i'm with you. I agree with you and have noticed the market as such for a while now. maybe I didn't come over that clearly in my first post.mike
I've been buying vintage A's for over 20 years. All that time its been rare to see a 60's A go for more than $125-$140. And the ones selling for $140 were few and far between and generally not worth it.
i'm with you. I agree with you and have noticed the market as such for a while now. maybe I didn't come over that clearly in my first post.mike
Mike, we're both wrong. They're worth their weight in whatever B20 is worth. A couple of buck to the ounce (in old money)
I know that wasn't too funny, but what I do find funny is that in some cases I've seen a 14" Hi Hat Top cost almost as much as a 20" ride. Who comes up with these prices? It's all wrong! :D
I'm not saying these things should be worth their weight in gold, but at the moment they're just about worth their weight in copper. Ha!
The prices are about what I've been paying all along with an adjustment for inflation. That's what they sell for, your desire for them to have greater value not withstanding.
I've been buying vintage A's for over 20 years. All that time its been rare to see a 60's A go for more than $125-$140. And the ones selling for $140 were few and far between and generally not worth it.
Why weren't they worth $140? Do you mean they should be worth more or less than $140? Are we talking about a B8 Pro ride or a Zildian Avedis ride, because to my ear the Avedis Zildjian sounds as good as any modern day $400 ride cymbal. Call me crazy.
The prices are about what I've been paying all along with an adjustment for inflation. That's what they sell for, your desire for them to have greater value not withstanding.
Dang it! I want to buy them cheap and then flip them for a profit. Am I asking too much here? Ha ha!
Dang it! I want to buy them cheap and then flip them for a profit. Am I asking too much here? Ha ha!
I'm just kidding. I don't want to flip them. I respect them and play them, sometimes give them kisses. Surprisingly, I actually give them kisses more than I play them and we should look into that, it's getting to be a problem.
Some people say it's hard to date Zildjian cymbals. I say it's easy to date them. Just take them out to the movies, give them some smooches.
There's your guide to dating Zildjian cymbals. You're welcome.
I think one of the reasons is that a lot of 70s A's sound pretty bad - shrill without much character. All the A's I bought in the 70s were bloody awful, and I eventually sold them for what they were worth, which wasn't much. Without a sound file, I wouldn't even consider buying a 70's A. Sure, there are some very good ones. But the majority of A's for sale on eBay don't have a sound file or video. So it takes a fair amount of legwork to find those good-sounding 70s A's that are underpriced... you have to wade through a lot. Now, 50s A's, that's a different story. Those seem underpriced to me.
I've been buying vintage A's for over 20 years. All that time its been rare to see a 60's A go for more than $125-$140. And the ones selling for $140 were few and far between and generally not worth it.
Some actual recorded data to ponder when thinking about how prices may have changed, how variable they actually are, and to what extent certain price changes are recent:
18" A Zildjian 70s $139.50 12 bids eBay 3-Jul-05
A Zildjian 20" ride mid 60s poor listing $90.00 1 eBay 21-Jan-06
A Zildjian 19" med thin ride 1969 kit to date it $143.00 17 eBay 24-Jan-06
18" 40s A Zildjian (pre trans) 1458g $335.00 BIN eBay 10-Jan-07 sound file
A Zildjian 60s light sizzle ride 2035g (hazelshould) $330.00 23 eBay 14-Jan-07
A Zildjian 60s 21" sizzle ride $261.00 16 eBay 15-Jan-07
A Zildjian late 50s 20" thin ride 1985g $317.00 14 eBay 10-Feb-07
Just a quick dump. I've got hundreds more recorded from 2007 to 2014.
This is why I say the variation is great (and has been). This is also why you need reasonable sample sizes to really get reasonable estimates for expected price range.
Part of the issue we are having here is an old one in marketing. There is no "underpriced" or "under valued" class of cymbals out there waiting for you to make a profit by buying low and selling high. If there were somebody would have spotted it by now and already have made the profit. There are individual cymbals which may be underpriced and you can snap them up and try and sell them at a profit. But there won't be a general category of cymbals like that.
Good point Mark that buying in some (off eBay) places may also get you 50s cymbals for lower prices because you are not competing with collectors. That's another way the market is micro differentiated: by selling channel.
Why weren't they worth $140? Do you mean they should be worth more or less than $140? Are we talking about a B8 Pro ride or a Zildian Avedis ride, because to my ear the Avedis Zildjian sounds as good as any modern day $400 ride cymbal. Call me crazy.
I am talking about B20 bronze of course. I wouldn't spend a dime on a Zildjian B8 cymbal The '60s A's are generally OK, but not worth $140 because of the way they sound. I can get much better sounding '50s A 'for the same money. It's100% about the sound! Most of the '60s A's I've been seeing lately can be had for $75-$125. I just picked up an interesting one drilled for 6 rivets for $69 at the Sam Ash store in Springfield, NJ. It has a characteristic that works in some studio settings. My son has recorded with it, but he wouldn't use it on a live gig. As for modern $400 A's they generally sound like crap. If they sounded good I wouldn't waste time and energy looking for good vintage cymbals.
