Nickel or chrome? What condition is the hardware (rust, pitting, tarnishing?) What makes you think the rings were worked on? Can you remove a lug or the heads to see if it's faded?

If I thought it was all original, unfaded, that's a great price. Probably a $300 drum, if not more. But if it's faded, has been worked on, or any other issues, the price on something like that tends to drop like a rock.

if it were me, i'd buy it. the trans badge stuff seems to be few and far between. the hardware on it is worth near that. and if you have a kit that color, thats even more reason for me.

Appreciate the feedback I've received thus far on this one.

As I stated in my original post, the hardware is nickel in lieu of chrome.

Perhaps that's why the BDP finish looks somewhat faded to me. I'm not really certain. I don't currently own any snares with nickel lugs and perhaps I simply miss the "shiny" element that comes with chrome lugs and rims. This drum appears "dull" in comparison, but definitely does have a vintage look to it. I have not had the opportunity to "pop the heads" on this one.

The drum itself looks quite large as compared to the configurations I'm used to seeing in snare drums.

Since I'm no longer an active "player", my thoughts were simply to pick this one up to add to my meager vintage American-made snare drum collection. I don't currently have a snare with the Ludwig transitional badge and thought, for the price, it might be worth grabbing. I've seen what I consider to be some extremely "common" snares going on E-Bay for at least $200.00. Some of these have been without their original hardware.

In regard to why I believe that some "work" has been done on the reinforcements rings, the drum's on consignment at a local music shop and I believe that one of the gentlemen that I spoke with a little while back mentioned that it appeared that one of the wooden reinforcement rings might have been re-glued in a small area. I had this type of "maintenance" done on a 1963 Ludwig floor tom of mine a short time ago but, whether this is somewhat "common" or not I have no idea.

Keep the comments coming. They're GREATLY appreciated!

Update on the BDP Snare:

I've done some additional research and have found out that the reason the drum looks so "large" to me is the fact that it's a 15 x 8 (in lieu of 6 1/2) Concert Snare Drum.

I'll ask the WebMaster to post of pic of the drum later this afternoon or this evening. Please take a look end let me know what you think.

That will change the situation. 15" dia. drums are not as desirable. 8" deep drums are not as desirable. It's not a size that would be commonly seen/used with a drum set back in 1959. Therefore, the market for something like that is narrower -more difficult to evaluate a price even if it's in great shape. All things considered, it's probably worth about $200.00 at the high end -IF you want it and have a need for it, that is. I wouldn't pay that much for it, because I don't want something like that...I don't have a need for a drum like that in other words....AND, I know of no other people who are looking for something like that that I could re-sell.

ANY permanent alteration will have an effect on the value of the drum. IF it was damaged enough to have the need to be re-glued, then chances are that its collectibilty is going to be compromised, too.

The "uncommon-ness" of certain drums does not necessarily relate to their value. For example, a VERY common Supraphonic can sometimes command lots of money because the Supra was/is the "proper" drum to complete an otherwise incomplete kit. Conversely, a drum like yours would not complete a kit. It's more of a stand-alone drum -again, placing its collectibility into a narrower range.

As a player's drum, it may be great (It's all subjective, after all)...but you can't assume that, because it's a less-common style drum, it will be more valuable. If that were the case, then my Arbiters would have already made me a rich man! Burger Kin

Additional Update:

Although the drum's being advertised at the store as a Ludwig "Concert" Snare Drum, I discovered that it is, in fact, a 1950s Ludwig "Festival" Model.

I've confirmed the fact that the Festival Model from the 1950s was offered in a 15 x 8 configuration. The "Concert" Model from the 1950s was also available in this configuration but featured 8 Classic lugs in lieu of the 16 small Classic lugs found on the Festival Model.