That's a very great point! I hadn't even considered the foreign interest in vintage American drums. In a comparative sense, I'm sure we do have it good. Eye Ball

Ahem. That's why I suggested Japan and Ringo kits some posts back as perhaps a viable way to go. I've studied the pricing of vintage American kits in New Zealand and Australia relative to the USA because I was interested in what was happening. I collected enough data to calibrate the markets.

I don't have the 5 years of tracking data like I do for my Paiste 602/SC study, but I collected enough to have a reasonable picture. It used to be possible before eBay stopped revealing the bidders because you used to be able to record where the winners were registered. Japan (for Ringo kits) immediately jumps out. But Australia and NZ are also relatively expensive. Trout tells it like it is. However, buying a kit in the USA and shipping it to NZ or Australia is also hideously expensive which doesn't give you much room for profit if you wanted to do that (for profit rather than love).

Hello Trout!

The reason I play and buy vintage drums is for the sound. I am a player. I have played for a living all my life. I would gladly buy a rewrapped kit if it had the sound I like. I have done so in the past and will probably do so again. I don't care so much about the appearance of drums , only the sound and sizes. I put my drums on a stage and use them to make music and make other people happy. Putting them on a shelf to look at and admire, only makes me happy. There is a market for good sounding musical instruments. Always has been and always will be. I don't think there is much profit to be made by rewrapping or re-edging and I don't think that ruining a perfectly good vintage drum because you don't like the color is cool at all.

Seems like I read somewhere, Ringo and Epstein went to drum city to buy him a new drum set. they were initially planning on a trixon set. Ringo saw some drum wrap samples on the desk and spotted the oyster black pearl and said "I want this colour, put this on a premier set" The guy says you cant have this on a premier set, it only comes on a Ludwig set. Ringo said ' Ok then I'll use a Ludwig set" The rest is history. Ringo also replaced some of the hardware on his kit to rogers or something and I also read he didnt really care about which Cymbals he played. So some players dont really care about anything but looks. Futhermore, an original kit altered to fit a drummer like Ringo is priceless!!! Some of us are purists, fanatics, and old buzzards. Y'all may not like what I like, but my little drum museum only has to satisfy me!!!x-mas3

It may be difficult to generalize an answer to the question. Put a new wrap on old drums that have tattered wrap on it, and it would probably increase the value unless the wrap was a desirable wrap. It may or may not increase the value equal to the amount you invest in the new wrap, and the labor you put into them.

Really this topic isn't of much value because each set will be slightly different. Couple that with the fact that most vintage drums I come across are definitely NOT basket case wrap condition (almost every single set or around 95% still has good or better wrap condition), I would hesitate to ever say you could make money by re-wrapping.

There's the other side of it, intrinsic value, and that also is going to vary. There are those out there who might prefer the crappy but original wrap. Or there are others that would prefer the original shells but want the set to look good. So this all boils down to personal preference, but there can be no conclusions drawn about it being profitable (in general) to re-wrap a beater set and expect a profit, above-mentioned exceptions notwithstanding. The exceptions may be worth noting but again, not tons of beater sets out there awaiting restoration around here.

Whoa, this is an interesting discussion. I'm gonna hafta book a couple days off work to read it thoroughly though. :Santa:

Before I bought my current vintage kit, I was completely prepared to buy a re-wrapped kit 'cause it was the sound I was after and figured the price would be more affordable. But in doing research I came across discussions such as these where most people highly recommended going all original, which I ended up doing and I am glad I did.

I'm still not opposed to getting a rewrapped vintage kit, though, if they actually sell for a fraction of the cost of an all-original kit. Looking for a cheap starter kit for my 7 year old. (Anybody?) A restored kit might be just the ticket.

And a great sounding player kit would come in handy at times too. For ex. wouldn't really want to tour my near-mint 60's Slingerlands. Don't like the thought of leaving those drums in the back of a van for weeks in the middle of winter/summer.

So as a buyer and not a seller, IMO there is a market, albeit limited, for restored vintage drums.

I may have the ticket you are looking for.....

PM me, and we can chat.

Kev

I'm sort of surprised that the OP hasnt changed his opinion after reading these many posts. The community here has been trying to tell him that rewrapped drums have no value to the drum collector and very limited value to the drum player. Thats just the way it is.

Anybody who buys a vintage set wants to know he/she can sell it at some point later and get most of their money back. A rewrapped set isnt going to have that resale value, period. Drum stores wont even buy them.

On top of all that, in 30 years of playing, collecting, and restoring, I've only seen a few sets where the ONLY choice was to rewrap. Most cracks, splits, etc in wraps can be repaired if you know what you are doing. You are always better off doing that from a resale view.

Excellent point and one that appears to have been overlooked.

I'll tell Y'all what!

Today I finished rewraping my 69 3 ply 5 piece luddy kit out of Citrus Mod from Jammin Sam. I loooooooooooooooooooooooooove!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! these drums!!!!!!!! Just sayn'..........You cant buy em!!!!