Overview
There's not a vast amount of information about this model but there is a bit of a tale behind it. Oh, and before we start, I'm not naming the company here as it'll sound like I'm disparaging them, and I'm really not. Anyway...
In February 2022, I spotted it in a Reverb listing by Company A. They stated they weren't sure what exact model it was, but that there was a model number of BPMW4550NL on the box it came in. When they Googled that, only one page showed up - an old listing for a pre-owned Black Panther Memphis on GAK's site, which doesn't look anything like this snare.
Given this, and the lack of any further information, Company A hypothesised that it might be a special edition "Black Memphis" and listed it as such. There's a few problems with that though;
- There's no such thing as a "special edition" Memphis. It already was a special edition, and in one fixed configuration.
- With the exception of that old GAK listing, there's no catalogue or web page that shows a model number for the Memphis, and GAK's original listing for the Memphis when new doesn't show a model number.
- The Memphis has no range badge, whereas this one has the Premium Series badge.
- Most importantly, the shell construction quite clearly isn't the same as the Memphis. That model has 4 very dark and very distinctive plies of walnut, sandwiched between 2 maple plies. This model looks like an all-maple shell.
I did contact Company A about this at the time and said that it looked much more like a Maple shell finished in Flat/Satin Black. In essence I thought (and I still do) that it's basically a Traditional Maple but with black hardware instead of gold, perhaps as a customer special request or a later short run special edition to use up the flat black shells after the newer lacquered model came out in 2007. But I never got a response and I forgot all about it.
Then in July 2022 I got an email through the site from Philippe Perret who had spotted the listing, noticed the discrepancy between the model shown and the Memphis, but thought the price was attractive and wondered if I had any more information. I suddenly remembered contacting the company and told Philippe my thoughts about the snare. I agreed with him that, regardless of the mystery surrounding it, the price was more than fair for a Premium Series Black Panther maple shell, and that he'd get a bit of a unicorn if he went for it. Which, as you can see from his name in the photo credit, he did! And having got his hands on it, his assessment of the shell is what we both initially thought - a Traditional Maple with black hardware or matt finished Black Lacquered Maple (depending on your viewpoint).
So there you go - one more rarity for the vaults and one more very happy Black Panther owner.
If you do happen to know more about this model, do please get in touch and we can fill in its back story.
Update Feb 2023
Anthony Johns got in touch and said that he bought his example of this model from PMT in 2007 (edit - turns out to have been 2008 given the snare production date - see photos). He seems to remember the salesman saying at the time that it was a UK exclusive/limited edition which definitely sounds plausible. Helpfully he managed to dig out some photos (see below) taken when he first bought his example and you can see the catalogue number BPML4550FB on the box - which is the same as the model with gold hardware - although there's a possibility that the second sticker down says BPML4550B FB. Maybe that indicates a B series? Any info gratefully received.
Cheers Anthony!
Photos courtesy of Philippe Perret and Anthony Johns. Thanks a million folks!
