Yes, I agree the reason for the high prices has to do with the celebrity style attachment to things. Ringo was the drummer who broke the ice for many young American drummers when he and his companions appeared on television.

That look was powerful. The hair, the suits, the boots, the Rickenbacher and Gretsch guitars, the Hofner violin bass, and those Oyster Black Pearl Ludwigs, too. Fortunately for my budget, I don't much care for Oyster Black Pearl!

I am really glad when I see vintage drums selling for a lot of money because I think they have every bit as much mojo as an old Stratocaster or Les Paul ever had. Forget why someone would pay $2500.00 for a snare drum. Let's talk about why someone is willing to pay $250,000.00 for a Stratocaster like the one Jimi played or pay $750,000.00 for an unplayed '58 Les Paul sunburst!!

Why?? Because they have more money than they know what to do with and they are just plain NUTZ!!! :p

Exactly......if I owned any of the same type gear, I'd still sound like me. I've been saying exactly this for years......took me a while back in the early days to come to this conclusion, but at least I came to it without spending rediculous money on a "Ringo" or "Bonzo" kit...:D

I had a buddy who's dad had a "Beatles room" and was somewhat of a drummer (probably jammed along to records here and there).

I played 'em...having played vintage drums, nothing was blowing me away in particular.

BUT- there's nothing like a Beatles kit with the logo drum head as a centerpiece in a "Beatle room"! HAHAHA.

that reminds me of an interview i was reading of Steve Vai talking about Brian May..he was saying how when he was 22 and was playing with Frank Zappa (i'm the biggest Zappa fan ever..i have the mustache tattooed) that he met Brian May in a bar and brian new who he was so he invited him to go jam with him.

Steve Vai was completely star-struck and of course agreed and he got to play the original red machine (the guitar brian may built with his father out of junk-yard parts) and he said when he played through his rig..it sounded like Steve Vai. it was then that he realized that Brian's sound was in his fingures/mind/soul.

the same can be said for drummers. i know Jason Bonham can play what his dad played..hell i can play it too. but i don't think neither of us could have wrote those parts..or improvised in live shows as well as he did. its all in the hands/mind/and soul of the particular drummer.

and speaking of guitars that cost a lot..i was recently at a wedding where the groom/grooms brother/grooms best man/grooms guitar teacher/and grooms close friend played an elvis set for the bride (cause shes the #1 elvis fan) and i noticed that the guitar player (grooms guitar teacher) was playing through a 1965 super-reverb..i also saw that he was playing a les paul..little did i know that that "les paul" he was playing was actually a 1956 goldtop and was worth more than that whole building.

and when i went up to him and asked him what he was doing giging with that (just being flabbergasted by even seeing such a relic) he said "THATS WHAT THEY'RE MEANT FOR!" and man was he right..btw his tone (for you guitar players) was completely indescribable..it cut like a knife.

Bowing

This is a boomer phenomenon. Boomers who took too much acid!

Whoa! Far out! The colors man!........sorry, sorry......DOH

I don't mean to hijack the OP, but speaking of Beatles collectors...

Do Hofner violin basses and Rickenbacher electric guitars (like the kind John Lennon played) command that kind of money on the market, too? Does anyone know?

And yes, some people have all kinds of money they don't know what to do with, so they buy "shiny objects" -whatever they may be -motorcycles, cars, houses, boats...etc. It's kind of one of those, "If you have to ask, you can't afford it" kinds of markets. But there are people who do want things -like some kinds of drums....It may/may not have anything to do with the sound at all. It might be 100% due to the look. Hey, people pay BIG money for sculptures, too -because they like the way they look.

If someone is a Beatles fan and also has a lot of money, they might pay a ridonkulous amount of money for a snare drum if it makes them feel more connected to the vintage Ringo vibe.

People and their icons.... It's almost a kind of religion!Party The actual snare drum that Ringo played would be considered a kind of religious relic! But, if you can't have the real snare drum, then one that looks like it is the next best thing....and then the one that isn't even the same model but has the same wrap is next in line and so on and so on.

As far as getting certain models of vintage drums because they believe that will allow them to recreate the original drummer's sound is one thing, but we are talking about, basically, the color of the drums and the sizes, here -not the sound. I can understand how someoe who loves Bonham's sound would want, say, the Vistalite kit in similar sizes. That actually does make sense to me. But, to want an AMBER Vistalite kit is obviously not pertaining just to the desire for that sound; It's a desire for the fantasy of pretending to "be" John Bonham. Some people go to a lot of trouble for things like that. For example, when I saw Goldfinger for the first time, I wanted to be James Bond. But when I found out how much money an Astin Martin with an ejection-seat costs, I had to settle for a Schwinn with a banana seat! (har-dee-harr-harr!):p

Well the only way that someone would be able to get the ACTUAL drums would be to pry them out of Ringo's cold dead hands.....yes, he still owns them all and isn't parting with them anytime soon....;)

Yes, that may be true....BUT!....envision the day when the drum does hit the market! What do you imagine that Ringo's actual Ed Sullivan Show drum set would bring at auction?

Ad why would it bring a lot of money? The sound? -no.

:Santa: