Ludwig Black Beauty?

[veggyboy]

Has anyone played or owned a Ludwig Black Beauty?

I just purchased the 14x5 (LB416T) and must admit...man I can hear the screams of blasphemy now!...I wasn't that impressed. And I'm a fan of metal snares. IMO, it sounded pretty thin.

I have the snare-side head pretty tight - about an 1/8" "give" if you press the center with your finger and the batter head about the same, maybe even a little looser. The overall pitch of the drum is around "A". I like my snares somewhat tight to where they start sounding "thicker", but controlled the more I tighten them.

It still has the stock heads (Ludwig coated medium batter/Weathermaster snare-side), so I'm hoping a Remo coated CS will really improve the sound. I've been using that batter for years on all my snares and have always had excellent results, regardless of the snare I put it on.

Any tips or thoughts?