I'm a player who fell in love with the sound of my 1970 Ludwig Downbeat after buying it to be my "beater kit" that I would take places I didn't want to risk taking the DWs to. I have now explored just about all sizes and eras of vintage drums, having bought and sold TONS over the past 7 years or so. The 3-ply Ludwigs still do it for me, so I'm sticking with those, and I'm keeping my Hollywood, Downbeat, and Jazzette kits for gigging. I've sold off my round badges, the DWs, all the Rogers kits, and I'm sticking to what I love, use, and know how to get the most out of.

As for snares, I tend to prefer modern models, just for the snappiness that they have. I do have some "collector" pieces I picked up along the way that I see no reason to sell (they take up very little room, after all), but 18 snares seems a good amount to hold at. Sheesh...I remember back to when I had finally bought my 10th snare, and I thought to myself, "now I'm in the double digits--I must have a hoarding problem!" But, the truth is I use them all at least a few times a year, and it's worth it to me to hold onto them. I could see myself adding a couple more snares, no problem, but I'm very satisfied with my diverse selection as it is.

I'm on the lookout for some Camcos, but not in a hurry, and certainly not looking to pay full price for something I'm going to keep for about 6 months to experiment with to see what the hubbub is all about. Other than that, I might dabble with purchasing a few kits/snares/cymbals to fix up and sell to students, but my days of buying/selling with the intent to explore are pretty much over. The season of life declares it's time to put more focus on my family, at least for the moment.

You & I are in agreement concerning vintage drum inventory. Speaking for myself I get intimidated when I explain to my wife why I need that 63rd snare for my collection. The intelligent person my wife is she's teaching the lesson that LESS IS MORE, and in my case she's right(not just drums but almost everything in life). She feels bad for me when I stare at my snares for the longest time asking myself "which one do I take to the gig tonight"? So now I went from 64 snares to 5 'go to' snares (that was a chore to pick what I wanted to keep). The rest are now space invaders that need to go,Sooooooo... with all this being said I now can concentrate on practicing more.

I think you hit the nail on the head. I can understand collecting drums as an investment, but really, is the return you might get really that much? I doubt it, unless you bought the drums at incredibly low prices or possibly inherited them. In my opinion, I think a lot of guys subconsciously collect drums to make others envious of what they have, especially guys who can't play well or don't play at all.

My wife always says, "why do you need more than one kit, you can only play one at a time." This got me thinking, she's right, I need to concentrate on playing and making myself a better drummer, not collecting. You can get obsessed with collecting and forget about what's really important.... PLAYING MUSIC! Keep on Pl

Very well said johnnyringo and your wife has a really good point there.

Wayne

I disagree with this.

Do you paint a picture with one color or do you use palette?

Music has many faces and it is good to have a proper tool for expression.

There's no need to even have a drumkit to be better drummer.

Personally, I don't feel that collecting detracts from my drumming. Quite the opposite actually. When I wasn't playing much, I found that being involved in collecting and restoring helped to fill the void. Now that I am playing regularly again, I have a bit less time for collecting. I've always been into practicing so don't feel like it's been neglected. I am trying to distill my collection because as I said, I don't play vintage kits much live so I want a much smaller but worthwhile hoard. I feel that collecting has taught me a great deal about drums and cymbals; and what I like. I have sold most of the stuff that I restored. I have ended up with the kits that didn't need restoring and of course they are more expensive. But fixing up drums is great fun and I will always do it I guess.

It's been great reading everyone's different perspective.

A dozen similar sets over five years does not make one a better drummer, even when owned one at a time. It is however, an extremely odd monogamous relationship, or an example of strangely focused undecided collecting.

Even when I had just one kit I sometimes found myself messing with tunning, heads and so forth more than practicing. Aside from waiting on my next Sonor kit to come in I am done for a little while on getting in a bunch of new kits.

The other day I opened up some books I had been working on and started some lessons and thought wow it is time to get back to theory and focused practice!

Anyway the little details I am crazy about no one out in the audience will ever see or notice. Maybe we should start a thread to see how many of us play vs. collect. Nothing wrong with either but I will focus on playing for as long as I possibly can.

Manny

I've come to a realization less is more I have no room even if I'm the new keeper

This has been a great thread and really neat to read other member's comments.

As I've said before, I'm not the drummer in my household. I like to play, can somewhat keep time and play along with a track. My 16 year old son is the drummer. He's in marching band, the jazz band, concert band and percussion ensemble. After he graduates and before college he wants to audition for a DCI corp.

I like to collect for three reasons:

[LIST]

[*]I like the technical aspect of how vintage drums are built and how they work

[*]I love the sound and quality of vintage drums

[*]I want to expose my son to as many different types drums to inspire him and help him find his "sound"

[/LIST]

I do not focus on one manufacturer yet, we have an early 70's SSB Gretsch (20/12/14), an 80's B/W (USA) Ludwig Rockers (22/12/13/16), a 60's Premier (20/12), a 60's Rogers Tower (20/12 w/Luxor snare and Holiday 16 FT) and a newer Pearl Forum (22/12/13/16). Plus, close to a dozen vintage snares.

Besides all of my reasons, vintage drums are just way cooler! :cool:

-Tim