A fellow in the Chicago area showed me photos of a black beauty Super Sensitive that I had never seen before. In the photos the drum looks like the typical floral engraved black beauty shell, but it is natural brass, not black. Additionally, the hardware is chrome, not artgold. My first reaction was that the drum shell was buffed to brass and someone replated the hardware. The fellow who owns the drum is 63 yrs old and he bought it when he was 12 yrs old from the original owner. The current owner says the drum was exactly like this when he bought it. Counting back that makes it roughly 50 yrs ago which would put the time of purchase around 1955. Back then people weren't nearly as concerned about "vintage" drums. Drums were drums. Old drums were generally thought of as used drums, not as collectibles, so people didn't spend a lot of time restoring them by replating, etc. So, I asked if I could see the drum and he brought it over. I compared to to a solid shell WMP Ludwig Super that I have. That Super is extremely clean and the hardware is all chrome plated, which they did beginning in the 30s. Anyhow, the hardware (including the strainer) from my 30s Super is a dead match for the hardware on the black beauty Super Sensitive. The top strainer mechanism for the black beauty is also correct, although the snare wires are missing, as is often the case with these. The hardware does not appear to have been replated as far as I can tell. The shell is a two piece heavy brass shell as used in the 20s. The shell exhibits no signs of buffing, and unless it was buffed by a true master I'd be inclined to say that the shell was built this way and was never black. Looks as if it came from the factory as a natural brass shell with only a coat of lacquer over it for protection. So, at this point my best guess is this: Someone special ordered the drum, maybe in the early 30s. Maybe he wanted an engraved heavy shell, but wanted the shell to be natural brass with chrome hardware instead of artgold. The owner is going to send me the photos he has on his digital camera. In those shots the drum has a triple flanged batter hoop but he has the original top hoop and I saw it. It is a dead match for the original bottom hoop. So, I'd be curious to know if anyone else has run across one of these. My good friend Mike Curotto is aware of this drum since he was the first person I called after seeing it. Mike and I have some history on unusual Ludwig Super Sensitives: Back about two years ago I had a Super Sensitive heavy shell that was engraved and was 100% chrome plated. Shell, hardware, strainers, hoops, rods, etc., all chrome. Most people said there was no way that this could be original, and that it was replated. Mike has a friend who is a metallurgist and he had the drum placed under a spectrum analyzer and guess what: it's not replated. So, anything's possible. Let me know if you have any knowledge of something like this.