if they dont have great re-rings they wont sound as good on the cheaper kits for tuning...

This has been quite an interesting topic!

As for myself, I have 3 vintage kits... a 1966 Rogers Headliner, complete with COB Powertone, a 7-line 1966 Dynasonic and a Tower/Powertone matching blue sparkle snare drum. A 1967 Slingerland 4pc (just made a matching 4x14 BR snare for it!) and a 1970 Ludwig Super Classic.

Each kit has its own unique sound, due to shell construction and style of bearing edge. Each kit sounds great, but different!

As has been previously mentioned, any current Slingerland or Rogers kit is basically entry level. They can be made to sound good, but they're still inexpensive kits.

Ludwig and Gretsch are producing both USA-made and imports... and all sound pretty good, too!

Speaking strictly from first-hand experience with my recently acquired Ludwig Classic Maple Downbeat kit, which many of you may recall I posted about this, I can say that after having the edges leveled, the kit is simply first class and stunning. I still think Ludwig needs to spend just a bit more time with edges and snare beds to achieve perfection, especially considering what they are charging for the USA-made drums. Still, they are excellent drums!

Mark

Yes. I certainly wasn't saying that all drums are created equal but that whether they be new or vintage, that isn't the telling point. ....and that cheap drums can be retrofitted( not remanufactured) towards surprising results.

Exactly! With in-round shells and level edges... and the proper heads... I've been able to get nice sounds out of inexpensive drums. On the flip side, I've had great success with slightly out-of-round and non-level edges, too. 2-ply heads can be very forgiving of these shells!

Mark

Would you care to elaborate on this, especially with some testimonial thrown in? I have a couple of these 'cheaper kits' (vintage MIJ) that have re-rings and I am wondering what you meant by this.

Thanks,

John

While I'm definitely a "vintage" type guy at heart modern drums are made to much higher quality control standards than vintage drums ever were. The modern top of the line offerings from Gretsch, Ludwig, and DW have to pass a much higher level of fit and finish than drums made in the 60's or 70's did. Even today's mid-level drums will generally have better workmanship displayed on them. In the old days the goal was primarily to produce drums that looked nice on the outside and if they met that criteria they were usually shipped.

Now I still prefer vintage to new, and vintage drums have something indefinable that many new drums do seem to lack. It's hard to quantify what that special something is exactly. Some vintage drums definitely have some "magic" in them but I wouldn't say they are better than higher end modern drums.

I believe that there are maybe less, but yet still plenty of variables between drums manufactured today as those of yesteryear. From a players perspective it's a question of finding that Snare or that Kit that just gives you the sound and feel you want. If that happens to be a 60's ........ or a 00's ........ so be it. It's about making great music.

The magic for vintage for me is firstly the idea of owning something that is old with untold history, and that the sound the drums seem to lead straight to something more complex than the new, of course when they are the good ones.

A lemon is a Lemon never mind when it was made. Although a vintage lemon however is still better fun to own and definitely better to look at.

I've seen and owned very cheap mij kits with out reinforcement rings (they help keep the drum in round ) that also add some meat for tuning. they hardly have a bearing edge very few ply's (or what ply) very hard to seat a head most are uneven edges and to tune them (or cant tune them)without cranking them to the end of the dial.. the snares are notorious for that and out of round also...not all of them but most are like that the build quality and wood was and is not there....at least with the old big 4 there was a competition for a product that kept the playing field level for the most part , that's why most of the best kits are out of the country....

I would say that DW makes about the best drums on the market today excluding custom, in which case I'd say Craviotto.

DWs have gorgeous finishes, can't be beat, flawless construction, a variety of woods and shell construction, the sound is amazing, very tunable, each drum has an amazing range of tunability, and they retain a high resale value. Also I've found DW to be extremely responsive when you need a custom size or finish or if you have a concern with a drum.

That's what I mean by "good" drums. I would pick Yamaha Pheonix shells next. Very close to DW in sound quality and tunability.

Personally I prefer Yamaha hardware with exception of the pedals, in which case I love the DW 9000 series.

My 1.1 cents! (inflation)

This is an interesting thread on this forum.

I would guess that tone and response is major for a player, and age and rarity is most important for a collector. The collector would not care if say a mint rolling bomber kit sounded a bit woolly or a mint Top Hat and Cane sounded flat and boxy, the fact that they are shiny and original......

I would just like to add. As a player I can guarantee one thing. No matter how old or rare, or expensive that "holy Grail" vintage snare is, at some point in the session you'll here the talk back button go and here the words "do you have something else??"