It's interesting to hear the restorers, collectors, and interested parties discuss, to me, what is deception versus 'real' or unrestored. I'm old and seen a lot of drums. I've mentioned, on this forum several times, when I've seen drums that don't fit or match my original set from 1965. Yet I've see such drums labeled as being from the 1960's...I've taken the attitude of 'buyer beware' and just leave it be if no one asks me.
Also, as mentioned, I've seen other items on TV that are supposed to be restored to original condition that, in my eye, don't reflect reality from my younger years....such as with cars when they are supposed to be restored to stock condition yet there are decals, engine colors, body colors and interiors that I never saw growing up in LA.
On the other hand, with such things, I've seen real unrestored and original cars, drums, furniture, etc. that fills my brain with excitement. From my experience the untouched stuff is the really valuable 'stuff'...but being unrestored doesn't make it the best because a lot of the old stuff, be it drums, cars or whatever, hasn't been updated or modified for improved performance or sound with the state of the art components or technique...but isn't that exactly what makes antiques unique and valuable?
I think it all goes to the buyer and what they want and expect of their drums, car or whatever. A seller, has a responsibility to anyone they sell to, to be honest and upfront. That responsibility carries over to the entire area of the sellers expertise. If a drum is restored to look like a 60's drum but it began life as a 70's drum it's dishonest, IMHO, to say otherwise. It doesn't take much to muddy up the market with such items and before lone the facts get tweaked and changed leaving confusion and degrading the true value of the item. Any item that is restored to be one thing or another that it actually is not....is false, fake, misleading and simply created for the sake of greed. Fake things only end up cheapening the items that are 'real' and what is worse ends up creating confusion in the future to experts....but in a world where honesty or showing the provenance is taken lightly the entire field becomes more and more polluted. Pretty soon people end up giving credit and value to something that has no basis in the facts...and when that happens the 'real thing' is questioned...what is the value of restoration or history when it is acceptable to 'age' something that is not from the period and then to sell it as something it is not?
As mentioned, I own a completely original unrestored 1965 Hollywood set. I also own a 1969 Fender Telecaster Thinline and a 1975 Cherry Les Paul studio....I'll keep them as they are, all original no fake dents, scratches or chips. These are instruments that I used, played and cared for. I know their value personally and that's what I've shared with my daughters. My instruments value transcends the fake or aged stuff because it is real. When I'm gone I hope my values have been embedded into my children so they can grow old with high quality items and spend their later years enjoying such things which grow more and more irreplaceable with time.
One last note, I understand the desire to have products that are no longer available...and....I would never want to deprive anyone of the enjoyment and pleasure of playing or using such things, but putting a scratch or a dent into a new item will never make it into the item it is trying to emulate...only a time machine could do that, period.
