Paiste Brass-Tones 18" Ride

Ludwig & Paiste: A marriage made in heaven (until it wasn't!)

Introduction:
Ludwig officially listed Paiste cymbals under the Ludwig name in their catalogs starting in 1957 (Previously, Ludwig began importing Paiste Gongs to the U.S. around 1953).
However, there are several accounts that the relationship started much earlier than that: there is proof that William Ludwig Sr. had a relationship with Michail Paiste before WWII. Robert Paiste recalls in an interview that his father already had business contacts with Ludwig Sr. while we were in Estonia (1930’s). Also, In the early post-war period (1945/46?) Robert also states: “the Ludwig family sent care packages which at that time could not be paid for with money”.

The beginning (the Ludwig “3-star”):
In or around 1956, Bill Ludwig Sr. was visiting his childhood home in Nenderoth Germany, afterward he attended the Frankfurt music fair where met Michail Paiste, he purchased some samples (ND12 Stambuls) from Michail Paiste and brought them back to the U.S, Bill Ludwig Jr. found them too thick for the US market, but the price was extremely attractive so he ordered more of them.
These cymbals were stamped with the Ludwig name (the Ludwig “3-star”) creating exclusivity among American drum companies, they planned to sell them with their drum outfits. Ludwig ordered 20,000 cymbals per year for several years ('57 to '64) and received nothing but a good comments about them.

It cannot be emphasized enough the importance of this business relationship; Europe was still recovering from WWII, many countries were still under rationing laws for many materials including gas and food. Paiste was able to grow exponentially with the huge increase in production volume and sales. It is speculated that this increase in revenue allowed the Swiss factory to ramp up production very quickly. It is known that Robert moved there in 1956 to setup his own factory, we think he was able to hire new employees and buy the required machines to mass produce the Ludwig “3-star”, at the same time he was searching for a source of B20 and experimenting with/developing the rolling process so he could make world class B20 cymbals. We don’t think would’ve happened so quickly without Ludwig's business!

1964, Ludwig and the Formula 602:
Around 1963 to early ‘64, during one of Bill Ludwig Jr’s visits to London, Ivor Arbiter (English distributor for Paiste) suggested he try the “first line” Paiste cymbals; the formula 602, Bill did and felt that they were too heavy like the 3-star’s were.
Bill Jr. ordered seventy five 602’s mostly to show at the 1964 Chicago Convention that summer, when Avedis Zildjian saw the display, he immediately cut off Ludwig from distributing his cymbals (Ludwig had sold mainly Zildjian cymbals starting from their first catalog in 1912!). The Paiste brothers were at the music convention and assured Bill Jr. that they would stand by him. They worked out a contract, giving Ludwig exclusive distribution for all of North America and Mexico and in return Ludwig ordered 2,000 Formula 602 cymbals per month (24,000 per year!). When the brothers received the initial order, they brought it to their bank in Switzerland and secured a credit line to finance a large expansion of the factory and modernize a lot of their equipment.

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Sources: Robert Paiste 2006 interview, Bill Ludwig's book; "the making of a drum company", pictures courtesy of the Pro Drum shop in Hollywood, CA.
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