I know it's a little slow here lately but things will speed up when the server thing gets worked out. In the meantime, I just wanted to add that there were probably some finishes that were never popular and will also likely not ever become a popular collectible color....something along the lines of those horrible metallic finishes on the Mach series of Ludwigs -remember those? Ironically, some of the most collectible finishes today -like Citrus Mod and Psych. Red were never big sellers in their day and were eventually discontinued. Now, collectors go crazy for them. Other finishes like red, blue and gold sparkle have been around forever and are still available today.

I don't even really know what companies are going for today as far as what the popular finish is...and that's likely due to to the plethora of "custom" finishes available today. Now, anyone can have their own custom color and shading style and logo...on and on. There really aren't any really distinctive looking kits these days -nothing immediately identifiable from a distance. That's the way drums used to be, though. I could tell a Rogers from a Ludwig from a Slingerland from a gretsch -easily. Why? Because they each had their own distinctive qualities -in essence, "Stick Saver" rims on Slingers and small oval badges and Set-O-Matic mounts. They also had their own unique blue sparkle wrap color that was distinctively different from, say, Ludwig's blue sparkle. Rogers had their Swiv-O-Matic stuff but also had a red sparkle that was deeper and more..."sparkley" than Ludwig's. Ludwig had their keystone badges and L-arm mounts...but they also had Black and Blue Oyster Pearls....I know I digress, but you get the idea.

It's really a shame that some of the OLD old finishes don't make a return. I mean things like Peacock Pearl and whatever that really cool green diamond pearl finish was called...Mike Currotto has a few drums with that finish...Mike? :)

Everything old is new again!

We live in a custom driven society, so I think they have so many options now for shells, finish and hardware that it is no longer controlled by the big companies but the people buying them..

In the old days of course you had a set of colors on the back of a catalog and those were your options!

Now, the color choice and options are endless so there is no style in my opinion anymore..

Then again the heavy painted graphics and the I have a "unique" finish is the style norm...

David

Hi guys ,sorry i just never could understand the painted shells no matter what color, WMP and Blue glass glitter have always been my favorites...with silver sparkle next in line...as with many other things like suspended floortoms (i simply loath them) i just can not get into todays drums just to complicated for me so i will stick with my Rogers swivo set... Oh in WMP .. :)

PS. all i need is the bucks to buy a 14x14 from Tommy ... lol

I remember back in the eighties white was a popular color, I even contemplated getting a white Ludwig rockers kit with the heavy duty hardware. White if you wanted to stand out, black if you wanted to blend in the back.

I think it is a combination of more options of finishes and wraps and colors but also the amount of drum company's that are around today. Back in the 40's 50's and 60's there were really only 4 or 5 major drum company's. Today you have 10 to 12 so you put together all the custom finishes from each company and the options are endless. You all might argue with me here but you get a more quality product now aday's for less money. I don't neccessarily think the drums of today are better but take Mapex for example. You can get a 6 piece M Birch kit with all the hardware for about $900 in your choice of 6 or 7 different finishes. Some people are old school and some people like the new stuff. It is all subjective in the long run so one is not better than the other. I personally own both vintage and new and both kits have their plus's and minus's.

That brings up a good point!! Having been playing Mapex exclusively for the past 8 years, it kills me how they can have the awesome Peacock Swirl on the entry level kits and not offer it on the upper lines!!! I owned a Pro M Rock kit in Vanilla Cream Pearl which actually looked like an aged WMP finish which had yellowed over the years. ALOT of vintage guys were asking me if it was a Slingerland kit or a Rogers or a Bonham style Ludwig .... they weren't happy to hear it was a new set that's for sure. Someone had mentioned they didn't like the painted kits. The main reason for lacquer is the fact that getting a wrap to be as smooth as lacquer, and give the drums an almost exotic furniture or artwork piece, is almost impossible. (seams people, they ain't smooth) I have also heard the on going debate of whether or not a wrap will affect sound. I personally believe it does sort of keep the shell from resonating to it's full potential. Is the difference enough to keep me from buying a wrapped kit?? Absolutely not!! As far as what's the most popular finish, well I agree with David as alot of us drummers prefer to be different and therefore will tend to look for something out of the ordinary which I believe is driving up the prices of the so called "ugly" kits that weren't popular in their day. I know I like the oddest of odd and have gone as far as owning a Staccato drumset!! Ugly as S*** but show me someone else using one around my area here in upstate NY. All you have to do is take a good look at some of the new kits and you can see the past coming to the present and future. Check out Tama's Superstar EFX collection .... does Orange Satin Flame ring a bell? White Satin Haze? Blue Satin Flame?? Oh yeah .... those are pretty kits let me tell you what!! I owned one a couple of years back and the price range and sound and quality was right there with my Mapex's. I truely believe the popular colors of today and this year will absolutely be any of the crushed glass sparkle finishes in a wrap (Champagne), while the burst style of lacquered kits will reign supreme. Some sets are works of art while others are works of ...... well not very worthy of calling them a work of anything. Laughing H It was true back in the day and holds true today. Just my :2Cents:

Thats a very difficult question to answer. Famous modern drummers are playing different sets frequently, while drummers back in the day may have played the same kit, in the same finish for a longer period of time. Also now a days there are so many more finishes available and everything has become more customized.