Ok, I am going to chime in here and say that this is going to be a good thing for anyone looking to sell a drum or for those looking to buy a drum but don't have knowledge of that drum. I have been drumming for 38 years and in the last couple of years I have gone in to business for myself and repair, restore and sell vintage drums. Occasionaly I have a drum come across my work bench that just stumps me, this happened most recently about two weeks ago when I had a drum in mny shop that I had never seen before and had absolutely no idea what to tell my client what the drum might be worth. My hope would be that the book would cover drums prior to 1900 as well since I have a lot of dealings with drums much older than that in my business.

The ability to look up what a four piece Ludwig or Slingerland kit went for recently, whether it was sold on Ebay, Craigslist, Auction House, Drum Show etc. is a good thing. Even though most tend to think that Ebay tends to skew the market and the fees are high it helps someone like me determine what I can charge for the kit or snare I just picked up at a tag sale for $25.00. If it has the effect of bringing vintage drums into the spotlight and driving up the prices of some of the drums I am trying to sell then I don't see that as a bad thing either. even if that were to happen then I don't see the prices on common drums like Supraphonics, Acrolites, Dynaconics etc. being driven through the roof because, while they are good sounding drums, they were also produced in large quantities and aren't considered to be "Rare" drums. As for the the more expensive and rare drums like the 20's era Black Beauty, Leedy Elite, Slingerland Black Beauty and others, they are already in a price range that will exclude most of the average "Players" from purchasing them because a single drum can go for as much or more than an entire high end kit.

It sounds like this is going to be set up as a guide and not the end all be all of blue book pricing and can only serve to help and not hurt. I would be happy to report prices of sales on some of the stuff that I have moved recently if it will help.

George, if this statement:

"In answer to your other points: yes, yes, yes, duh, I know that, of course, yes and yes."

is representative of your attitude in general and also reflects your ability to deal with people, then I wish you luck. You're gonna need it.

By the way, I was in the midst of composing my post when your lengthy and detailed entry was being put up. So, I didn't see it until after I had put mine up there.

No matter, I'm happy to have provided you with the opportunity to thump your chest and demand respect.

Vintage drums have been commercialized for several decades. Have you been into one of the larger drum shops lately? There are several who have a specialized salesman who only deals with vintage drums. The largest market in the drum industry is the used and vintage market. It's been commercial since the days of Frank's Drum Shop in the early part of last century. There is already a large faction of people who trade vintage drums as a business/for the money. C'mon.

Thanks. I do already have an expert in the rope drum genre - 1700s - 1800s - a good reliable resource I can get accurate info and appraisals from. i don't think this website and book will affect the market anymore than this website does. It will just reflect the market and give some general information that is out there in one place. It's a convenience.

It is not representative of my attitude at all, Dan. There were what, forty other sentences in my reply? Consider those too. I will need no luck, just hard work and perseverance. Your assumption about my character is baseless. Ask those here who know me personally. I addressed every one of your points. Sorry about the flippant comment, but you weren't exactly offering constructive criticism. Please don't stoop to ad hominems.

There's more text in my post than what was quoted in your reply.

Hmmm.... all I did was hit the quote button. I did not edit your reply. I now see the remark about me thumping my chest and demanding respect. That is trolling, Dude, and I don't respond to it. There's just not enough hours in the day.

Look, all I'm saying was that I hadn't seen one of your detailed posts because I was in the midst of posting mine. And in the post I hadn't seen there were details which coincided with the suggestions I offered. Our postings crossed paths, that's all.

I just felt that your reply was needlessly dismissive, especially since i was trying only to be helpful and didn't realize I was posting some of what you had already said.

Let's just move on...

There aren`t that many blue drums that look good, I think ya have better luck with Mod. Orange or Metalic Silver !!

cool. Hard to get it right in just text isn't it? Sorry about all that. Are you coming to the Nashville Drum Show? I owe you a beer! Which reminds me I need to announce and advertise that there will be alcoholic beverages at the show.