The hoops on my Monroe supra are like that, too. I think it's like that to give a little extra clearance for the snare wires when the snare head is cranked up really tight. I've seen drums where it's cranked up so tight that the hoop is almost flush with the bearing edge. To me, that's excessive, but to each his own.

With the SS, it's even more important, because the snare wires drop down further from the head when they're disengaged, so they need that extra space.

Just what 8upwithit said! The snare mechanism requires the extra space to lower the wires properly. Also, the Ludwig SS mechanism works best with a Ludwig head on the reso side, as the head has a lower collar and will still allow the snare wires to lower enough even when the head is cranked way too tight!

Mark

I believe the "bow" is correct!, as here's a pic of my OEM 1982 Ludwig Hammered Bronze SuperSensitive .. ( Buddy Rich! ) .. note the slight "bow" to allow the wires room to drop...

Tommyp

From what I understand, Ludwig no longer makes heads. My new Maple Classics came with import Remos.

Very interesting! My recent Maple Classic snare drum did come with Ludwig Weather Master heads. And, I was under the impression that Ludwig was only making heads for 14" snare drums, but everything else was Remo. Will have to check into this.

-Mark

I recently bought a new Ludwig Monroe-made snare drum. The heads were printed with ludwig logos, but they were Evans heads, G2 batter and Reso 300 snare-side. The factory markings on the hoops confirmed this.