Hi,

That?s a very good question. :)

I thought that anything over 25 years was considered Vintage, but on this forum it?s more like 40 to 50 years, and still no one wants to pay a decent price for it. lol I have two snare drums, both from 1983, and was asking what they might be worth, and I haven?t received one answer so far. lol

I honestly don?t need the money, I was just curious. I can wait another 25 years to sell them. :)

Then they?ll be 50 years old. :)

I?ve just got so much equipment from endorsement deals, that I don?t even use, but that doesn?t mean I?ll just give it away. lol

Anyway, what is considered Vintage, is a very good question?

I think that Vintage guitars tend to bring a lot more money than drums.

I?ve got a 1956 Les Paul Gold Top that I?ve been told by experts, sells for between $55,000-$75,000 in good condition with all original parts.

I don?t know of any drums that are worth that much. :) lol

Peace,

DICARLO

Hey, Dicarlo... No offense, but it's possible the reason you didn't get a response is because nobody has the answer for you...yet. You're correct about the fact that most people who come to a vintage drum website are unlikely to be considering something from the 80's or 90's as vintage. Maybe in another 10 or 15 years that will change...but I doubt it.

I was always under the assumption that an item that is at least 100 years old is an antique and anything other then that is vintage, used, old etc..

I start using the word vintage probably from the early 70's and older.

Anything that is 80's and or 90's to me is not vintage.

To other people and especially Ebay, there is no correlation to the word vintage and a defined year.

So unless there was a standard chart that we could follow then it is a guessing game based on your own personal use of the word.

So I guess for me it is 30 years or older and less then 100.

So:

100 Years or older - Antique

30-99 Years old - Vintage

29-present - Used

David

Yeah, I would agree with that in general. I would like to add that, when it comes to "vintage American-made drums", it's also a matter of how business used to be done in this country -which changed drastically when the foreign-trade agreements really kicked in during the mid-70's and affected how manufacturing was done forever after. As I have have said in other discussions, many of the old manufacturing methods are gone forever and so are the drums that were made from those methods. We can't have them and so we want them. Therefore, "vintage" in terms of vintage drums also relates to something that is not just "X" amount of years old, but more a matter of something that just isn't available anymore as a direct result of how manufacturing changed -basically a turning point in our history.

Greetings All.

If I might respectfully add, "vintage" is relative.

While I ( like so many of us ) have accquired a lovely

collection of true vintage tubs, the $$ value of them

never matches what they're really worth to me.

This has come to include a number of 80's - 90's Tama's

as well.

So they stay here and inspire me.

Les Paul's and Fender's?

Those instruments are being traded as commodities.

Auction the BB, and hand off the Tama to a deserving

up and comer.

A drum's destiny is to be played.

Cheers!

;)

Yes, I have some vintage "relatives" and a few that have less then 15 years to be antique!

I agree, it is relative in many ways....

David

LOL!

Back in the 50's and 60's, people assumed the general idea of the future as being a bright and cheerful place where everyone drove cars that looked like rockets and everything was push-button and covered in chrome. The vision of that -the style of it...represents a part of history that is somehow reflected in the style of certain drums, too.

I guess it is a relative thing.

When I think about Tama drums, I always think about The Police and Stewart Copeland. When I think of Yamaha, it reminds me of Steve Gadd. So, there is some historical relevance to these newer vintage drums, too.... but how they are valued is yet to be determined. It's kind of a "Limbo" timeframe as far as drum-collecting, goes. Of course, every era has had its own collectible drums of one type or another, so who knows? Soap Box As mentioned, Ebay is probably a good reflection of what the market is willing to pay for such drums. I, myself, wouldn't know where to begin insofar as valuation of these drums goes...but I tend to agree that they are likely to be worth less than what they cost new.

Laughing H

The power of the word...

What defines Vintage lies somewhere across the line from what is just "old." There are a bazillion old drums. Not everything old will have that special appellation of "Vintage." Pull a warped, delaminated, rust corroded Rogers 1963, 6.5x14 Beavertail Clockface in horribly faded sunburnt Red Wine Ripple out of someones tool shed where its been forgotten for 40 years, and you have an old drum, and its worthless. Take the same drum in pristine condition, it will sell for 3-6 thousand dollars, and is definately Vintage. And quite valuable.