This is a D 500 Reissue. 14×5" This is not a museum piece, it was toured but is in great condition. These were reissued in 1993 and this drum was made in May 1994. The first Sonor drum I ever owned was also a D 500 reissue, and I have NEVER seen one for sale since they went out of production when replaced by the Designer series.
About the D 500 series; the original series ended in the late 70's to the best of my knowledge; had different throws and butts, and triple flange hoops. You almost never see them on the market, as the 14X5.5 was more common.
About the D 500 Reissue; these were released in 1993, with the modern throw and butt, and Hella die cast hoops. The shells were seamless, the triple plating done in Germany was meticulous with polishing performed between each and every layer of plating. These drums are crisp, articulate, sensitive and powerful. There is a touch of magic in these and I would put this drum up against anything Ludwig makes. The lugs have the snap lock system to eliminate detuning, so even of you play flams, you're going to stay in tune. And speaking of flams, flams and cross-sticking never sounded so good.
My personal experience with my first d 500 reissue: I bought one brand new in 1993. It was ordered in for me and I got the excitement of opening the box. I owned several Ludwigs, and expected this to be on par with those. Nope, it killed everything in site. The German manufacturing, and really heavy die cast hoops all add up to a drum that you have to play to appreciate. This thing can be toned down for a throaty fat powerful sound, or you can crank it up to a spike maul meets railroad spike eardrum pierce. It was extremely versatile and was great live and in the studio. Easily in the top 3 favorite snare drums of all times.
There are no comments yet. You have to be logged in to write a comment.