''Wisedom says take care'' As Dan Boucher Quoted. Many vintage drums are being sold on auction sites that are not worth restoring they are badly damaged and not worth the money. I Do not want to scare any one nor tell you what to buy, but there inscrutable people out there that will sell there mother for a dime and a sucker born every min. So be ware.

one is for you MickM.

Storm TrooperThis

Well I feel the best way to buy a vintage drum kit is to buy in person, not on ebay. Ebay is great for parts and is usually the only place to find them, that is if you cant find them here first. But your right, that can be expensive either ebay or VDF. There have been some very nice vintage kits for sale here on VDF by members that I would trust but for a new member that might be different. But still, best case would be to see in person, inspect them yourself. You might live with some fading or scratched wrap, maybe a little pitted chrome, but those missing parts are a big deal.

"....create huge messes that stain carpets, walls, and clothing with chemicals....."

Wow! That's some aggressive restoration techniques!

I prefer to acquire the vintge drum sets that are complete, but a bit rough. I'll clean them up to be great looking non-museum quality / good collectors quality drum sets that are generally worth about twice what I paid for the drums, and about 25%-30% more than what I have invested in the drums and the fix-up costs. I have one museum quality time capsule drum set among my little collection. I think that it may have never left the house of the original owner. I agree that buying vintage drums is a learning experience in which most of us have learned lessons about what not to buy by making unwise buying decisions.

I found all my vintage kits on my local CL . Being in south east FL. A lot of folks move here to retire and decide they no longer want or play the drums they brought down with them. I have less than $2000.00 in the last 4 1/2 years when I got the bug and started to rescue old kits, including parts and heads, in 6 vintage kits. My 68 Champagne Ludwig's, 70's Premier Resonators, 58 Gold Sparkle Ludwig's, Fullerton Big R Rogers and Fullerton Script badge Rogers kit's, 60's Slingerland's, and my 70's Beverley's. Of course I was able to check them all out in person. People just don't seem to see the potential and have the vision of the drums cleaned up and restored. Chipped up bass drum hoops, dirty ratty heads, dust and grime on the shells, some rust here and there. A lot of these vintage kits just need a good through breakdown and cleaning. Nasty dirty heads can make a set look awful, and new heads are not that expensive. It is the rare parts on some kits and the stands and hardware that can run in to some money. If you can find drums that have hoops, lugs, some hardware your on the right track, but you can have some darn good collector, and players kits as I do that look beautiful and sound fantastic without spending a fortune. When I take one of these sets out people think they are new.

Mind Blowi

When I brought home my Rogers kit, the floor tom was sitting next to me in the front seat. I could smell that unmistakeable scent all of the way home. I even pressed on the head a couple times to release even more fumes through the vent hole. Ahhhhh! :cool:

Even Ludwig has a similar scent that is actually sweet smelling.

-Tim

"When I brought home my Rogers kit, the floor tom was sitting next to me in the front seat. I could smell that unmistakeable scent all of the way home. I even pressed on the head a couple times to release even more fumes through the vent hole. Ahhhhh"!

Is this a similar perversion to bicycle collectors sniffing the bicycle seats?