Any pies made in old formulas will age to be fine cymbals some day... but wood quality’s will never be, do to scarecity of endangered woods !

so if you don’t have your kit from the sixtys wait til us geezers die and you can collect them at estate sale lol

Let's think about this for a minute.

Unless the government or aliens confiscate all drums made before 1980, there will still be vintage drums as we know them today. What do you suppose our grandkids would rather buy in 50 years? A 2018, (Insert your favorite company), or a 1964 Ludwig black oyster pearl kit?

I'm sure some were collecting drums in the 80's that were made twenty years prior. Do you know of anyone who collects drums from 1998? Me either.

JR,

Are you saying that nothing manufactured these days will ever be considered as valuable to collectors some day? From reading many if your posts, I know that you tend to be a “glass half empty” kind of guy (not a criticism, just an observation!), but not even high-end DW’s, Ludwigs or Sonors?

I'm just saying that I don't believe anything made today will be as sought after as what we now consider vintage or collectable. Like I said, I don't see anyone collecting drums from the 90's or even the 80's, I could be wrong, but I don't know of anyone.

The 60's was a special decade for music and drums and from what I see, it's the most popular decade for drum collectors.

I tend to agree with you.

And the 1950's IMO when R&R was a baby and all the other music genres really gave us the good stuff. IMO as the 60's went on the manufacturing became a bit sloppy so I find the kits from the 50's are built better, more collectable & better sounding. I've been having this same discussion with my wife and some other musician friends who collect guitars. WHO is going to get all these incredible instruments we own in 20-40 years?

We can only hope there are some younger folks out there who will appreciate what we are doing now and will keep these incredible instruments in as great shape as I do.

I was never in this for the resale value. I want to play incredible sounding, looking & rare vintage drums NOW why I am here!

I am just a curator for the future but there will be some very HAPPY folks down the road....

But then again, maybe someone born in 1992 will only want drums from the 90's!

I have had these thoughts myself.

Personally I suspect that the high quality Mapex stuff (saturn, orion, some black panther snares) will be valuable one day. The build quality on that is exceptional and in my opinion is sonically superior to many instruments that are made today. I think gretsch's top of the line (brooklyn, usa custom ) will be coveted as it is just such a high quality product. I think zildjian has lost touch with what made their cymbals so valuable to begin with- now everything is overpriced and doesn't possess much personality. However I think some of the Zildjian A's made over the last 2-3 decades will be coveted- many of them are fine cymbals and have already began to show the ripening that comes with time.

I do not think that much of what Ludwig has made over the last 2 decades will stand the test of time and be valuable 50 years from now. Same could be said for Pearl and Yamaha equipment. I suspect Tama will follow suit as well however I suspect Tama's top top of the line gear will retain some value.

Only time will truly tell though.

I couldn't disagree more with Mapex being something collectable. They make good drums, so does every company out there, but there's nothing special about them, there's no one special playing Mapex, some talented drummers, yes, but most won't be remembered in 50 years. Think about all the drummers who played Ludwig, Rogers, Slingerland or Gretsch back in the 60's, most of those guys are what I would consider special drummers who still remain relevant today. It wasn't just the drums, but who played them.

I could be totally wrong, so to be on the safe side, you'd better start stocking up on those Mapex drums.Cool1

Like muscle cars, there was an “era” of the drums we collect. Ludwig, Rogers, Slingerland, Gretsch, Camco and a few others. Even later 70’s Ludwigs don’t seem as collectible as the 60’s drums. I don’t see anything Mapex ever being collectible due to mass production. In comparison; a ‘92 Iroc Z will never bring big bucks(unless it was stored with 2 miles on it).

Also, I am seeing the millennial generation gravitate toward the vintage gear! It is “repurposing” so new drum don’t have to be made from trees(perhaps). They want the old stuff because new stuff doesn’t sound as good either! The last 3 kits I have sold were bearded 20 somethings with skinny jeans and Converse “chucks”!

Nothing ever compare to this era of drums....period!

There’s my opinion🤜🤛

Interesting topic. Mainstream/popular music is becoming less soulful with less human influence due to technology. Unless software becomes collectable I don't see what musical instruments could be. I guess people collect drum machines from the 80s, but now those sounds can be easily reproduced.

I just listened to clips of the current top 10 songs on Billboard. All of the songs use electronic/synthesized drums. I didn't hear any guitars either.