Can't really answer your question, but these were $2100 in the '92 Catalog, & $2716 in '94. I can't imagine how very few of these were ever sold. Using an inflation calculator brings this cost to $3496 & $4281 from our perspective in 2013.

I can't answer either except to say it is a free market economy and a seller has every right to put an asking price on an item. The market will then decide what it is actually worth. Therefore it is not greed. Wishful thinking? Possibly. Nice snare? Definitely.

I don't know if the market will meet the seller's asking price, but having played one of these snare drums back when they were first marketed, I can attest that it is a staggering feat of engineering - perhaps "overkill" in snare drum science to the nth degree! Way too much snare drum for me to even consider carrying around just because of its sheer mass and weight! Extraordinary parallel mechanism. If memory serves each hoop has 12 rods. IMHO worth way more than the average high end snare, but certainly not for everyone!

(Or perhaps my attitude is just "sour grapes" from knowing that I couldn't even afford to buy the special set of snare wires for it!) LoLoLoLo Laughing H

That`s the one with the RR tracks under it, some famous drummer used one, but I don`t think it appreciated that much in value from the 94 Cat. Prolly a shot in the dark because not many wanna part with them !i

This type of chance marketing shows up , every now and then and it really just speaks to the fact that the breadth of the socio-economic strata is consolidating over time, into 2 camps. In the last year, we saw , on this forum, a close to mint 1965, not 100% complete but supposedly never played Trixon kit in yellow/gold sparkle , ramp up to 10,000 on ebay . After the chuckles died down, it ended up appearing , that the kit did indeed sell for that. Then there was a 4,000.00 Ludwig downbeat snare in blue oyster ( eventually in a convoluted way involving 7,000.00 in funds). It has a new owner too.

There is a car out there, that Car and Driver magazine said of " it's like living inside a snare drum", because it was so noisy inside. In fact they couldn't give the radio a passing grade because they couldn't hear it. The car was a Bugatti Veyron, a marque now owned by the peoples car; Volkswagen. The only odd thing about that report, is that the Bugatti Veyron, sells for just under 2,000,000.00. Yes, that's right, I didn't misscount the zeros; 2 million dollars. Putting a set of tires on it, which can only be done in France, will set you back 95,000 dollars + shipping-----and they are selling. There seems to be an increasing market for perfectly unique things , more often than not by those with lots of dough ,whereas , other things that show normalcy and even a hint of degradation, are messed up in a competitive fray, beckoning for a tiny fraction of the diminishing dough , left to us rabble. It really is an increasingly polarized economy.

Nice post Calfskin. At least a Veyron can shoot your body forward to over 200 MPH!

I realise the design and engineering of these snares is incredible. I have never played one, nor have I been begged by another Musician, Engineer or Producer to have one, unlike a RadioKing or Ludwig BB which unless they're from the turn of the century can be bought for a third of the price, and have actually been requested from me!!!! Nor have I heard another drummer talk about these. But I recognise the potential for one of these drums to be a great snare, it's made by Sonor for a start. It looks like a piece of sculpture in a way, and well, being a lover of Drums and Drumming I would like one some day. But I think i will leave this one for the poor Sonor collector who would like to finish his collection and will stop at nothing.

£4000.00 on a DB Snare!!! WOW.

OK thinking out loud, but those old 50's 3ply baby Gretsch jazz kits that Mr Maxwell sells for around 15k. Ok they do sell BUT............ so they sound like the real deal and they are gorgeous little gems, but I've only ever met 1 Jazz musician that could ever dream of affording that (because he is famous singer/Pianist, sold millions of records and gets publishing). Where is this impatient queue of millionare Jazz Drummers waiting for they're baby Gretsch kit? In truth how many Jazz gigs (including top end because believe me it's not all milk up there) would you need justify 10-15k on a vintage Gretsch jazz kit? That's before you start on the Ride Cymbals. Who's buying them because I don't rekon it's actual Jazz Drummers.

Still cheaper then late 70's ,early 80's Tama bell brass snares .Those strainers were good,but certainly not an engineering marvel.

There was one on Ebay,several years ago,that went for 7K,but it was near mint,so who knows.It's pretty much still a buyers market.

Steve B

It's really not a safe investment either then!

I guess Tama being in your name means you know a thing or two about Tama Drums. What do reckon of the Tama Bell brass snares? Again massive asking prices right now, how do they sound or feel like to play?

I had the opportunity to play one once.A friend of a friend's house ,had his own small recording studio in part of his basement.

The drum,was a first edition bell brass which had a massive 5mm thick cast shell,as oppose to the later models 3mm cast shell.It also had Diecast rims,6.5x14.

The drum was also not finished on the outside,and had kind of a raw finish to it.

Later models came with massive bell brass cast rims,and were finished on the exterior

Needless to say the drum weighed a ton.It was very loud,but very crisp and sensitive,with not a lot of ring or overtones.A very focused sound,but I'm not sure 7K worth of sound.

I could see that it would make a great drum for recording

Elvin Jones played one for a while till Tama dropped him.There's a vid floating around somewhere of him playing his either superstars or artstars,with that snare.

Steve B