Just saw Brandi Carlile 2 nights ago...and her drummer was using Gretsch...

Top of line newer ones...sounded great....

Think he was using a 24" BD....looked big...sounded huge!..in fact,they really put a focus on the drums in the songs....which was refreshing...

Opening act...The Lone Bellow was using a 1966 Slingerland kit...which also sounded great...

Showed their drummer,Brian Griffin, some vintage gear after the show...he has a 66 Rogers kit too....some vintage snares........

Both bands were Ex!

to be of a slightly prejudice attitude i have say nothing sound like mint i do mean mint vintage wood/brass it cant be beat lol, but that's my opinion, it is always been bias for old luddys

The Ludwig Factory is in my home state and very proud of the company. the drums they make here are top of the line and hold their own against any company on the planet. We have two top pros on this forum whom endorse and swear by them, Both of these pro's own and play vintage drums also. I myself prefer vintage drums. but I have owned some of the new ludwig's and if I wasn't a vintage guy would gladly play the new ones.

I can't speak for "newer" Slingerlands (not seen any), but the "newer" Rogers are cheap, entry-level drums. I think they are made by Yamaha, but please don't hold me to that. Quite frankly, I think the Pearl Forums have them beat by a long-shot.

As for the new Gretsch, I think they're trying to put out a quality product. The same with Ludwigs, except for their MIT sets of the 90s. Right now it seems they are putting out pretty good stuff.

However, seriously price a new Ludwig or Gretsch set, and I think finding a vintage set in good playable condition is the best deal.

Just my 2 lincolns,

Bill

Top of the line Gretsch and Ludwig drums these days are pretty great. One can't perfectly achieve the vintage sound with modern drums for various reasons, but modern drums have several advantages. Think consistency, better hardware, easy availability of add-on drums, sizes and finish of your choosing, etc. Can't buy mojo, though! :)

Being friends with Dana Bentley gives me, personally, some insight about the new stuff. Hmmm... that just doesn't sound right, but I've reworded it three times.

What I'm trying to say is that I get to see and hear about new drums that I, personally, would not normally seek out. You guys in the industry get this type of info all the time. I don't unless Dana points it out.

DW seems to be the king of the heap in New drums... frankly, I've never liked their sound. They did make some thin shelled versions (maybe still are) that had a sound more to my liking, but I've got some Camco's myself. DW is no Camco by any means.

The American made Ludwig and Gretsch drums are incredible. Yeah, they do both import 'stuff' and slap their names on it, but they are companies. Companies are in it to make money, and there is money to be made in cheap drums.

Slingerland and Rogers have gone the way of RCA... It's got the name, but it sure isn't Slingerland or Rogers any longer.

Good drums aren't cheap either. Someone had a thread running about that. When we compare 2013 prices to 1960's prices we think they were giving stuff away. Check out that thread and see what those 1960's prices would be in today's money.

So, are modern drums as good as vintage drums? The modern pro model stuff is as good, if not better equipment-wise, than vintage. But then it's different as well. It's kind of like comparing apples and pears. (not apples and oranges). Modern stuff is made 'different' with modern wood(s), finishes and hardware. Old drums have aged (sometimes stinky, depending on what was used in the bass drum as a muffle) wood.

Okay, so there's my definitive answer: Modern and vintage drums are the same, but different. Falling Do

I am currently looking at buying a new kit. I am extremely impressed by the DW Collectors series. I think these are some of the best made drums I've ever seen. I think they will age well and the shell composition is another plus. I like the sound too. I'm going to look at all the major brands.

Whether drums are " good" or not has so many variables, that it usually is a meaningless comment. There are many threads on this forum that carry questions such as " how do they sound"? As far as I am concerned, all drums are good and can be made to sound good . They're drums. If you were a drummer and there was a massive conflagration and almost everything was destroyed and you were walking through the rubble and came across this no name set of drums that somehow miraculously had survived intact, boy would they sound good-----and you know why? because they would be live. Stage performances and bad videos and poorly made soundfiles and ancient 8mm movies and 40 year old tapes in no way can represent what drums and cymbals sound like.

Heads and tuning. I sometimes compare drums to wine, where to professionally analyze it, you give points to certain aspects of the products. I'd compare the percussive impact to the in taste in wine and the shell sound to the aftertaste. Resonance would be the bouquet----you get the point. By and large the sound of the drums is complex but by monkeying with heads and tuning( snare wires too) , it's amazing how the sound can be altered, new or old. It's not so much vintage or new sound but how complex is the sound and does it do what is necessary.

That's a great post. But for me, not all drums are equal. To buy the equivalent of a great vintage kit now, I think you need to spend at least $3000 (in this country) That's approximately what new Rogers were worth then too. The rest are just mass produced drums and they all sound the same to me. I want evidence of real craftsmanship $00.02.