I'm 60 and fall under mcdrummer's category #10 above:
"10- vintage? whats vintage, I bought this new!"
My WMP '67 Downbeat was just posted to the Gallery earlier this week. It's the only set I've ever owned. I've known this kit FAR longer than I've known my wife of 30 years (and they're both keepers).
I'm 31 and started collecting and restoring around 2 years ago. I have a couple of complete kits, but mostly snares.
Do you know a lot of drummers your age who play and appreciate "vintage" drums? I rarely meet/see drummers much younger than myself who are into vintage.I think there are more younger drummers getting into older gear than in the past. I wonder if it's just the economy or a desire to be unique, or a serious appreciation for the sound and construction of older drums.I also find that a lot of the younger drummers that play "vintage" kits play drums that I don't really think of as the classic definition of "vintage". In other words 80's and 90's Tama's and Pearls.
I've never met a drummer my age that's vintage drum crazy like I am. Half of the drummers I meet have no idea that my pearl president bdps are from the 60s! They think they are new. I guess the r.i.m mount and double braced hardware makes them look newer.
Over the past 5-8 years I have seen a lot more "hipsters "building drums that have a vintage look to them. Theres a band i stumbled on one night only because i saw the drums called Fall out boy.. in the video he used a double bass wmp Louie Belson style kit.
Im 48, be 49 in Nov. A guitar player for about 35 years,, and drumming for about 5,...I got into Vintage Drums when my neighbor was gonna throw in the trash her ex's Early 1960'S Ludwig kit two months ago!!
When I started this post I was relatively new to this site and for that matter new to the whole vintage thing. Most of the drummers with "vintage drums" that I knew were "older" guys.(50s, 60s, or older) I wondered if our age, and the impressionable era in which we fell in love with drums influenced the demand for older drums, the value of those drums and even the definition of the word vintage.
It's like music, I find that many of the people who love 70s music were teens and early 20s during the 70s, and the same goes for 60s, 50s, 80s, etc. There are of course many exceptions.
I just wondered if there was an "influential" age for vintage drums and if that age correlates with your age. So for example if your influential age was the 60s then you may want to own, play, or collect 60s drums more than older or newer. This might even influence your definition of the term "vintage drum".
With the baby boom and a swell in population of people of a certain age range and the rock and roll phenomenon maybe collect-ability and
supply and demand and therefor value and price of drums of a certain age is defined by our age and not the actual quality of certain drums. For example, Is it a coincidence that 60s drums are the most collectable with certain exceptions, and bring the higher prices? The largest percentage of the population were either slightly pre-teen, teens, or early twenties during the 60s not to mention that rock and roll was in its heyday.
And if the definition of vintage, and value of a certain age was influenced by our age, then as we get older and even stop buying or collecting, will the value and definition of vintage drums evolve!
Chew on that for a while!
