Hi Keith, and welcome.

I'm quite fond of these old Yamaha kits. They are well made and the best quality of the Japanese kits of this era. This kit looks fantastic too. That said, $2500 is A LOT of money for this kit. That sort of $$ will buy any number of amazing vintage kits (suggestions will come flying in I'm sure).

The Yamaha kits, like this one, are fairly rare but I'd have thought $800 - $1000 tops in this condition (much less for an average one).

I hope this helps

Hi Keith!

Welcome to the VDF!

I fully agree with Fayray.

These Yamahas represent drums of a distinguished quality level, neat workmanship above other MIJ drums made in this era - and in my opinion on par with other top international companies. They´re great sounding drums.

But it´s not only you who´s clueless about value, in my opinion the seller seems to be also.

Although it´s a nice and complete kit, the price is way too high.

Here in Germany there´s an ad of an almost similar kit of the same age (early 70s) that only differs in the number of drums (22-12-13-16 w/o snare) and the wrap (light blue, which might be not as rare as the one you´re looking at?). The price the seller is charging is 490,- € (about 640,- $), and this price is still negotiable.

For example, last year I bought a late 60s Yamaha (20-13-16, thin shells w/re-rings) for 250,- € instead of the primal advertised 490,- €. This was due to the broken wrap of the 16" and the missing tom holder.

The chance to find another like the one in your ad might never come again (who knows?), as these old Yammies don´t come up very often anyway. The wrap´s nice, matching snare and the configuration with two floor toms isn´t very familiar to me, not to say outstanding (I´ve never seen one like this before), but I´d rather try to contact the seller to carry on negotiations with him. As you stated, it´s up to you how much you can or want to spend. The range that Fayray suggested is exact what I would offer to the seller.

Greets, Jurgen

I have a Yamaha kit of that vintage, and they are excellent drums with a certain undeniable vibe and cool finishes. I love mine.

That being said, $2500 IS a lot of money for that kit, but if it's what you want and you hve the free cash, it's no different than purchasing any other vintage kit in the same price range. Understand that, though they sound and look great, they were still somewhat of a budget kit at the time, perhaps more upscale (Rogers R-380 was very similar, if that helps for perspective). The 9000 (precursor to RC's) and 7000 series (both professional level, Yamaha's first) introduced in '76 incorporated features from this series. The 9000 used the same taillight lugs, and the 7000 used the same birch/lauan shells.

No doubt about it, if I had $2500 I didn't know what to do with, I'd purchase those in a heartbeat. However, as was pointed out, there's lots of kits, both vintage and modern, that could be had for that price and less.

That kit is relatively high priced as others have said. You could do better if you wait patiently. I bought a beautiful orphan 13" Yamaha of this vintage in "golden dragon" finish for $38. Now all I have to do is find the rest of the set!

JRFrond does make a good point though - While $2500 is on the high side for this kit, it's not exactly crazy money for a nice vintage kit. That sort of money doesn't buy you much in the way of a car or a vintage guitar or even a decent new kit. Most people on here, including myself, like the thrill of the chase as much as anything. Getting a great deal is always fun and for many of us, so is the refurbishment. But of course some just want a decent vintage kit that they can get playing straight away, which is what it's all about really. That kit is certainly ready to play - there are some vids of the seller playing what looks to be the kit in question on youtube.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEk87lkBi2g&feature=BFa&list=PL10827B87F3B5280C&lf=results_main[/ame]

If only it was red thunder. There's a forum member desperate for a tom in that finish. It often seems to be the 13" that gets separated from the family. I have a 13" Yamaha tom in orange ripple that i bought for $10. I'm not sure I'll ever find the rest of the kit thoughViolin

Man... that is one sweet kit! Especially since it has the 14" floor tom. I'd offer $700.00 or $800.00 for it, maybe... no way is it worth what he's asking.

Hey, all he can tell you is no, right?

Best luck.

Wow, It's a nice looking set but way,way over priced.At 2,500.00 you can fine a nice vintage Ludwig,Rogers,Slingerland set with cymbals for that price..I would say 600.00 to 700.00 for the set tops...Mikey

My sincere thanks to all of you for your thoughts and responses. This really helps me because as I said I'm clueless on the value of vintage drums. I too thought it was a high price but wasn't sure. I'm almost thinking that maybe he has it priced so high that he doesn't really want to sell it, but would do so only if someone came up with the right amount. Or, they are simply geared toward the buyer who money is no object to.

Fayray, good catch on that video, I'm about 99% sure that's the same kit. There are two other videos with these drums in it, and they do sound nice. Good chops on this fellow, no doubt, I only wish he wouldn't concentrate on the snare so much ;)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s2WeN7vKfs"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s2WeN7vKfs[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX_1ZMFiLrc"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX_1ZMFiLrc[/ame]