Well....if this is going to be a true internet debate, you'll have to give me a minute to come up with a way to blame you for my assumption...:)Neat that you live [sort of] nearby [except now neither of us will find Luddies in a dumpster] - do you come to town to play? Let me know I'll come check it out....So you know what I mean about prices here though eh? There's a Ludwig shell pack on CL & kijiji for about $800.00, just the three shells....they're black. Wow!But I should provide some full disclosure here - I don't like nice new things. I don't even like old things that are too nice. Because then I have to worry about them. The kit restos on this site are awesome but I almost always like the kit better before the resto. It's true I remove WMP wrap often and ditch the stained backing paper and paint the back arctic white...but the wrap is still pretty yellow, just not water-stained.Anyway, that's a bias I have in this discussion.Mitch
I don't search out American drums. If I come across them and they are within the ballpark, then I will go for them-----so the dumpsters are safe, from me.-----a story about dumpsters.
About 3 years ago, I saw an offer on ebay for 2 Sonor toms, in Toronto, from a seller that I recognized because I had previously bought something from him. I also rebuild and recondition microscopes. About 5 years ago I had bought an almost impossible to find part( condenser) for one of the most expensive research microscopes built in the U.S in the 1930's. At the time, that microscope cost about the same as a house and a lot. The condenser was extremely rare. The seller was on College st. I asked to pick up the condenser but it wasn't possible. A couple of years later, I asked on the toms but got a reply from another person, saying the seller was away and would reply when he got back. Turned out to be o.k. , so I arranged a Sun. p/u ,when I was in T.O.----not College st., this time----out towards the beaches.
The seller was part of a group of sellers , who used the same username but generally looked after their own stuff and they had a storefront out Kingston Rd., or thereabouts.
The guy was a drummer and was going to be touring a bit and said he would keep an eye out for stuff of interest to me, in his travels .His hair looked odd, kind of, highly stylized.I knew I recognized the do but I wasn't focused on that. I was there to pick up the toms, which cost me 66.00. He had a lot of diverse stuff of all kinds and I bought some other small drum parts.
About 2 months later, my wife was listening to a C.B.C. radio documentary about a dumpster diver in Toronto and it turned out to be him. He was part of a coop of dumpster divers and played in a WHO tribute band (hence, the hair). That's where the two Sonor teardrop toms came from and the super rare Spencer 5 achromatic condenser came from.
I'm pretty much into German drums ,Mitch. Have a lot of them, so the Luddys are safe.
