My vintage drum collecting started out with a five-piece Ludwig clear Vistalite set in the 90s. There was a classified ad in my local newspaper that listed two Ludwig drum sets for sale. I bought the two sets and one of them was a clear Vistalite set, and the other a Rocker set. I cleaned up the Ludwig Rocker set and sold it for the price of both sets. I kept the Vistas and my collecting vintage drums started. It was downhill like a snow ball from then on.
I traded that first Vistalite set for an engraved snare drum several years ago, but I have wanted to add a clear set back to my collection. I have other color Vista sets, but I was always hoping to find a nice clear set. My friend, Stewart Ray had this set on display in his music store, Center Stage Music, Augusta, Georgia. He told me it was his set from back in the 1970s. I figured he would never part with those, but he finally decided to sell them. When he contacted me about the possibility of selling them to me, I was certainly interested. They are in beautiful condition.
The set is a Big Beat outfit with 22X14 bass drum, 16X16 floor tom, 12X8 and 13X9 mounted toms. A great set of 8 and 10 concert toms have been added to the set. The kit also features a matching 14X5 snare drum. Ludwig described the Big Beat outfit like this in the Total Percussion catalog '71, "Laying down the big beat is what this outfit was made for. It's built super-strong to take the super-drive of today's rock drummer."
I asked Stewart Ray to write a description of the set that I could use in this article. The following is the note I received from him:
"In 1973, I went off to Shorter College. My parents said, "don't fool with music, study. "Well, I was in two bands the first week, both through the school music programs. I didn't have a drum set, so the school bought one for me and we paid them back. I saw my dream drum set at a music store downtown Rome, Georgia. It was the most awesome kit I had ever seen, Ludwig clear five-piece Vistalite. It travelled many miles with the school sponsored band I was playing with. Later in 1975-76 I went on the road with a Christian group out of Greenville, South Carolina called Turning Point. That is when I added the 8 and 10" toms to the kit. In one year, we travelled 81,000 miles, all with this kit. I sold them to a friend in 1985, he kept them in his home for the most part. We stayed in touch and in 2010 I bought them back from him. This kit is almost like it just came out of the box. Beautifully preserved. It is bitter sweet to sell them, but I feel much better knowing my good friend Phil Wilson has them. They are in good hands. Take care of them, my friend. They are a part of me."