That premier run of Hot Wheels gave us the first look at the new corvette. Imagine, a kids toy revealing the new model of automobile. Totally cool. I had those, and every one of 'em after that until about 75. I also had all of the Major Matt Mason toys. Talk about cool! That bubble vehicle that attached to the space crawler was the best toy ever.
Major Matt Mason was sooo cool! He kiched butt on GI Joe! And the Thunderbirds, can't forget the T-birds!~
For me, nothing beat running down the street rolling a hoop with a stick and listening to Rudy Valley and Eddy Arnold coming thru the windows of those who had Gramophones and checking out the new model A Ford roadster. This is why I love NOB and Black Beauty Ludwig snares from the 20s and 30s. (I'm not trying to re-live a part of my life. I just want the best sounding drums I can find to play.)
For me, nothing beat running down the street rolling a hoop with a stick and listening to Rudy Valley and Eddy Arnold coming thru the windows of those who had Gramophones and checking out the new model A Ford roadster. This is why I love NOB and Black Beauty Ludwig snares from the 20s and 30s. (I'm not trying to re-live a part of my life. I just want the best sounding drums I can find to play.)
You had sticks and hoops....? that how you ended up plain' drums..?...found a dead animal stretched over an old stump and decided to see if the hoop fit over the stump to tighten the skin...
YOU INVENTED MODERN DRUMS!!!Bowing
Laughing H
I don't know if I agree that standards dropped for every company. I have a set of '90s Yamaha Maple Custom Absolutes and they are quite nice, the shells are as good as anything vintage I've played and the hardware is definately not only sturdier but also more precise.I think someday they will be considered vintage. I played a set of 60's Yamaha and wasn't overly impressed.I think some companies dropped their standards and some continued to make improvements. I do think Ludwig and Gretsch lowered their standards, and Rogers, and Slingerland went away. Companies like Tama, Pearl, Yamaha, just keep getting better.thoughts????
I'm sorry, I just assumed that none of you folks would have ever considered any Asian offerings as vintage.
I love the Recording Customs. I, like most every drummer breathing, owned a sweet RC kit. It was a very high quality kit and had a good sound. The key factor here is it didn't have a "vintage" sound. Great drums. That's one of the varied reasons why they would not be considered "vintage". I may have to adjust my previous statement to coincide with the thread starters adjustment. It is already a collectible kit. It doesn't command the monies of a Rogers or Gretsch or Ludwig, but people do seek them out. Guitar Center has a sweet 5 tom and bass RC for 5 something ... Right at 6 if I recall. Excellent deal for someone. It seems to be one of those kits that every drummer has to own at least once.
Ok...here's my take on this.....no flaming please, this is just my opinion and what I consider vintage or not.
Post 1980 anythin: USED
1975-1980: used bordering on classic
1960-1975: Quality made American and Import drums-Premier, Sonor, etc(excludes the MIJ/stencil junk)--classic
1930-1959: Vintage-includes Premier, Sonor, etc.
1930-prior: Antique
Why did I pick 1930 as the change from antique to vintage? 1930 is around the time of the development of the modern drumkit as we know it...the modern Jazz era if you will....Gene Krupa, etc. Before that they were just traps sets.....and truly not able to be used on a regular basis today.....they are just to historically valuable and fragile to be honest. But thats my take on this subject.
Why did I pick 1960 as the change from vintage to classic? Gretsch changed to 6-ply shells by then, Leedy was owned by Slingerland and sounded nothing like they used to by then (ya I know it was 1955, but I'm generalizing all the companies here) Even the Radio Kings shell type had changed...some may say for the better, me I'm not so sure. This is pretty much the timeframe of the modern kit. You can play one of these kits today daily without much worry of breakage, yet it has that warm vintage vibe.
By 1975 the hardware was much heavier and the shells were thicker and most of the american companies were winding down and soon to disappear. Anything with a thick shell sounds modern to my ears so this is why I state borderine classic. Its a grey area for sure.
1980-onward is the modern era and the stuff is just used. My 1989 Ludwig classic maple kit, powertom sizes and all, was expensive then, (around $3500) but now its worth a fraction of that, even though its kept very nice and sounds good to my ears.....I know this and know that it will always just be a used set and never worth anywhere near what I paid for it back then.
I'm sorry, I just assumed that none of you folks would have ever considered any Asian offerings as vintage.
Some of us do. This is hotly debated sometimes, but it is what it is. I have a set that qualifies, to me, and sounds like nothing else. An old, "junk" set of MIJ crap to most people, until they play them. These 60s Japanese stencils are classics, and there is no disputing it. Some may hate the whole MIJ genre because they filled a void the American companies could not, and would not, but the fact is, many of those same people had them as kids because either their folks did not have the money, or knew no real difference, or they knew the kid and thought it would be a passing phase and bought on the low-down to get by for that Christmas.
I don't care how badly they hate these old drums, it is more for what they represent than the true quality. No matter what they may say, these drums sound awesome.
Of COURSE some of the MIJs are considered Vintage. There are some excellent MIJ kits out there. Good quality and nice sounding drums.
Of COURSE some of the MIJs are considered Vintage. There are some excellent MIJ kits out there. Good quality and nice sounding drums.
Gentlemen, you will have realised I am new to this forum and to the world of vintage drums, apart from owning and playing a 72 Fullerton Rogers and Gretsch Centennial (now closing on thirty years old) both of which appear to be creeping towards the 'Vintage' moniker. I did actually own a 'sixties Pearl snare; it was new and shiney and I swapped this battered old brass thing called Leedy, which I had never heard of, in a store on Shaftsbury Avenue back in 1969 when I was 16. The Pearl (in blue pearl )matched my Carlton kit, which must have been 20 years old. When I traded all that about two years later I got a blue sparkle Trixon conical kit which I rapidly swapped for a brand new 2 x 24" 7 piece black Pemier. That all puts me in the 'Vintage' world doesn't it? I must be getting old.
Seems to me that a category called "Nostalgic" would be in order. A lot of you seem to be attracted to certain drums for this reason.
