Ludwig Corey Miller Snare review

  • £449
  • $449
The Corey Miller is laser-engraved with the tattoist's trademark rose and dragon designs.

MusicRadar Verdict

High-end snare that does what its supposed to.

Pros

  • +

    Gorgeous instrument with a gloriously offensive tone.

Cons

  • -

    Expensive - and slightly marred by cheap strainer.

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Ludwig's new Corey Miller snare is a similarly proportioned instrument to the company's other new signature model, the Joey Kramer - but dimensions aside it's a very different animal.

It's a 1.5mm steel shelled drum, powder-coated in white both outside and in. Hoops are 2.3mm triple-flanged and there are 10 chrome-over-brass tube lugs.

Corey is better known for his tattoos than his punk drumming, and his drum is laser-engraved with hand-drawn samples of his trademark rose and dragon designs. It's a cool looking drum, especially if you get Corey's full Ludwig kit and tattooed Remo heads to accompany it.

The Corey Miller has steel washers under the tension rods. It features the same conventional throw-off - a familiar generic model - as the Kramer and Ludwig's other new snare, The Brick.

It's solid and works a treat. But could Ludwig not have at least put its name on there somewhere, particularly on the relatively expensive signature drums? It rather cheapens what are otherwise typically impressive Ludwig snares.

Hands on

Steel is probably the brightest, most penetrating of shell materials. The white powder coating Miller's drum has both inside and out makes it ultra-reflective.

The outcome is a hollow, oil drum sort of clang. It still rings, even when struck dead centre without rim-shotting. It looks pretty but is designed to be offensive - in the nicest possible way - to crash through the nastiest of punk.