Vintage Collectable - to Play or Not

[b_james]

I am a huge Beatle fan (since I was 7 years old) so with that said my main set I play is a modern Ludwig Fab-4 black oyster kit located up in the music room. However, i just aquired an original 1964 (according to the highest s/n) black oyster Ludwig kit. All other parts are now trickleing in such as the Rogers Swiv-o-matic tom holder, 18", 20" and 14"HH all which are 60's Paiste 602. '60's original Black Oyster jazz festival snare, Ludwig buck rodgers snare stand ect.. As you can see this set I am restoring is going to be as close to Ringos first 22" set he aquired in 1964. Every detail down to the proper HH clutch is being fulfilled.

Now here is the question, The anticipation of playing these is driving me nuts, however, how many of you would consider this a "playable" set or a "do not touch" show peice. The set will be displayed in the living room.

[Mazzhole]

Congrats on the kit.. Sounds AMAZING!!!! I'll chime in with my .02 .. I say play them. What good are they going to be if they just collect dust. They are drums .. I think you'll only enjoy looking at them for so long. I'm a firm believer in playing the old stuff and driving the old cars!!!! As long as they are taken care, they'll last forever.

[drummist]

what harm can you do to a drum by playing it? well, okay, don't use aluminum sticks. don't be clumsy while near it. i have never damaged a drum while playing it respectfully. sure, the heads wear out over time. that's it. i have damaged a drum by dropping it or knocking it over, but i've never done this while playing respectfully either. it's usually during set up or tear down. are you going to build a bullet-proof glass cage to put around it while it sits in the living room?

i would like to hear a reason why not to play it....

[sticksandstones]

Depends on the venue. I've never been afraid of what I would do to my drums.....

[Webmaster]

I agree on that. When I was playing I was a full time drummer in a Polynesian tour group.

We had 6 female dancers, fire knife, log drums and a variety of instruments the dancers played while dancing.

The playing was very fast and the drumming was controlled with vocal commands from the lead player. Endings were called out and had a variety of sticking patterns depending on what the leader felt like playing that evening.

Enough of that, most gigs were larger event parties, full light and sound, but one gig that was booked was a Hawaiian night at a smaller bar.

Fortunately our guitar player also played bouncer for the dancers since they usually had little clothing on and in bars like this the guys would be closer to the stage and more likely to interfere with the girls.

The last thing I remembered was some drunk dude being thrown into my drums, and as he was falling backwards he grabbed the hi hat rod and it bent completely down and the snare went over and hit the ground. I remained seated and kept playing the floor tom and bass drum until the drum break ended. The hi hat did not work well for the rest of the night.

The set was a 60's Ludwig in BDP with Rogers Hardware and it survived the fall.

So, depending on the type of gigs you play will determine which drums you bring out.

I later traded that set for a set of Vibes!

Oh, I had to buy a new rod for the hi hat.

David
Webmaster

[drummist]

i had interpreted the post as whether to play in the living room. playing them out is a whole other story! if i've taken my good snare to a gig, i'll sometimes pack it up and carry it with me between sets lest someone else decides they're a drummer and starts banging on my stuff. just because i've never broken anything by playing it doesn't mean i'll trust the same of someone else. hence the word "respectfully" in my first post. i'm also extremely paranoid about audience knocking over my cymbals.

[Mazzhole]

I also thought he meant playing at home,,, gigs are different!!

[Webmaster]

Your both correct on that, I thought he was thinking of using it over his
replica set for gigs.

I guess if the set was an original Ringo set with original heads then the thought would be to put it in a glass case and never touch it, but
it is not and the set is very playable for gigs and at home.

David

[qunvat]

I have just bought the same kit...all original...I play in a UK Beatles band (VERY good too!) and will hitting the holy proverbial out of it as often as possible!

Si

[O-Lugs]

I play ALL my vintage gear -well almost all of it. I might make an exception on some drums with the original calfskin heads intact. I don't want to mess up those heads...even though they are part of that era's vintage sound. If I really wanted to, I could put some modern heads on them and play them, too...

As far as playing nice vintage stuff on gigs...I, too, am more selective based upon the venue and the type of function. Certainly, a black-tie New year's Eve gig is a different environment than a frat house kegger! Dress accordingly!electricit

[wayne]

Im fortunate to have a couple of playing kits so im putting my 1970 Sonor NOS,ROSEWOODS on ice,sort of.If they weren,t dead mint id likely play them,but im also anxious to see the value increase over the years.Its a small investment for my boys,so when im gone they can cash in or hang on for another 40 yrs.They wont drop in value i know that,but if they make it to 70-100 yrs old you have to wonder?Excited

[Mike T]

Play em...what good are they if you don't? i play my Rogers everyday and i will gig them ,the difference is i do all my own setup always have,simply because i handle them different than someone else who does not own them...Hit em ..if you have special heads take em off and save them and put on players.band2 band2 D' Drummer

[Super B]

Play em...what good are they if you don't? i play my Rogers everyday and i will gig them ,the difference is i do all my own setup always have,simply because i handle them different than someone else who does not own them...Hit em ..if you have special heads take em off and save them and put on players.band2 band2 D' Drummer

Man, this the second time I'm agreeing with Mike T today! Play those drums! I have been taking my Rogers kit everywhere in the last few months and for once in my life, soundmen have been nice to me! Like Mike T said, just be careful when setting up and breaking down, and don't let any drunks near the gear. "I knows howf to play drums, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, burp". I love it when I play shows with other drummers with cool classic gear.