Vintage Ludwig drums restored to mint condition

In January 2023 I bought this beautiful but quite dusty Ludwig Standard drumset made in 1970. It has a 22x14" kick, 16x16" floor tom, and 13x9" / 12x8" rack toms. I spent the next few months meticulously restoring the hardware, shells, heads, and tracking down the missing hardware for it.
This video took quite a while to make, because I had to negotiate some studio space and put together a good recording setup for the kit. I was finally able to shoot the final part of this video in about August this year (though the drums had been back together for a while), and only just now had time to edit and finish it! Now that I've got everything sounding good and wired up I'm really excited to make some more music with it.
Big shout out to ‪@rdavidr‬ for inspiring this video and sending me down the vintage Ludwig rabbit hole with his original Ludwig Standard video: • I Found a Vintage Set ...

[@norrin_sad2778]

I hadn't ever heard of cleaning chrome plated metal with aluminum foil before. Looks like it worked really well, great tip!

[@aluminati9918]

That was totally Awesome! Kit looks great. Well worth the effort. Especially nice in the 2up set up.

[@BadChizzle]

Very nice kit.

[@JM-xu3cr]

Nice work. And a nice touch with replacing the Remo decal on the head.

[@rufusdrums8831]

Try soaking the hoops / lugs in HOT water and blue Dawn soap overnight. Extremely effective, saves us hours and hours of scrubbing! Great video and the kit looks amazing!

[@dmdormansr]

I have a restored Standard as well...I had to get a newer atlass tom mount and had to drill the bass a little...but all in all its a great kit

[@kennethtams-ys5gq]

Chicago Native here. My 1st Kit was a mid 60's Silver Sparkle set with a 5" by 14" Acrolite Snare, 20" Bass Drum 12" Mounted Tom and a 14" Floor Tom. The Beauty and Design of the 60's Drums with the Classic and Imperial Lugs, have an aesthetic that make the 70's Standard Design appear Crude and Unrefined. The Maple Shells are a Saving Grace, as far as the 70's Kit is concerned. These Drums have a Face for Radio.

[@extralifedisco]

Never did like the imperial lugs. Looks like a marching drum to me. Sleeker looks better on the wrapped shells IMO

[@kennethtams-ys5gq]

@extralifedisco You don't like the Imperial Lugs, OK. But the Classic Lugs are the quintessential hardware, for Vintage Ludwig Keystone Drums; No?

[@extralifedisco]

Yeah the classic lugs look nice on the older drums, especially a keystone acrolite or the downbeat. On the vistalites they look way out of place to me, art deco vs memphis design technicolor. I've seen Standard kits where people put classic lugs on em, but I would never alter the spaceship sleek look!

[@steverichdrummr]

Great job on those gorgeous Standards.A little disappointed that your sound clips I can't really hear them. Maybe would have been better just drums, but that's just me. Overall, I love your drums, so nice!

[@davidbeauchamp2161]

2 questions... What did you use to wipe down the shells? And what did you use to remove the remo decal on that kick drum head?

[@extralifedisco]

I used soapy water to clean the shells then meguiars car plastic polish to shine them. I used acetone to remove the decal.

[@brianchisnell1548]

Nobody wanted these back in the day. Not maple. My '69 Hollywood's are not maple. Mine are mahog/ poplar/clear maple inner. A non wrapped drum had maple outer ply, then clear or stained finish. These will sound as good as any Ludwigs. 3 ply is the Key.