Budget Black Beauty

The Pork Pie BoB literally uses the same shell as the Black Magic IIRC. And it sounds indistinguishable. Get the Pork Pie BoB!

The other brands mentioned (like the Pearl Sensitone) are good snares, but they do not have that Ludwig Black Beauty/Black Magic sound.
 
Rdhefner said:
I'm looking for a budget friendly snare similar to Ludwig's Black Beauty. It seems Ludwig has stopped (or temporarily stopped) producing the Black Magic. Are there other options that fit the $300-400 range? Pearl Sensitone Heritage Alloy? DW Design Series Black Nickel? What do you recommend?
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I got my black magic here. Hope this helps
 
Buying a Black Beauty pretender is just simply a stop gap for you . You know you want a Black Beauty - save your Pennies and keep your eyes open for a used one if you don’t want to buy a brand new one . They come up for sale relatively frequently . You will be happier getting the snare you REALLY want .
 
IBitePrettyHard said:
The Pork Pie BoB literally uses the same shell as the Black Magic IIRC. And it sounds indistinguishable. Get the Pork Pie BoB!

The other brands mentioned (like the Pearl Sensitone) are good snares, but they do not have that Ludwig Black Beauty/Black Magic sound.
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The DW nickel-over-brass might. I heard somewhere that it's DW's best selling snare.
 
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yammyfan said:
The DW nickel-over-brass might. I heard somewhere that it's DW's best selling snare.
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I’ve tried one and it’s pretty close. I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference if I hadn’t had the chance to play em side by side. To my ears, the DW was a little less open sounding, but had more bite than the BB. Both great sounding drums so it’s purely preference in terms of sound.
If hardware is a concern, the DW wins, hands down…especially when factoring in price.
 
incrementalg said:
I’ve tried one and it’s pretty close. I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference if I hadn’t had the chance to play em side by side. To my ears, the DW was a little less open sounding, but had more bite than the BB. Both great sounding drums so it’s purely preference in terms of sound.
If hardware is a concern, the DW wins, hands down…especially when factoring in price.
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Very cool. (y)

I'd like to see someone do a blind test between the Ludwig and the DW using identical heads, wires AND tuning. There's a shootout between the two on YT which is good but the drums weren't tuned identically, making it impossible to do an apples-to-apples comparison.

Surprisingly, the comments on that video skew towards preferring the DW which I thought was interesting.
 
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Rdhefner said:
I'm looking for a budget friendly snare similar to Ludwig's Black Beauty. It seems Ludwig has stopped (or temporarily stopped) producing the Black Magic. Are there other options that fit the $300-400 range? Pearl Sensitone Heritage Alloy? DW Design Series Black Nickel? What do you recommend?
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Black Magics use Worldmax shells (as do many of the other BB a-likes), so any of the Worldmax nickel plated drums will be fine.
 
Worldmax have been mentioned a couple of times in this thread. I had a 14" x 6.5" which I stupidly sold to fund another purchase. Of all the snare drums that have been through my hands that's the one I regret selling most.
 
Bull said:
The Black Magics are still in stock at several places. https://memphisdrumshop.com/ludwig-14x65-black-magic-brass-snare-drum-lw6514c
There are tons of Black Beauty B stocks out there this year. I picked up one for a great price a few months ago. Those ,while more expensive than the Pearls, are a great option. Mine only has a tiny coating imperfection inside the drum.
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Fully recommend the B-stock route. Just got a brand new B-stock BB for a great price with a cosmetic flaw inside as well. No issue with playability. A great, great deal as far as i'm concerned. If i could get a B-stock classic maple in pro beat sizes......
 
bermuda said:
Nice drum at a nice price, grab that! I'd buy some triple flange hoops for both sides just so you have another sound option. Might run another $40.


Ooops, looks like it's gone... I hope the OP got it!
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Do we know who got it???
 
SomeBadDrummer said:
Did someone say Pearl? Where's @C.M. Jones when you need him?:LOL: :unsure:
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At your service.

If the OP wants a Black Beauty, I think he should accept no substitutes. Longing for one thing but settling for another is usually an ill-advised solution.

I can, however, vouch for Pearl's Sensitone series. I've had two in my time and was pleased with both. I'm particularly intrigued by the new Heritage Allloy Sensitone shells, the Black Beauty counterpart being the Black Brass Sensitone. It sounds beautiful. It's on my radar as a potential all-weather snare that will allow me to protect my Music City Custom Walnut from unfriendly conditions. I still have some thinking to do.
 
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C.M. Jones said:
If the OP wants a Black Beauty, I think he should accept no substitutes. Longing for one thing but settling for another is usually an ill-advised solution.
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^This, from personal experience, except I did it with actual Black Beauties. I'd always wanted a late-'70's BB, even though the prices had become astronomical. Went through 4 other Black Beauties before realizing that I'd never get past my tiny little OCD brain unless I just bucked up and got the one I wanted. Paid a lot of money for my '79, and it's worth every penny to me. For the amount of money I put out cycling through the other 4, I could have bought "the one" and had some money left over. Shoulda, coulda, woulda... LOL
 
C.M. Jones said:
At your service.

If the OP wants a Black Beauty, I think he should accept no substitutes. Longing for one thing but settling for another is usually an ill-advised solution.

I can, however, vouch for Pearl's Sensitone series. I've had two in my time and was pleased with both. I'm particularly intrigued by the new Heritage Allloy Sensitone shells, the Black Beauty counterpart being the Black Brass Sensitone. It sounds beautiful. It's on my radar as a potential all-purpose snare that will allow me to protect my Music City Custom Walnut from unfriendly conditions. I still have some thinking to do.
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BB Sensitone is gorgeous. I'll wager you have one before the end of 2022 lol.
Ryan Culberson said:
^This, from personal experience, except I did it with actual Black Beauties. I'd always wanted a late-'70's BB, even though the prices had become astronomical. Went through 4 other Black Beauties before realizing that I'd never get past my tiny little OCD brain unless I just bucked up and got the one I wanted. Paid a lot of money for my '79, and it's worth every penny to me. For the amount of money I put out cycling through the other 4, I could have bought "the one" and had some money left over. Shoulda, coulda, woulda... LOL
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This ⬆️. Unless you enjoy finding rescue snares from second hand shops and CL (which I actually do), you can spend much more trying to save 30% and find yourself trying to trade up or sell some unwanted snare to get the one you really want.

@Ryan Culberson nailed it: save your money and get the drum you want, otherwise you'll always be lamenting the fact that you're making love to something other than your true love (which is sort of a weird way to say you'll always regret it). Life is too short to dance with a 🧔‍♀️ so make it count.
 
Ryan Culberson said:
^This, from personal experience, except I did it with actual Black Beauties. I'd always wanted a late-'70's BB, even though the prices had become astronomical. Went through 4 other Black Beauties before realizing that I'd never get past my tiny little OCD brain unless I just bucked up and got the one I wanted. Paid a lot of money for my '79, and it's worth every penny to me. For the amount of money I put out cycling through the other 4, I could have bought "the one" and had some money left over. Shoulda, coulda, woulda... LOL
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Hey Ryan, congrats on getting your dream date! What makes the 70's BB's stand out from the pack for you? I'd be deliriously happy with any of them but wondered why the 70's models are tops for you.
 
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