From Roy Haynes, to John Bonham to Joe Morello, to Bill Bruford, to Don Brewer, to Steve Gadd. All unique sounds. All Supraphonics. ( I tried dozens of fancy ass snares including a custom built and just went back to the Supraphonic. It just works. I think in your vid the medium high tuning was best, but they all sounded good.
Exactly - cross genre, different type of hitters, and it still just works! That medium high was mentioned by a few others too, maybe that's around the sweet spot?
Many thanks, @aluminati9918 ! Really appreciate the kind words, and for taking the time to check the vid out. Couldn't agree more about Ludwig snares - there's a reason they're often imitated and never duplicated.
Great vid as always Nick 👍 I also have a, although slightly more pitted, 1968 LM400 (and a 402 from the same year as well). Bought them because that’s my year of birth. :) It’s the most versatile drum I own. Takes every tuning and every microphone like a champ. Thx for sharing your beautiful supra! 🥁
Thank you, @dataslipsen ! This was a fun vid to make, and loved how the drum adapted in every tuning. It truly is a jack of all trades drum. How cool that you have both the LM400 and LM402 of your birth year! Out of the two, do you have a preference?
I never knew there was a date stamp inside the shell, mostly because I went my entire adult life not doing any drumming, and just got back into it during retirement. I just looked at mine and the date is October 17, 1966. There's also a hand-scripted letter "L" inside and I wonder if that identifies an inspector or the person who did the final assembly. Mine is flawless, without a spec of corrosion or damage. I got it used with a drum small kit in about 1971 when I was a kid. I prefer graduated mufflers and I never liked the lever-action muffler on these drums because it's all or nothing, and because it's so tight that it noticeably wonks-out the tuning (creating a zone of the head having a sharply higher pitch than the rest of the head), and the same is true for toms having this kind of muffler, but I've found that flipping the lever up just enough to put the edge of the muffler lightly against the head avoids that problem and is usually satisfactory.
Yep! Most vintage Ludwig’s have that date stamp inside the shell. They can easily be removed, so be careful if you ever clean the shell! That’s a great snare, and great year! I agree, I have the baseball bat lever dampers on my late 60s downbeat kit, and do the same thing if I need a bit of muffling - just a slight turn to get them to barely engage. What kit do you have now?
@@NickCostaMusic Thanks. I won't try to clean the inside of the shell. I honestly haven't tried to identify the kit. I was a kid at the time when my parents bought it used from a jazz drummer in his 20s who was apparently calling it quits and moving on after college. He informed us that the kit was the "second-best" level of quality that was produced by Ludwig, whatever that might mean, and the price he paid had been $600 (four-piece kit) but I don't know if that included the cymbals (ride, crash, hi-hat). I can say that's it has a blue metal-flake paint. The cymbals are rather strange, with a bit of a clunky sound but they are Avedis Zildjian (again, I don't know if such cymbals came with a Ludwig kit or had to be purchased separately).
If you got the kit in the early 70s, then based off you said (clunky avedis zildjian) they're most likely from the A series. As for drums, do you remember the sizes (20 kick, 12 rack, 14 floor, or 22 kick, 13 rack, 16 floor)? Did they have 1 lug in the middle, or 2 lugs (one on top, one on bottom)?
@@NickCostaMusic Small tom =12", floor tom = 14", bass drum = 20". All drums have separate lug mounts for the top and bottom heads. I assume the whole kit was the same age as the snare drum, so built in 1966.
Thanks @daviddoyle1409 ! Heads are Remo - Ambassador X coated on the top, Ambassador snare side on the bottom. Snare Wires are a set of World Max german snare wires
Sounds great. Never saw a Corvette I didn't like. Same goes with Supraphonics 😂. When I went looking to buy I decided to get the LM402 since I already had 2 Acroliite 5" deep, and several other 5+5-1/2 snares. I prefer it now to all of my snares. It can tune so low and go so high! I did throw a set of cast hoops on it to see how I liked it, but prefer the steel. I have no idea what it is about this line but they just got the perfect design on them. So if I could only keep one snare, this would be mine. Still haven't found my black beauty though!
That’s a great analogy! Excellent decision with the LM402 - those rip. If it was good enough for Bonham, right? You have a great arsenal of snares there, too!
Who doesn't love the Supra??.... Mine is a later model (B/O badge) but the sound is the same... I love the Medium High tuning. But it works at all tunings... Nice job on the vid.
Seriously - they sound great with any style! As for tuning, I go by ear. I make the reso table top tight for a quick snare response, then adjust the batter based off the sound I'm going for
Hi Nick, can you (or anyone else who’s also knowledgeable) explain to a noob what sets this snaredrum (shell) apart from other chrome snares? As in, what makes it sound better. Is it the material or construction or? Legitimate question.
Hey @99rpm - a lot of beginner/entry level shells are steel with chrome plating, and most likely welded together. A supraphonic is aluminum with chrome plating, and is a seamless/spun shell. That's the primary difference that makes this stand out as a more pleasing sound sonically, though the hoops, hardware, number of lugs can all effect the sound as well.
I love the sound, but I will never buy one (vintage COB being an exception, depending on condition and price). I just can't deal with the pitting. Aluminum and chromium are galvanically incompatible, so pitting is inevitable. But there is magic in that fragile combination (IMHO it sounds better than the Acrolite, and different from COB), so I can't blame others for not caring, nor Ludwig for continuing to make them.
From Roy Haynes, to John Bonham to Joe Morello, to Bill Bruford, to Don Brewer, to Steve Gadd. All unique sounds. All Supraphonics. ( I tried dozens of fancy ass snares including a custom built and just went back to the Supraphonic. It just works. I think in your vid the medium high tuning was best, but they all sounded good.
Exactly - cross genre, different type of hitters, and it still just works! That medium high was mentioned by a few others too, maybe that's around the sweet spot?
Great deal on a legendary snare drum! I like the medium to med-hi tuning in most cases but med-low to fatten it up.
Excellent playing! Ludwig snares rule. Keep the great vids coming.
Many thanks, @aluminati9918 ! Really appreciate the kind words, and for taking the time to check the vid out.
Couldn't agree more about Ludwig snares - there's a reason they're often imitated and never duplicated.
Definitely one of my favorites along with the Black Beauty. Great job as always Nick!
Can’t go wrong with either, and you can cover everything with those two. Appreciate the continued support, @jkozol ! 🙏🏼 🥁
Killer snare on high tuning, especially.
Totally agree - medium-high and high tunings are my go to
Love it. Thanks for the video
Of course! Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for watching🥁
Great vid as always Nick 👍 I also have a, although slightly more pitted, 1968 LM400 (and a 402 from the same year as well). Bought them because that’s my year of birth. :) It’s the most versatile drum I own. Takes every tuning and every microphone like a champ. Thx for sharing your beautiful supra! 🥁
Thank you, @dataslipsen ! This was a fun vid to make, and loved how the drum adapted in every tuning. It truly is a jack of all trades drum.
How cool that you have both the LM400 and LM402 of your birth year! Out of the two, do you have a preference?
@@NickCostaMusic Surprisingly the 5x14” is my go to.
Just got one; probably will keep it for life.
Excellent choice!
Best snare ever made...I have a 1966 LM400
Most recorded that's for sure!
I never knew there was a date stamp inside the shell, mostly because I went my entire adult life not doing any drumming, and just got back into it during retirement. I just looked at mine and the date is October 17, 1966. There's also a hand-scripted letter "L" inside and I wonder if that identifies an inspector or the person who did the final assembly. Mine is flawless, without a spec of corrosion or damage. I got it used with a drum small kit in about 1971 when I was a kid. I prefer graduated mufflers and I never liked the lever-action muffler on these drums because it's all or nothing, and because it's so tight that it noticeably wonks-out the tuning (creating a zone of the head having a sharply higher pitch than the rest of the head), and the same is true for toms having this kind of muffler, but I've found that flipping the lever up just enough to put the edge of the muffler lightly against the head avoids that problem and is usually satisfactory.
Yep! Most vintage Ludwig’s have that date stamp inside the shell. They can easily be removed, so be careful if you ever clean the shell!
That’s a great snare, and great year! I agree, I have the baseball bat lever dampers on my late 60s downbeat kit, and do the same thing if I need a bit of muffling - just a slight turn to get them to barely engage. What kit do you have now?
@@NickCostaMusic Thanks. I won't try to clean the inside of the shell. I honestly haven't tried to identify the kit. I was a kid at the time when my parents bought it used from a jazz drummer in his 20s who was apparently calling it quits and moving on after college. He informed us that the kit was the "second-best" level of quality that was produced by Ludwig, whatever that might mean, and the price he paid had been $600 (four-piece kit) but I don't know if that included the cymbals (ride, crash, hi-hat). I can say that's it has a blue metal-flake paint. The cymbals are rather strange, with a bit of a clunky sound but they are Avedis Zildjian (again, I don't know if such cymbals came with a Ludwig kit or had to be purchased separately).
If you got the kit in the early 70s, then based off you said (clunky avedis zildjian) they're most likely from the A series. As for drums, do you remember the sizes (20 kick, 12 rack, 14 floor, or 22 kick, 13 rack, 16 floor)? Did they have 1 lug in the middle, or 2 lugs (one on top, one on bottom)?
@@NickCostaMusic Small tom =12", floor tom = 14", bass drum = 20". All drums have separate lug mounts for the top and bottom heads. I assume the whole kit was the same age as the snare drum, so built in 1966.
Great video! Would you mind sharing the snare heads and snare wires you used on this Supraphonic? Thanks!
Thanks @daviddoyle1409 ! Heads are Remo - Ambassador X coated on the top, Ambassador snare side on the bottom. Snare Wires are a set of World Max german snare wires
Are both top and bottom cranked on your high tuning..?
Sounds great. Never saw a Corvette I didn't like. Same goes with Supraphonics 😂. When I went looking to buy I decided to get the LM402 since I already had 2 Acroliite 5" deep, and several other 5+5-1/2 snares. I prefer it now to all of my snares. It can tune so low and go so high! I did throw a set of cast hoops on it to see how I liked it, but prefer the steel. I have no idea what it is about this line but they just got the perfect design on them. So if I could only keep one snare, this would be mine.
Still haven't found my black beauty though!
That’s a great analogy! Excellent decision with the LM402 - those rip. If it was good enough for Bonham, right? You have a great arsenal of snares there, too!
Who doesn't love the Supra??.... Mine is a later model (B/O badge) but the sound is the same... I love the Medium High tuning. But it works at all tunings... Nice job on the vid.
They just work, period. The medium-high, and high tunings are my favorite too!
Epic..the father of snares!!!
Seriously! It is THE vintage snare sound
Can’t go wrong with the Supraphonic! Can you explain the different tunings (how tight the batter/reso)?
Seriously - they sound great with any style! As for tuning, I go by ear. I make the reso table top tight for a quick snare response, then adjust the batter based off the sound I'm going for
The plandemic was the best time to buy drums, some great prices. Those days are long gone.
Totally, and cars too!
@@NickCostaMusic Yes, cars! Now it's nuts.
Plandemic 🤘😂
Hi Nick, can you (or anyone else who’s also knowledgeable) explain to a noob what sets this snaredrum (shell) apart from other chrome snares? As in, what makes it sound better. Is it the material or construction or? Legitimate question.
Hey @99rpm - a lot of beginner/entry level shells are steel with chrome plating, and most likely welded together. A supraphonic is aluminum with chrome plating, and is a seamless/spun shell. That's the primary difference that makes this stand out as a more pleasing sound sonically, though the hoops, hardware, number of lugs can all effect the sound as well.
Clear, thanks Nick!
Gorgeous and mine ❤🤭
A drum that has both looks AND sound!
I love the sound, but I will never buy one (vintage COB being an exception, depending on condition and price). I just can't deal with the pitting. Aluminum and chromium are galvanically incompatible, so pitting is inevitable. But there is magic in that fragile combination (IMHO it sounds better than the Acrolite, and different from COB), so I can't blame others for not caring, nor Ludwig for continuing to make them.
Totally get it - it’s definitely a situation where you try to find one with the least amount. They do sound fantastic though - we can agree on that!
Que bien suena esa trampa o redoblante.....mi estimado que suegerencia o del trampa?
Depende del sonido que prefieras, ¡aunque el Ludwig Supraphonic siempre es un tambor muy versátil!
Esta bien mi estimado, uno de esa trampa o redoblante cuanto cuesta en mi pais no hay esa trampa.
No estoy seguro, aunque puedes encontrarlos en reverb.com o eBay; solo tendrás que enviarlo a tu país.
You know who makes better snares than Ludwig?, eh, nobody.
Couldn’t agree more, @foreverdownbylaw !
Noble & Cooley
Rogers
Gretsch make a great snare.
Noble and Cooley, but for 3x the price.
I thought it was the lm402
The lm402 is the 6.5x14 model
Are you pronouncing it "Lug-wig"?
Lud-wig - you're hearing my Philly accent...