I have a nice 16x12 Ludwig silver sparkle tenor drum that I'm converting to a FT. It will pair with my 16x16 for a double floor setup. I got it after it went without bids and was re-listed at a fire-sale price. I was the lone bidder.

I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm just saying they would look a bit funny.

I did a re-wrap job for a friend a couple of years ago, where he made up a "be-bop" kit out of orphans. A 14x18 Slingerland (Arkansas era) bass drum that he had me fit Ludwig lugs to as the rest of the kit was made up of Ludwig orphans (it had other issues I had to fix as well, so he was not worried about fitting the Ludwig lugs or the extra holes required), an 8x8 and a 9x10 for the rack toms, and a 12x13 racktom converted to a floor tom using some Premier legs and brackets he had kicking around. All were refinished in Blue Onyx......came out great, and if the rest of the drum sizes weren't so small, I'd say that the 13 would have been odd for a floor tom, but it looked ok with the rest of the small drums.

Now a 12x18 for a floor tom...that would look odd......perfect for a bass drum though.... :D

Here ya go:

Ludwig Mach lugs

16x12 bass

12x8 tom

14x10 floor tom

Pioneer snare

The old guy playing them, I admit, is funny-looking. :D

I hear a lot of good ideas floating around here! I choose to think Reuse, Reduce and Recycle. For most of our younger years we had to make things work out of necessity. Remember adding that extra 22" kick drum because you HAD to have double bass?

So here's my thought: Stadium rock of the 70's, BIG drums and (yuch)concert toms. Maybe some of those relics can be resurrected, add a bottom hoop and some legs. flowers2 It's tough for those guys trying to sell 10-12piece kit from the 70's. Did you ever ask one of them about shipping? They just wilt and say "yeah, come to Kalamazoo and pick it up!"

At first I hated people for breaking up vintage sets, I'd be the one running around trying to reunite the orphans with their families! eBay has changed the face of the industry, like it or not. We can evolve with it, so I say start making custom add-on floor toms(new or recycled), call them for what they are, and pretty soon we'll be gobbling them up just like a rewrap Pioneer snare.Cool1

I agree Wadsmoe, that`s a good perspective. With that said- I grew up playing a 16x16. It wasn`t until the last few years that I really encountered alot of 14x14 fts - now, I prefer them to the 16. I think of a 16x16 as a upright cocktail/ft duo these days and I think of a 14x14 as my go-to drum size for a straight ft. I think they tune right into my sound picture easier.

Vintage drums - especially 50's and early 60's Gretsch - are going to go up to rediculous prices as time goes on. But if you compare "sought-after" drums to "sought-after guitars for instance, the drums are still comparatively reasonalbe wouldn't you say? I mean you can pay 100-300+ thousand for a Vintage Les Paul for instance. I'm not saying the drums or guitars should be that price but it's good ole "supply and demand" that drives prices up. There are a lot of people out there that have tons of money and will pay just about anyting to have that very special instrument that means so much to them.

I was just looking at a 50's Gretsch kit in Champagne Sparkle - 18" bd and 414 snare - $12,500usd. But you can buy a very similar Gretsch kit (20" bd) from that year in Red or Silver sparkle for less than half that. The person that owns that Champagne sparkle kit sold it once before and then bought it back, for more than he sold it for the first time! And he now has it for sale again - for the aforementioned amount. I'm keeping my little Gretsch kit.