Hey, if I found a mint condition kit, then I would play it. Why not? I would just take off the old heads and put some new ones on and have at it.

I wouldn't take a NOS kit out to a bar gig where it might be too exposed to creatures of the night, though. That's tempting fate a little too much!Burger Kin But I would have no problems taking the gear to some nicer gigs. I, for sure, would be setting it up in my studio and playing it every day. And I could almost guarantee that, barring any natural disasters, at the end of several years of playing them, they would be every bit as mint as they started out.

The way I see it is if A vintage Ludwig kit held up to ringo...it can hold up to me.

I'm not saying it won't hold up, its just that it won't stay mint for long in a working environment. If I had a NOS dead MINT Ringo kit from 1963 (downbeat) or a NOS dead MINT 1965 (classic) set I wouldn't let it leave the house! Its just too valuable to take out on regular gigs. Thats why I'd go buy a NEW Legacy classic Liverpool 4 set....you get the look and sound but without the worry of wondering if someone's gonna steal or damage my MINT NOS 60's kit. Maybe it will be collectable someday, but for now its just a new kit that looks like an old kit. Get what I'm saying everyone?

AMEN!!! If I had one of those time capsule kits...an original...oh man...it wouldn't move once I set it up in my studio. Oh man...I'm drooling.

I expanded on the bang for your buck thing in the is it worth it section.