Hate to disagree Steve, but you are misinformed. The reason for the proliferation of B Stock Ludwig's, in particular the Black Beauties stems from the fact that there is still literally ONE GUY doing the black nickel plating. For whatever reason, it is apparently a difficult process to get the finish up to Ludwig's specs. Thus there are many drums that don't meet "A Stock" quality. Given the strong demand for BB's (and this goes back the entire decade I've been in and around retail), Ludwig has been seizing the opportunity to sell the B-stock drums at a discount instead of taking the loss and scrapping them.
Has nothing to do with retailers at all. It's all about the fact that the BB is a great drum, tons of drummers want it, but it is difficult to produce them 100% up to spec 100% of the time.
I didn't know there was only one guy doing the plating.The reason I pointed to the retailer in this case, is that is where the problem began.He clearly took a B stock drum,and tried to pass it off as a A stock drum,hoping the buyer wouldn't notice.That is not Ludwigs fault.and I never said it was.
Your statement is exactly the point that I was trying to make.I have no problem with B stock drums and I agree its a great opportunity to own a legendary drum at a discounted price.Scrapping a perfectly good players drum dosen't make sense.
The production quotas this indivual is under must be intense,so there is little wonder why there are so many B stock drums.Given my former training as a journeyman die maker /machineist ,I understand that this is not a walk in type of job and it does require training.But the thinking behind having only one individual who is trained to make your flagship snare drum is questionable at best.
My understanding was that Ludwig ONLY wants A stock drums on the market,and has cut back on production to achieve that end.
I'm a long time Ludwig fan,but Selmer needs to dig in their pockets a little deeper,and hire some more staff.Ludwig makes great drums,but people only remember the bad things they hear,thats reality.I'm sure that out of a few hundred great drum sets,maybe one or two have serious issues.So far I've only heard about a half dozen cases at most,having problems with Ludwig,and the majority saying their drums,have no problems at all.
Steve B