The outcome of my jolly investigation into the history of my Black Beauty drum is somewhat inconclusive. It appears to be an early-80s model and not a 70s model as described by the eBay seller! But it’s difficult to say if its brass or bronze. That said, there are patches on the interior of the shell that reveal a pinkish metal, which suggests bronze. It’s still a great sounding drum, either way. Let’s not forget that cymbals are also made from a bronze alloy, so it can obviously have wonderful sonic properties.
As a final thought, I found this insightful post on the Drum Forum:
Brass vs. Bronze
“There are a couple of thousand different formulas in the copper alloy family with over 300 hundred “brass” and over 300 “bronze” alloy formulas. Trying to figure the alloy composition out for a line of snares with as long as a production run as the BB has had is virtually impossible! With economics as a main driving factor you can sure bet that there is a fair amount of variety in Ludwig “brass.” I have two modern BB’s and they are from different alloy formulas. Additionally, I have a late 70’s/early 80’s BB (L417) and a mid-80’s hammered bronze (L552KY), which I was curious about the alloy composition.
I took them to work and did a PMI test on them and found out exactly what alloy they were made of. I was surprised how different the 417 dwas to most commercial brass, and is actually closer to what is called German silver or Alpaca. Yes, under the black coating my shell is silver in appearance in contrast with the yellow / gold color (or traditional brass) of my LB2009BT. The L552 is consistent with what can be called “commercial” bronze which is in the 90%/10% Cu /Zn* alloy neighborhood.”
thanks for the information
From the 1980 Ludwig catalog, Black Beauty snares were stiill brass and did not become the black nickel over bronze until 1988.
Thnx for your nice BB information. Still a small question: My BB has a Cut B/O badge an on the inside a stamp with says: 11 22 ** (unreadable grrrr) I suspect its the date nov 22, but the year is still a question. Can you shed a light on this?
I have photos available if you like
Thnx in advance!
Best Paul
I’m afraid I can’t! I’m no expert, just going on the information that’s out there already. I think it’s very difficult to get a definite answer in some cases. Black Beauties are mysterious and enigmatic… not that that helps. Sorry!
Hi Paul did you ever find out what year and date your stamp 11 22 represented? Curious to know I am trying to date my drums they have a 122 stamped in black on the inside.
So, I have a early 2000’s Ludwig BB; I think. The serial # is 3456361. Can you tell me anything about this drum? Thank you kindly.
-Frank O.
No much, but it’s probably nickel over brass. Ludwig went back to making brass BBs in the mid-90s, and think they’ve been that way since.