[2] William Jr. had been a professional drummer, playing with circuses and touring vaudeville shows, along with the occasional skating-rink gig.

Despite initial success, Ludwig's global breakthrough would occur February 9, 1964, when The Beatles made their historic American TV debut on The Ed Sullivan Show.

[6][7] The Ludwig logo, displayed on the front of Ringo Starr's bass drum, could be seen by the television audience of about seventy-three million people.

[Ringo Starr] put our name on the front of his bass drum head ... [because] he was so proud that he had an imported drum set from America, especially from a famous company like Ludwig, that at the time of purchase he insisted on having the Ludwig name painted on the front of the head!The publicity resulted in Ludwig's sales doubling quickly to $13 million, which prompted production to increase to a 24/7 production as the company became the foremost drum manufacturer in North America for twenty years.

During the 1970s, Ludwig's "Challenger" line of snare drums offered sophisticated tuning and strong build quality.

Selmer closed the Damen Avenue factory in the ensuing years and moved the drum production business to Monroe, North Carolina, in 1984.