Whew! It seems I touched of a whirlwind. But thanks to the last couple of guys on the forum, I don’t feel so battered. By the way, I didn’t try to hide my website, and I knew you guys would look at it; I just didn’t think I had to be stupid or naïve to get help. Anyway it has been a rather exciting read for an evening. As far as being used is concerned, that for sure wasn’t my intention. Hey, if I make a couple of bucks more than the average, it just goes to help pay the bills in my old age, and I see no harm in that. I’ve been self employed my whole life and don’t have retirement or a savings cushion like some of the rest of you guys, so I just have to make it as it comes. In answer to backbeatkeeper, yes, the Dynasonic is wood, and a great sounding drum it is. And I would really like to know if that old 1909 Ludwig foot pedal is a rare item or not, I’ve never seen one before except in an on-line museum. So please tell me, is it rare or just another pedal? After this, I think I’ll call it a night.

Hey BBK--The Rogers Dynasonic snare looks wood to me,,So i would say the price he is asking in right in line..The rest of his pricing is off by alot..Thats all i will say on that..Mikey

Dono:

Maybe this situation could be addressed by starting a new thread where you are a little more upfront about your situation and what you are hoping to accomplish by posting here. The people on this forum are extremely serious and knowledgeable about vintage drums....they are not just in it to "make a buck". Here, people see vintage drums as art. We all collect for different reasons, and sure some of it is investment, but don't think I am alone in saying that I do it because I love the history, the mystery, the craftsmanship, and above all, the SOUND of vintage drums.

Forum members want pricing to be fair no matter if you are buying or selling. People who are only in the game to buy as low as possible and sell as high as possible without a focus on the art are not really the type of people that gain respect here. This forum is more about a community of people who have no choice but to live and breathe vintage drums. It gives us all a place to dork out on drums with like minded...well...vintage drum dorks, and get advice from some of the most knowledgeable and respected drum historians in the world. Giving people ANY inclination that you are just trying to rip people off is not a good idea (even if that is not your intention).

In order to not offend, you could post in the "Is this a good deal/How Much Is It Worth?" section, and say something like:

Hello VDF,

My situation is this:

I have a bunch of relatively valuable drum gear that I want to sell in order to pay for my retirement. I have been self employed my entire life, and have come upon hard times. Unfortunately I have to sell my prized drum gear to pay the bills, and I am having a hard time figuring out what sort of prices would be fair to ask for each item.

To assist in the sale of my items I have set up a website with pictures and descriptions of each item available. If the experts here would do me the great favor of checking out my website (LINK), letting me know which items I have accurately priced, and which items I am completely off my rocker on I would really appreciate it. I have done a lot of research on Ebay, and other (less costly and evil/unfair) auction sites, vintage drum store sites, and even some collector sites and I just can't get a grasp on what the market value really is for some of my items. Some seem to be very rare....some less so.

Any help would be much appreciated, and if you are too busy or feel that I should pay you to geek out on my sweet drums and give me a ballpark value, then no harm done.

Thanks,

Dono

Then you should go to the "Vintage Drums" section and post this:

I have a 5-25-09 Ludwig and Ludwig bass drum pedal. Can anyone tell me more information about this thing? I have heard that it is the first bass drum pedal ever manufactured and that it was produced and patented by angels in heaven and then sent down to earth by pigmy goats to be delivered (by a one legged wheel barrow salesman) to the Ludwig brothers in Chicago.....and on and on.

Then post some pics and you will be on your way to finding out what the deal is with the pedal. Also, Rob Cooks "The Ludwig Book" is a great resource for all things Ludwig.

Cheers,

Adam

Well said Adam,

IMHO, this forum is a wonderful place for drum addicts like me. Instead of just coming out and asking about something, I have learned to search the forum for previous posts about the item or subject. Then I know something about it, before I ask questions, and dont sound like a dumba$$. I suspect we all use each other to to get better educated on values and restoration precedures, but the true drum lovers are mostly doing this for the love of our drums. For instance, I find a drum or drums that interests me. I ask the forum and get feedback about it. What it may be worth, and If it is worth restoration. I do this because I dont want to invest more than something is worth. As long as its worth more than I buy it for, I justify to myself my insanity for buying so many drums. There's other forums. One wont let you post anything in the for sale section untill you have posted 5 posts. One wont even let you sell anything on it. I hope that never happens to this forum, because there are fellow forum members that have valuable and hard to get parts that want to help other forum members buy selling and trading parts. Not so much for profit, but for the sake of the art.

This is the most hilarious question:

"I would really like to know if that old 1909 Ludwig foot pedal is a rare item or not, I’ve never seen one before except in an on-line museum. So please tell me, is it rare or just another pedal?"

You really dont sound like your 70 something to me.

Im sure Ludwig would love to have that pedal back!

Actually they are quite common due to the fact that they made so many of them for about 25 years of production. They pop up on ebay quite often.....

When a person goes online to see about finding out value, etc. of a drum, this is one of the first sites that pops up. Therefore you get an awful lot of traffic from that kind of thing. That, and the fact that at the top of this page, it says 'ask a question, get an answer', not to mention the Identify Drum Form page, which basically encourages people to find out the value of their gear through this forum: http://www.vintagedrumguide.com/drum_questions.html, basically sets this forum up to do just what you guys are complaining about. If you don't want to help someone with 'alterior motives' of selling their gear at whatever price THEY feel appropriate, then don't.

I'm not trying to offend anyone, but this forum is basically set up for this type of thing.

I am another 70 year old guy. Some of the stuff you have is very desirable. ( The Dyna, the Leedy snare) some is just old. This is not a good time to be selling. If you can wait a year or so for the economy to improve, do. If you really want to know what it's worth right now, sell it on ebay with a .99 start price and no reserve. With the kind of stuff you have, I would wait for awhile myself.

I am personally not saying that asking what value a drum holds is a bad thing. I don't think anyone else here is either.

I am with poppy on this one: when I ask a value...it is usually because I am thinking about buying a drum and I want to make sure that I am not paying too much for something that I am planning on putting a bunch of time and money/restore work into. Also, I make sure that I can't find the information anywhere else before I ask so as to not waste people's time.

For instance, last time I asked for a value it was for this little Apollo kit that I am thinking about getting. Part of my asking about a FAIR price was to find out how much the replacement parts were going cost, and if I would be able to even find them. My question was in order to be an informed buyer. As a professional player and hobby vintage drum nut....I get off on the work it takes to "put something back" as close to original (or at least functional) as I can afford to and then playing the heck out of it when the situation arises. If it is a collector drum...then I will try to get it back as close to original as I can and only take it out on special occasions...if at all (in the case of B+B Lug drums). I actually feel bad about letting drums sit on my shelf collecting dust, but I also love just having them around as well and I almost feel like I am giving them the respectful home they deserve for making it this far in life. I know that sounds lame, but I am sure a lot of us feel similarly.

Other posts recently:

I asked about a fair price for a WMP Kent snare I was thinking about picking up and restoring.

Before that...I asked about some weird sized Vista concert toms I am getting.

Before that....a 1961 Student Model Slingerland that I am in the middle of restoring right now. Didn't want to pay too much for a non-original drum that I was going to refinish anyway.

Before that...a 1964 WMP Ludwig Jazzfest that I was selling for a friend. It was missing a few parts and had a cracked rim and I wanted to see what a fair asking price would be. Also wondered if they came from the factory with one Steel and one Brass rim or if that was "seller talk". If it was in mint condition I would have just looked at the bay and a couple of collector sites and priced according to condition and sold it. Instead I found out it will not claim more than $200 and so I am buying it from the guy myself and restoring it.

All of these posts, and people on here have been nothing but polite and VERY informative because it is clear that I don't have a motive other than a genuine love for drums.

I think the point is....it isn't a bad thing to ask what your drum is worth, but just be honest about why you want to know. If it is to sell...then state that you want to sell it and for what reason. Most importantly, just be fair about what you are asking for it and be honest about it's condition. If you already have drums listed online for sale at ridiculous prices, then you must have a general idea that they are valuable (ish) and that you want top dollar for them. Why come here and ask:

Uh...they are for sale on your website for ridiculous prices already. What do you mean "pursue" selling them? Just be honest and talk about your situation and ask what fair prices for the drums are in whatever condition they are in. Post some pics, Be cool about it, and make sure you post it in the "How Much Is It Worth" section if there is no other historical detective work that you want done.

Easy as that.

Ad

Technically not true. If it said evaluate vintage drums, get an appraisal...then I could see that. The forum is supposed to be about general knowledge of vintage drums....what finishes were available, what's the correct hardware, when was it made, etc. Valuing them is a whole other ball game. Yes it happens to coincide with the hobby, but it is not the end all be all of it either.

It just seems since the economy tanked, everyone wants to make a quick buck on something that they have no clue about, so they come here and ask questions to use to their advantage. Well....why not use the answers to our advantage? Offer an appraisal service on the forum, but CHARGE for it. Give the fees to David the webmaster towards the upkeep of the site.