludwig's website)
1969 765XXX - 834XXX
1970 (Out of sequence, unnumbered)
1971 835XXX - 895XXX
1972 896XXX - 916XXX
1976 917XXX - 1290XXX
1978 XXXXXXX
1979 XXXXXXX - 2013537
Based upon several reports, the main string of no serial number badges can be linked to the September/October 1970 time frame. Other no serial number badges reported for other time periods may have had them, but they would have been trimmed off to fit the vent holes drilled for Keystone badges. 1970 was not as chaotic as Mr. Cook's chart would make it appear. The vast majority of drums I have seen from that year fit into very predictable patterns. There were also many drums produced in 1973, 1974 and 1975, even it the chart makes it appear that none were.
As zenstat indicates, there is an effort to improve upon the current dating guides for Ludwig. It is based upon data gathered from over one thousand drums that possess both serial numbers and date stamps. The full results are not yet available, as I intend to present them along with a detailed summary of the methodology I employed and include several other observations that emerged from information from a large number of drums. I will say that date stamps appear to have continued through most of 1971. Therefore, this guide should extend the time frame for reliable date estimating through 1971. [Note: Another 50 drums possess date codes rather than date stamps, like wflkurt's drum with the 4272 date code. The date codes appeared on paper labels that surfaced in the 1971/72 time frame. If the date code can be deciphered, more information can be gained which will help this effort.]
Although not germain to this current discussion, there is also a dating guide for Ludwig Standards on the way. I have collected data on these drums and the paper associated with that project has been drafted. I hope to make it available soon.
Rick
