George's post #103 should be a "sticky" for reference purposes.Thanks George!

To me a vintage drum is a drum that is over 25 years and no longer made. company's like Leedy that went out of business in 1954 any of there products are considered Vintage , Ludwig & Ludwig also in 50's when out off business and many other company's also considered vintage. All depends if company stopped making within 25 years if model still being made by company then it is not considered Vintage it retroactive.

I am in the unenviable position of having to define "vintage drum" for the new NSMD Blue Book of Drums I am writing for Blue Books inc. My take on it is that the word vintage is only one of a set of words used to describe old drums. The word vintage in its purest form really only means the year of production and it came from the wine industry. It does not denote rarity, collectability, popularity, quality, etc. "What vintage is that wine?" "Why, it's a 2011 Ripple, dummy!"But then again we do use the word vintage in the common vernacular to denote something that is old, rare, collectable, not in production anymore, quality instruments of a bygone era, etc. How old? Therein lies the rub, eh? I have chosen to use the word vintage to denote any model of drum that is no longer in production. Why? Because it is at that point that collectors and buyers and part seekers start looking for drums and parts at the sources known for advertising used drums: i.e. the vintage drum community, Ebay, this site, NSMD, etc.. So I think that this is a fair use of the word vintage and one that most can agree on because it does NOT define by a certain period or year, or by a quality level. It keeps the description neutral and uses the word as a noun instead of as an adjective. Adjectives are always subject to interpretation. Vintage would mean only "no longer produced". "Desireability" is so subjective that it is futile to define it. I like 60s Gretsch drums -the other guy likes vintage DW drums from the late eighties. Both are vintage because neither one is in production any more (the production materials and specs changed).Classic is a good word for drums that have withstood the test of time and remained popular. I think this is what most people mean when they describe a drum as a "vintage drum", just as connoisseurs of wine would say "vintage wines" to denote old wines that are good; "It was a very good vintage, a classic". Yet, use of the word classic is a subjective thing also. I find that what usually defines classic is the time period in which the drummer first started playing drums. Some will say that certain drums from before the seventies were better made and sounded better, when what they really mean is that they liked the those drums because they worked well and sounded good. I can tell you with at least a small degree of authority as a drum shop owner for 25 years that many high end drums made these days are better built, more durable and, in many cases, sound as good or better than old drums. I find no old drum that rivals Johnny Craviotto's snare drums in sound and construction quality, for instance. The glues are better, the metal parts are made better, etc. So, classic should be used only with drum models that are universally accepted as having withstood the test of time.Rare is self explanatory; hard to find, thus more expensive than the original priceCollectable; Buy it at fair market value, and it will increase in value over the long haul.Antique; Really old. I see it used mostly with drums that predate Gene Krupa and the swing era; before tunable bottom heads on toms. Dixieland drums from the teens, twenties and thirties.Anyway that is how I'm seeing it right now but I'm open to any logical alternative explanation that makes more sense or would be more readily accepted by the majority of vintage drummers (now there's a term that is easy to define :-)

Vintage refers to drums 25 years old or older . Drums no longer made that become collectibles.The quality of the drums made years ago was and is much better than today's. Many of the wood drums the wood has dried to its capacity and give out a rich sound that in today's drum you will never get.

That's your definition. Here's the problem as I see it. (have you read this post) everyone on here has a different definition of vintage. So to some that's not a problem. But it can cause confusion. When you ask, "Is my drum vintage?" Some would say "yes definitely" others "NO absolutely not", and still others would say "maybe, depends on......" So while we have some drums of a certain age and manufacturer that almost everyone agrees fits the definition of "vintage"I don't think anyone would disagree that American drums made between 1958 and 1968, and are no longer in production are vintage. But more than that and you will find massive disagreement.