Can the Ludwig Black Beauty sound any better?

[@stevenwilson9865]

I chose the coated white dot head for my Ludwig. I love Remo and Ludwigs

[@drevildick]

Thinking of doing the same for my BB

[@christopherdonegan1631]

It’s like a different drum, in every way for the better!

[@carlupthegrove262]

I changed out my snare wires to a 42 stand, I think they are PureSound, and I use Aquarian TC with a dot and Aquarian Classic Clear on the snare side. I agree this is probably the most versatile snare I own. And oh yeah that stiff plastic strap had to go.... gros grain ribbon is the best snare strap... Thanks for the video.

[@olafbrescia8389]

Love your videos!! They are always fantastic!! On this one - again based only on the recorded sound posted on KZbin - I actually prefer the sound before the changes. There seemed to be more textures coming out of the drum. But also I'm not in the room. I just found a good price on a used 6.5 x 14 Black Magic, and am going to put the BB Weathermaster top/bottom heads on - to get a good baseline sound. I will upgrade to BB in the future and never need to buy another snare drum. I also seem to gravitate to 16-strand wires. We shall see. Thanks again for the great videos!

[@ColeParamore]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@ChrisTibaldiDrums]

Cole!! Love your BB videos. Keep up the great work. Really enjoy your playing as well. I have a 5” BB smooth shell already. 6.5” smooth shell is on the way. Hopefully it will be here soon. I have a 6.5 Supra too. Ludwig definitely nails the snare drum thing. Beautiful drums. Thanks for the videos!

[@ColeParamore]

Thanks Chris! A 5” will be in my future at some point. Appreciate the kind words!

[@justhadrums]

I've found the Remo Controlled Sound X to be the head for mine. It's a 5x14 ss black beauty I bought used from GC on a whim and ended up loving it. I also put puresounds on it which made it even better. I had been wanting to hear those VIC Firth Canopus wires you put on. They sound great, but not a night and day difference like I would have expected. Great vid.

[@ColeParamore]

Thanks! CS Xs are great options for sure. I was also surprised to hear how subtle the difference was in the recording. It was more obvious in person, but a good lesson for recording situations.

[@Assimilator702]

Try some Tama wires. I have all of them and they’re the best wires I’ve used. The 14RLC are the wires I use the most. Fabric ribbon is also the way to go.

[@justhadrums]

@@Assimilator702 I have the Tama sensitive wires with brass end clips and thin lightweight wire. It deboxified an old vintage gretsch with super deep narrow beds.

[@timmyg4295]

Bass drum sounds great!!!

[@mrmisfit635]

I'm driven by overtones. But I prefer the stock wires.

[@CharlesTPrimm]

Great stuff.

[@markwoodward8939]

Can you give more detail on the ribbon please?

[@ColeParamore]

Sorry I missed this, only a year late! Is called Grosgrain ribbon, you can find it at almost any craft store.

[@orthodrummer7945]

Great video 👍 Have a Canopus kit and snare myself and their wires are great ! Interested in what the hi hats are you are using here?😎

[@ColeParamore]

Thanks! Those are a pair of 15" Vintage As.

[@Zacknorris-d5p]

Sounded better before... I think are the wires.

[@simonbroke-smith7783]

Judging by the wear on the old head you always playing it off centre. This will affect this sound as well as dead centre which is better for a more accurate representation sound of any drum. I have played for Ludwig snares since the 70s and have never found any problems with the reso heads. The other thing I have found is that Remo heads sit lower on the rim and you get less depth on the hoops which will affect rim shots. 🤘😎🥁👍

[@ColeParamore]

Hi Simon, someone else mentioned that as well. It's actually mostly a trick of the wide lens I was using at the time. The distortion makes it look much more off center than it is in reality. That's not to say I'd never hit off center - you get a slightly fatter rimshot hitting farther up the drum and more overtones hitting slightly off, but it isn't my go-to all the time. I would also bet that the stock heads from the 70s are different than the ones they're using now. Thanks for watching!

[@simonbroke-smith7783]

@@ColeParamore 🤘😎🥁👍

[@davidsuprenant893]

Two things,I love using ribbon on my snares,and2nd,I haven't got to try the Vic snappy snares by Canopus,are they less expensive than the Canopus wires.?

[@ColeParamore]

David Suprenant I think they’re about the same price unfortunately. Pretty sure they’re literally the same wires though. At least it makes them a little easier to come by!

[@andyman2462]

I just got my black beauty. I felt the same way about the wires. So I put my accrolite pure sounds. And then put the black beauty stock snares on my accrolite. I still have factory heads on it. Because I feel like they are decent grade. But the batter head is heavy. So im thinking about a Remo embassator. How do you feel about taking the rubber bushing off of the lugs? Another guy told me don't do it because you will get lug sply

[@ColeParamore]

Any reason for taking the bushings off in particular?

[@andyman2462]

@@ColeParamore people claim it dentons the sound. Also people suggest to replace the dycast rims with standard. And it really opens up. All I've done so far is replaced the snare wires for pure sounds. Still factory heads on it and so on.

[@ColeParamore]

@@andyman2462 I would rather have that than metal on metal contact.

[@andyman2462]

@@ColeParamore I'll try it then. I only heard one person say don't do it.

[@ColeParamore]

@@andyman2462 Just to clarify, I mean that when you remove the grommets you'll have metal on metal contact. I personally don't think that's going to be preferable to having the grommets there (they install them for a reason). More potential issues and I'm very skeptical of the potential upside but I'd love to hear your results!

[@ChrisTibaldiDrums]

Hey Cole One more question! In your first BB video you mentioned that you had just gotten yours 5-6 months before. Is that a B stock or used drum? I noticed the blue and olive badge on there. Thanks!

[@ColeParamore]

B stock! There was the slightest blemish on the finish but I played it against several other B stock and brand new BBs and it was my favorite. I think they're a great deal if you can get your hands on one.

[@ChrisTibaldiDrums]

@@ColeParamore wow. That’s awesome. I ordered a new 6.5 BB back in early December and it still isn’t here!!! It’s killing me. No one had them in stock back then. There was a few B Stocks available on different sites. I should have just gone with one of those, saved some cash and 6 months of agony. Lol

[@ColeParamore]

@@ChrisTibaldiDrums It'll be worth the wait!

[@retired_robot666]

What kind of hi hats are those ?

[@ColeParamore]

Those are a pair of 15" Vintage As that I no longer own. Great cymbals but weren't quite my sound. They're often fairly affordable if you can find some.

[@Richie_Sharp_Drums]

I just listened with good quality speaker. I found the second more open sounding, and definitely more of a note. But, for whatever reason I just like the sound of the first, I reckon in context of a mix the first would blend nicer

[@gregchapman3519]

Better!

[@riffeishonman]

Nice video. I have a brass snare of this type, and noticed grosgrain actually raises the pitch of my reso head considerably when engaged, even more than nylon strip. I did try grosgrain because of all the comments about it but I though it choked my head more. I went back to string. But I'm using a different snare wire (puresound twisted) though. Have you tried string? Cheers.

[@ColeParamore]

Don't typically prefer string but glad you dig it!

[@hugorezende199]

are you being serious about it? No joke, how a ribbon that atatch the snare wires could possibly change the sound, dont make sense at all. Does not have anything related to the sound of the snare.

[@riffeishonman]

@@hugorezende199 lol of course it makes sense. Any pressure or external object influencing the vibration of the bottom head can change the pitch, especially of the fundamental note of the snare tuning. The tension of both heads together are what generates and directly influence the pitch of the notes on each snare and their intervals.

[@hugorezende199]

@@riffeishonman i just can't notice a diference. But okay, maybe you have a point. I just putted a guitar strings to atacth the snare wire in the throw off and for me zero makes a diference, i was using a plastic piece but i had to replace in a studio, and then i used what i had in the time, and is still there making it work 😅 Also i used a coated head in the botton in a emergency gig once and i also could not tell the diference (if its proper placed).

[@riffeishonman]

@@hugorezende199 it also depends on your snare and the snare beds it has. It chances from snare to snare because they're all different, also the snare wires might seat on the head at a different angle depending on whether you use string, plastic strap or grosgrain. If you're really looking for the best snare sound and measure by notes, not just tension, you need to check this out.