Who is to believed here:
You grossly devalued the drum in a number of ways: stripping the original finish, carelessly removing the badge, changing lugs, & leaving the shell unsealed, unprotected, & vulnerable to drying out.
Or:
Outstanding! You brought it back to life in a Stellar way! It looks great and adding a new grommet is easy. Are you planning on leaving it just the way it is now or will you stain and lacquer it? The wood grain is really nice, maybe just clear lacquer? Whichever, you have definitely increased the value tremendously, it looks fantastic now and one for the display case!
This is not the first time I have read both types of valuations, and they both provoke me somewhat - and maybe I should just let it pass. But - this is the internet, and this is a discussion forum, right?
So how about discussing this:
The value of a drum is not an objective matter.
To tdennis, this drum is totally ruined, and he wouldn´t want even if given for free. It is not as it left the factory, so the value is nil. Harshly put.
And, to Slingalud, this snare has just been brought back from a certain death, and the job done to it is all it is worth....put harshly.
What about accepting that your values are not universal, and begin stating that "to me, this drum has now changed to a lot more/less attractive drum".
I have seen renovated/customized drums sell for both more or less than original, used drums. I do not think there is a universal truth in any of those value-assessments.
And why is it that important to even try and put a value on a drum?
Here we have a man, that was given an old drum, found he liked it, did something to it that he liked, he has taken some photos and shown it to us.
As he intents to keep it and hasn´t asked for a value -
why try to put $$$$ on it?
Rant over - for this time at least.
Regards
Jon
PS. I almost forgot: I like the snare now - and I liked it before. You haven´t asked for my regards on the drum, so I will just say I can follow your satisfaction with a job seemingly well done - as per your intentions.
Happy drumming!