Yeah, the bottom snare. When I sold the drum, I made sure and stated in bold letters that the drum was not a real BB. The only reason I sold it was to pay for a 6.5x14 Bronze Supra.

Did it have a weld in the shell?

I am starting to sway towards mine being authentic as there is no weld in the shell. Which i am guessing rules out any cheap copy being involved as i presume they are all made in this way?

Any experts here that know the score on this?

Your Steve Ferrone is probably a World Max Shell. If there is a noticeable difference you probably have your answer. If you don't trust your drum teacher, why study with him? I think,(and I'm sure that others here agree) you do in fact have a black beauty. Now go enjoy it!Party

Yes, it had a welded seam. I would say that yours is an authentic BB. Now, do you happen to see a "B" stamped anywhere near the tone control knob or throwoff? Just wondering.

It never dawned on me that the Steve Ferrone could have a world max shell.

Now you mention it, when i look at it....

They are fantastic drums for the price.

Its definatly a different shell on the BB i have.

And as for my teacher, he doesnt teach me anymore and he also could have got the drum without knowing for himself exactly what it was. There are reasons i am sceptical which i wont go into here (and they arnt nearly as exiting as you think)

As for the letter "B" stamped, thats interesting i will look for that, although i dont remember seeing any text on the shell.

Can i just say thankyou to helping me along with my snare.

Since the missing grommet was pointed out to me on this forum, ive spoken to a drum builder who is very kindley sending me one.

It will look something like this. The "BZ" is stamped on the Bronze drums, "B" would be for brass.

Thats looks pretty easy to spot. Do all black beautys have this?

OK ... So I'm digging up the past here but what you have is most likely a Ludwig Black Chrome snare drum and not a Black Beauty. The thread just seemed to die when you were asked to locate the B or BZ shell stamp so I will assume it didn't have either. You should try the magnet test too. It's likely to stick on your shell and that will put it to rest. Also this is an early to mid-'80's drum for reference.

Not sure how long the attached photos will stay hosted as this is up for sale on eBay at a really substantial price.

3,000,000 serial seems a tad high for even early 80s. Not sure what this drum is. Didn't Ludwig start putting B/O badges on later drums?

No, the B/O are contemporary for that time period. If Ludwig sequencing has any logic it has to be after that (earliest would be the early- to mid-80's on the BC). I don't recall seeing the BC being offered in the catalogs. I'll make a new post this weekend with my BC with all the details and link to this posting.

Hop