She’s a Beauty

She’s finally here: Ludwig’s Black Beauty snare drum.

The drum arrived after months of waiting. Well, actually decades, really.

I’ve wanted a Black Beauty since my high school band days. For one reason or another I wasn’t able to secure one… until now.

The Black Beauty brass snare drum is legendary and expensive.

I’ve been saving up for one for a long time and it finally paid off. Ideally, I would’ve loved a vintage model. I love the sound of older, well-made snare drums; they just have an aged crack and warm ring that make them sound incredibly musical and soulful. I was searching for one that was from the 1960s or 1970s that was still in decent shape, but the availability, price range and condition of the older drums never came together for me.

I got tired of looking for the “perfect” older model, so I decided to go current. I luckily found a new 2012 B-stock model — after weeks of searching — with a sale price that was one of the lowest I had ever seen. I jumped at the chance and purchased it.

I was so excited! I finally had a Black Beauty of my own! Or, so I thought.

Unfortunately, the next day, I was notified by the drum dealer that his shop had made a mistake and that the snare I found and bought had already been sold. I was heartbroken. The drum shop owner felt so bad for me, he actually offered me a better deal: he would sell me an A-stock 2014 hammered model for the same price. The only catch, I’d have to wait a few months.

Defeat suddenly turned into victory! Deal done.

And now, she’s finally all mine and even more beautiful than I imagined. It was so worth the wait.

 I’m hoping to post up demo videos of the snare drum in action soon. Stay tuned.