This next kit comes from the days before the two great names of Leedy & Ludwig were forced together under the cost-cutting auspices of the CG Conn company.

The original Ludwig company was founded by brothers William and Theo Ludwig. Theo succumbed to the flu epidemic of 1918. But his part in founding that most illustrious of companies lives on in this dazzling Ludwig & Ludwig kit.

This was a typical set-up before Gene Krupa came along in the mid 1930s with his tuneable tom toms and defined the modern kit. It’s a perfectly preserved example of how the drum kit started to take shape in the jazz age and we are grateful that Wigan drummer and collector Dave Brown brought it along to the National Drum Fair last Autumn.