1966 Ludwig Club Dates

[mlvibes]

Hello, I am trying to sell my set of Ludwig Club Dates, and am wondering if someone can give me some advice. I've tried craigslist, but have had little interest and what I would consider lowball offers in which people hadn't even seen or heard the drums. I would rather not go through ebay, but am leaning in that direction. I'd greatly appreciate any advice as to a fair asking price.

The drums:
1966 Ludwig Club Dates, blue sparkle, sizes are 20" 12" 14". Painted white interiors, each drum is stamped "SEP 9 - 1966". Serial numbers are all in the 330,000 range. Included is a 70's acrolite snare.

The good:
-Drums have very shiny original wrap.
-Metal is shiny with minimal flaws.
-No extra holes or damage.
-bearing edges seem good as drums are easy to tune and sound great.

The bad:
-One of the bass drum hoops is not original.
-No blue sparkle inlay in bass drum hoops.
-One bass drum tension rod is a WFL, same shape but nickel plated.
-Two of the floor tom tension rods are aftermarket replacements.
-Black rubber stopper missing from one floor tom leg and one bass drum spur.

Other:
-the wrap is "anchored" in the wood - I've been told this is undesirable - true?

What is a fair asking price?

Thanks!


http://www.billmaley.com/lcd.jpg

[O-Lugs]

$500.00 seems fair. I would need more detailed pics to gauge it better, but that's my guess.

[sabshga]

I would sell the snare seperately from the toms and the bass drum. Ebay is a great way to trade, the commissions are not terribly high. If you haven't done so already, do an advanced search for completed auctions of Ludwig drums. You will get an idea of executed transactions. Set a minimum that works for you so you don't get the drums taken away from you at an unacceptable level. Emotion plays a big part in the last seconds of an auction. You may run into a bidder that lost on a few auctions already for a blue sparkle set of club dates his mother might have sold in a garage sale when he was in college and he simply must have them back. THis guy may drop a large bid because in the last two auctions he was nickle and diming with $5 increments and now he is tired of waiting to win the set of his dreams.
The problems you have described are negligable and easily remedied. The in-shell wrap may be problematic for someone looking to rewrap the drum but not for someone that is pleased to have the blue sparkle covering. That stated, there are craftsmen out there that can deal with anything and some restorations I have seen have been mind blowing.

Good luck.

Gary
Dix Hills, NY
Keep on Pl

[mlvibes]

Thank you for your helpful replies...I think I'll try my luck on ebay and see what happens. I used some of the methods recommended through this site to clean the drums, and took a bunch of pictures. Here's some of them, I figured I would post them here to see if you guys had any additional advice. If the pics are too big or take up too much space please let me know.


http://www.billmaley.com/cdweb/1.jpg

http://www.billmaley.com/cdweb/5.jpg

Floor Tom: note hairline cracks on inside seam.
http://www.billmaley.com/cdweb/6.jpg

http://www.billmaley.com/cdweb/7.jpg

[mlvibes]

More pics:

Tom interior: note paint chipping off of glue at reinforcement hoop.
http://www.billmaley.com/cdweb/9.jpg

http://www.billmaley.com/cdweb/8.jpg

http://www.billmaley.com/cdweb/10.jpg

Tension rod on far right is a WFL.
http://www.billmaley.com/cdweb/11.jpg

[mlvibes]

Again, if this is too many pics or takes too much space, please let me know. Thanks!
http://www.billmaley.com/cdweb/4.jpg

http://www.billmaley.com/cdweb/ftserial.jpg

http://www.billmaley.com/cdweb/3.jpg

[Webmaster]

You should do pretty good on Ebay with these. I would for sure picture them complete and set up on the auction as well as these shots, besides the parts shots.

I sell a lot on Ebay and have success in different ways. If you search the forum about Ebay, I have some lengthy posts about selling.

List them to start in the evening so they end in the evening. Clear pictures and a nice description will give you more results.

Good luck and let us know when you list them.

David
Webmaster

[Rich K.]

The cleaning and nice bright shots will help sell the set...I bet you get more than 550 for the 3 pcs. now that they're cleaned up. Of course the club dates are real nice sounding drums, so you may want to keep them...

[mlvibes]

The drums are on ebay. Thanks again for your kind help.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300018118722&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fse arch.dll%3Ffrom%3DR40%26satitle%3D300018118722%26f vi%3D1