If I have some older (60's 70's) Gretsch & Slingerland drums if I sand them & refinish them am I hurting the resale? I have a few drums & kits that the wraps or the natural finish has seen better days, I want to restore them to play or collect.
I'm all ears!
some people say no, but the market says refinishing cuts the resale value.
Thanks, my argument is one of is it playable or pretty vs ugly & not playable. Or any combination of the the mentioned. Can you really enjoy a drum on a shelf or should it be on a stand to play?
I think drums are meant to be played. I don't see them as objects to be put on a shelf and admired. They are beautiful in my eye, when they being used as an instrument.D' Drummer
Useable generally trumps not-useable, unless we're talking primo collector pieces. If you've got an 18" Gretsch bass or BOP Ludwig Downbeat that really just need new edges to sound their best, leave them or sell them. Originality trumps everything for such items.
If you've got a 13"-16"-20" satin flame Slingy that looks like crap, go ahead and do whatever, there's not much you can do to lower their value.
An honest assessment of their market value before irreversible alterations is key. Can you provide more details as to what you've got?
I would agree with the above comments. The deal with vintage drums is fairly simply this;
If you have to go to the point of re-wrapping or refinishing a higher end kit, odds are you are losing money on the deal. Refinishing or re-wrapping generally de-values a kit by a substantial percentage.
That said, I am personally of the mindset that one should enjoy their instrument and be proud of it, assuming you have the kit to play. A lot of guys here like the "mojo" of a worn kit. For me, there is a difference between a light scuff, a little fade, sky blue pearl that has turned more grey, white marine pearl that has yellowed a bit and drum with seriously cracked or degraded wrap. The former suggests a vintage instrument that has seen a lot but still has great days ahead. The latter just looks abused and neglected. Again, that is only my opinion and certainly not shared by many here.
For me, I would rather re-wrap a pretty damaged kit knowing that it is probably not an investment except in the way I and possibly others perceive the kit. Here in Nashville there are instances of various vintage kits, often assembled as orphans that have been professionally re-wrapped, edges dressed or re-cut as necessary, current model spurs installed and are now serving quite well in studios and mostly smaller tours. I say "smaller" tours because most of the major touring drummers are sponsored by someone. I don't see that as a disservice to the drums at all though many would disagree. I think that if we personified those drums, they would be happy being played for recordings and in front of hundreds or, in some cases thousands of people a night even at the age of 40-50-60+ years old.
They are your drums, at least for now, so do what is best for them.
One caveat might be the low end kits like the MIJ stencil kits. You would be able to pick up a neglected kit for next to nothing, fix it up and sell it for a good deal more. The question would be could you sell that at a profit?
