mcjnic!...

A couple questions for you on this drum... then I think it can be "dialed in" so to speak... So,

The interior is? Painted white, or natural mahogany? The badge is indeed a WFL? Hard to see in the pics... but if it is, I'm assuming that the interior will be mahogany with maple rings. Still... the "baseball bat" muffler is probably not correct... at least in making this a Buddy Rich model snare drum. ( course that is in name only! ) and more on that in a bit. Anyway, Buddy split WFL/Ludwig for the second time in late 1959... the "baseball bat" muffler didn't come in until 1961, as did the white painted interiors... but by then, Buddy was gone... and he went over to... Rogers! Also, BR model snare drums featured chrome hardware, not nickel. So... what had been the Buddy Rich Super Classic, was renamed just the Super Classic in 1960... right after BR split.

Check to see what the inner shell looks like, and we can go from there... although at this point, it "seems" like this drum is a Super Classic and not a Buddy Rich Rich Super Classic... but remember the name? Outside of a couple little changes, the Super Classic is still pretty much the same drum!

Tommyp

Yes, it is hard to tell what the badge reads for sure....looks to me like it has the crossed sticks on the badge, but it is hard to tell.....if it has the crossed sticks it would be a Ludwig and not a WFL, however, the nickel hardware and the P-87 strainer that is marked WFL MAY put it as a WFL, however....Ludwig did use nickel hardware for sometime in the early 60's as well and it took years for them to use up all the "WFL" p87's before they put the ludwig name proper on them.......interior pic should tell the story for sure......especially if there's a date stamp.....my guess is early 60's pre-serial Ludwig Super Classic......anyone else wanna guess? :D

I'm sorry 'bout jumpin' the gun here. I'm so excited to have picked this one up. I don't even have the snare yet. It's the pics from the seller. I'm ready! I'm ready! I'm ready! Can't wait!!!

I was curious if you could tell. The seller states the badge is WFL and there is another pic of a white inner. I didn't think WFL went into the early 60's. Yet, the white paint puts it at 1960-ish.

I should probably wait for the snare to get here. I'm all goosebumpy.

Actually, the white painted interior... ( which is what I thought it would have because of the baseball bat muffler ) ... started in 1961... but ... the WFL badge was gone by then as Ludwig had bought their name back from Conn in 1955... so, this drum "should" have a Ludwig badge, not a WFL. But the seller states that it HAS a WFL badge! Interesting... but not really as parts were used up as they were available, and there are many examples of drums that DEFY dating because of anomalies here and there, and this may very well be one of those! Still...

It is NOT a Buddy Rich model... ( and BR model snare drums are my thing! ) ... so I still think it is as I originally mentioned: A Ludwig Super Classic model... and yeah, I think you did very well at $175.00! Either way, it will be a nice drum to own and play!!

Tommyp

I'm not so sure that that is a WFL badge on there......the more I blow the picture up the more it looks like the crossed sticks on the badge and I don't recall WFL using the crossed sticks on the badges. I'd say somewhere between 1961-1963 as its a red felt baseball bat muffler. A true WFL would have the small round knob muffler and no paint on the interior. Like I stated before and like Tommy touched on, it wasn't unusual for Ludwig to use older parts until they were used up. Ludwig had a lot of those older WFL marked strainers and buttplates to dispose of before the Ludwig script ones were installed. Why throw them away when you coul just install them on your current models, right?

Either way, you scored a really nice snare that will sound great to boot. I had a WMP WFL Super Classic from 1958 for a short time, so I guess that would make it a true Buddy Rich model then?, and it was fitted with chrome hardware. Looked and sounded amazing........I sold it on Ebay when the market was going completely nuts......one of the few I shoulda kept......oh well, you can't keep them all I suppose.....or can you? Cool Dude

What would the value on this be (the wife asks)?

You did very well........the one I had had an extra hole drilled in it for a light bulb setup for the original calfskin heads......was an old trick they used to keep the heads in tune better from extreme humidity/temperature changes....damn animal skin! LOL!!......anyway, I bought it for $325 and resold it for $450. I think I had it about 8 months before I sold it. If your drum was WMP, it would be worth around that still.....blue sparkle, while more rare, is lesser in value because everybody wants the WMP for their Budy Rich kit. I'd say its still worth about $375 even in this economy. You did well......very well......hating you right now. LOL!!

Ludwig-dude!...

Here's a couple of my 1955 WFL Buddy Rich Super Classic with chrome hardware and in WMP of course as that was BR's color! This drum is in incredible condition and plays/sounds fabulous. Quite articulate for a 3 ply w/rings. When the market was good, this drum would bring $475.00 AND UP easily. In today's market, yeah... not as much, unless your buyer were sitting and waiting for that exact drum, and with some disposable cash in his pocket. So with that said, as mentioned prior, $175.00 was indeed an excellent buy for that drum mcjnic!

Value is a hard thing to figure... the hardware is nickel... but still, the drum appears to be in pretty nice condition. I would say, with the drum all detailed/polished... $300.00. This isn't meant to take anything away from Ludwig-dude's assessment, just my opinion. Either way, at $175.00... an excellent buy!!

Tommyp

My wife is very happy. Thanks.

Kiss