Ludwig Black Beauty Snare Drum - 6.5 x 14-inch - Black Nickel with 8-Lugs Reviews
Vintage Black Beauties go for a pretty penny used. That's because hordes of drummers consider them the ultimate in tone and playability. Now you can take home that classic look and sound without the high premium. This snare delivers the definitive warm, fat metallic tone that we drummers aim for. Fitted with Ludwig's P85 Supraphonic strainer, the Black Beauty is super responsive, no matter how hard or soft you hit it. The Black Beauty is only available in limited quantities each year from Ludwig USA. Take it from Sweetwater: this is one instrument you'll want to play for a lifetime.
Earn $45 back in Bonus Bucks† OR pay $38/month with 24 month financing*
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Highest Rated Reviews
Beautiful
Love mine !!
Great Drum!!
Just got my delivery from Sweetwater, unboxed my new 8 lug Black Beauty, tuned her up, and WOW! This drum SINGS! Been waiting over 40 years for one, and am definitely NOT disappointed!!
Ludwig quality not what it used to be
I have had a number of Ludwig snare drums over the years. Many acrolites, even a universal from the early 1900s. Every vintage ludwig has worked the same- pop a head on, finger tighten, give the rods a half to full turn and the heads is nearly perfectly in tune.
A couple of weeks ago I decided to spend a good chunk of money to buy a new black beauty...what a mistake. I am on my third one from Sweetwater. The first one was so out of round I could barely get the head off. It was about 1/4 inch different from one side to the other. Needless to say, it was impossible to tune. 4 lugs were always way looser than the other 4. Sweetwater sent a replacement and it had the same issue, not as bad...but 1/8 inch off. Same tuning issues. They sent a third and it is also not round....about 1/6 off. Now, a 1/6 of an inch might be "within tolerance", but it's also not flat on top. If you set it on a granite countertop and spin it you can see the edge rise and fall. When you put a head on and tighten it evenly, two lugs are much lower than the others. I can get this one to tune and it does sound good...but
Its disappointing that a pretty pricey snare from "the most famous name in drums" is so inconsistent. I probably could have bought a worldmax or pork pie clone for 1/3 the price and it would have been perfect.
Its NOT sweetwaters fault. They have done EVERYTHING to fix this issue for me including having techs inspect the drum before sending it. I'm sure this third one they sent is the best of the by bunch...but Ludwig just doesn't make them like they used to.
My advice if you buy one of these: when you get it, it's going to be really easy to be blinded by how nice it looks and the fact it's a stinkin' black beauty. Pull it out of the box and take the hoops off right away. Look where the head and shell meet to see if there are inconsistent gaps. Then pull the head off and measure the shell all around. If it's more than 1/6th of an inch off anywhere....it's not going to tune right. If you are not willing to do this work....buy a different drum.
