...about our vintage drums, I mean! ;) Think about it. How many vintage kits have missing internal mufflers, chewed up bottom bearing edges (as a result of the 'concert-tom' fad), broken throwoff handles...basically unkempt? And how many of us, here, are set to put them all back together as nicely as possible? We care now. Back then, people didn't really care that much. Drums were drums.
Of course, the same thing is true about Fender Stratocasters, Telecasters and so on. They, too, were not really considered to be anything all that grand back when they were new. They got thrown around a lot -scratched up and abused. They were "expendible" and yet they were also in demand. To find a nice example of a vintage Fender Strat today is something out of this world! You'll become a "made man" if you find the right Strat or the right Martin flat top...etc. ;) NOBODY back then would have foreseen that!
Drummers have indicated to the industry many times over, that "the vintage vibe" is still ringing strongly throughout the drumming community and many of the current upper-echilon have attempted to answer the call with various lines of vintage-like drums. But, in my experiences with these new vintage drum sets, they tend to fail what represent the vintage sound and feel. They are just too dang accurate and air-tight or something!
That's one reason why a really nice real vintage set is SO coveted among drummers/collectors. There are comparatively few examples of vintage drum gear that wasn't abused in some way. Sets that were sold together were broken up...parts lost (internal mufflers, for example!). Cases seemd to be a luxury that many drummers didn't even bother to use -just throw the kit into the back seat or the trunk -as is- and off you go! Finishes were scratched...paint nicked and chipped off. Drums are cumbersome and so they were stored in garages and dank basements or steaming hot attics -out of the way. I have seen literally every kind of environmental damage that could ever be imagined. Many of you know what I'm talking about, too! You've seen them!
Drums never seemed to have garnered the status of, say, the spinet piano in those days (the piano ALWAYS received first-class status and was usually in a prominent part of the home). Ironically, when I go out to estate sales and garage sales, I see those old spinets that people can't GIVE away now! Ah, but see those vintage Ludwig, Gretsch or Rogers drums tucked behind the old tarp held down by some old tires? THAT'S what we all want to find! And in the SUPER-rare instances where a kit HAS been cared for throughout the years and stored properly...well, it's like finding the pot-o-gold at the end of the rainbow!
So, if you have some nice, old vintage gear, then tend to it wisely and care for it with love. Just think what would happen if these old kits do what vintage Fender guitars did! In both the case with vintage guitars and vintage drums, the thing is that....they will never build them like that ever again...and that is part of their attraction to collectors -anything that one can't have is exactly what one will end up wanting!
Have a great week!Mister T
