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What's a floor tom worth!?

20 x 18 70's badge champagne sparkle ludwig
Posts: 32 Threads: 2

I'm new here but I'm old in years...so if I goof up and say something out of bounds please have patience with me as I try to expand my mind.

I've recently had a bit of a go around with cymbals...coming to grips with pricing and how the various factors all the experts use and share here are used not only to evaluate and compare quality but also effect value. I've learned a lot thanks to a lot of help from members.

The scenario: Yesterday. I came across a 20 x 18 floor tom in the VDF 'For Sale' forum that was put up for sale over a year ago with no takers. I thought...hmm...that floor tom might be a nice addition and compliment the original 16 x 16 floor tom in my personal set. So...I PM'd the person with the floor tom and asked if it was still available...he got back to me and said it was.

My problem: The person with the 20 x 18 floor tom is asking $750 for that tom. At this point let me add that I am the original owner of a 1965 Ludwig Champagne sparkle Hollywood set. If I remember correctly, my kick with its two mounted toms and the floor tom cost me around $750 back then...I've forgotten the exact amount but I had to save for almost two years to get my set...I was only 16 back then. Getting back to the floor tom for sale, it is a later Ludwig with champagne sparkle and the purple and olive badge...1970's I'm thinking. I realize that a 20 X 18 is not that common, but $750 worth of uncommon?

I've seen 16 X 16 floors selling for anything from $750 down to $150. I understand supply and demand but even for a 16 x 16 that is a lot of variation in price for just a tom. I would expect to pay more for a 20 X 18 of course, but how much more? When I investigate my Hollywood set I see prices that go from $1500 to over $2000...and those prices appear to include sets that have been refurbished, rebuilt or had some work done. My personal set is all original and in good working order...has always been kept in cases and stored indoors when not in use.

Am I making mountains out of mole hills or is pricing a floor tom at nearly half the current market value or price of the set it could have come from outrageous? I'm not trying to rip any one off and I believe a seller has the right to ask a fair value...but...I keep imagining someone coming across a used set with a 20 X 18 floor tom that they buy for cheap and then expect to sell the tom at more or nearly the cost of the original set! I'd not be so particular if a tom had something to it other than just a shell and a couple of heads. Am I missing something? By the way I made an offer of $450 even though I have no idea what the actual going price should be...Was I way off point? Am I out of touch with the market?

Also...in my mind when someone asks such a price for a tom it better be in original shape and without any flaws...but I still cringe at $750. It would be different if the addition of such a drum would add another $1000 ($750) to the value of my set, but I don't think that would happen because now my set would no longer be completely original...and...from what I see vintage drumset values are based more upon condition and originality rather than on unoriginality or personal customization of any specific set's configuration.

So...What is a floor tom worth? (please don't just tell me it's worth whatever a person will pay...though that may be true I'm really looking for an appraised value.) The only thing I see as unique is size and construction, but is size and construction in a 70's drum enough to overcome the devaluation of construction, age and wear? What would the experts value this floor tom at?

thanks,

landofahhs (Paul)
Posted on 8 years ago
#1
Posts: 3088 Threads: 326

Welcome Paul. Good to have you on board and nice to hear you have your original kit from 1965. I always find that totally remarkable. Saving for two years to get it is a forgotten technique in many ways, but kudos on that too.

Single drums that are hard to locate often bring what appears to be an excessive price. And there is also a market that can be capitalized on if you find one and know others would like to have it. So it is not unusual to see very high prices. It is a supply and demand thing. And even though the drum has been for sale for a long time, there are those sellers who simply are not in a hurry. I don't have a good sense of the value of a floor tom that size because I've never used particularly large drums. However, I wouldn't think there would be too many that size in that finish.

In the other direction, very small bass drums or sets with those bass drums - 14x18; 12x18 or 12 by 16 can brings some stunningly high values, as in thousands.

One thing you are correct about is that adding that floor tom will not tend to increase the value of your set proportionally. It is more likely you would want to separate it to sell again to be able to recover it value.

Good luck on your decision.

Posted on 8 years ago
#2
Posts: 10714 Threads: 579

From Dan Boucher

Welcome Paul. Good to have you on board and nice to hear you have your original kit from 1965. I always find that totally remarkable. Saving for two years to get it is a forgotten technique in many ways, but kudos on that too. Single drums that are hard to locate often bring what appears to be an excessive price. And there is also a market that can be capitalized on if you find one and know others would like to have it. So it is not unusual to see very high prices. It is a supply and demand thing. And even though the drum has been for sale for a long time, there are those sellers who simply are not in a hurry. I don't have a good sense of the value of a floor tom that size because I've never used particularly large drums. However, I wouldn't think there would be too many that size in that finish. In the other direction, very small bass drums or sets with those bass drums - 14x18; 12x18 or 12 by 16 can brings some stunningly high values, as in thousands. One thing you are correct about is that adding that floor tom will not tend to increase the value of your set proportionally. It is more likely you would want to separate it to sell again to be able to recover it value. Good luck on your decision.

Dan is spot on !!!

Your drummers not much good is he!? What you need is someone that's as good as me. ! John Henry Bonham !!
Posted on 8 years ago
#3
Posts: 32 Threads: 2

Thank you Dan for taking the time to advise me. I feel less foolish now and will have to keep in mind the forum is not all about finding items for personal use but also collecting as well as investment and retail.

You have also given me some information that will help me balance my personal goals and objectives with the others that use this forum. It is not just a matter of a drum just being a drum, or whether it is no longer being manufactured...Not even what features an item has. Rarity can be the driving force and I get that now.

I will try to keep these facts in mind...and, as a result, I'll have to either come into some disposable cash or be more refined and perhaps segregating in what I look at in the future.

I'm a pretty utilitarian type person...I'm not one that would buy a car as a collector item and leave it sitting on blocks as an investment....I'd want to drive and enjoy it. The same comes to drums. I enjoy having good and dependable equipment...my drums have been one of the few things, besides family, that have always been with me all my life. I'll just have to keep in mind that this is a community and we all have our different and unique reasons for our involvement with percussion. Thanks again!

landofahhs (Paul)
Posted on 8 years ago
#4
Posts: 1867 Threads: 179

20 diameter? 18 deep?

I had a 20" FT.

I could not make it sound with a drum stick.

Diameter was too big for a stick.

Anything that big "needs a stewardess", I mean a Mallet.

I made it into a Bass Drum.

I would recommend an 18x16.

I have paid big dough for Large Floor Toms.

They are just more money these days.

Hey, show some pics of your kit.

Welcome.

BLAEMIRE DRUMS
Thanks to Mr. Jerry Jenkins
Posted on 8 years ago
#5
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