New here, need some pricing help.

Ragedman

Junior Member
Hello Drummer World, I'm needing a little assistance in value of a few vintage kits. Came across a Craigslist post of someone selling a Pearl 9 piece (I think its an 8 piece because it doesn't have double bass) 70's fiberglass kit. The kit is around Eggshell white and only has single heads. I have searched and trolled the depts and have only found a few comparable kits, a 5 piece selling around $400-$500 or so. A Tama Rockstar DX, in perfect condition, trolling revealed about $400. Then a Ludwig kit from the 50's/60's. It's all mahogany, has a little bit of delamination on the skins, couldn't find any serial numbers. Has the bass drum, tom-tom, floor tom, and snare. Has extra holes drilled and needs some cleaning, single drum head. Also has two Ziljian cymbals from 50's, 18 inch and maybe a 16-17 inch in perfect condition. Two cymbals with Japan stamped on the bottom of the bell, super thin and sound real trashy, they are all bent up but no cracks. He is asking $1200 and it seems like a good deal to me.

Just need someone with more drum education to help me out with this.
 
That bottom picture is indeed a 9 piece. It has 6 rack toms, a snare, bass drum and a floor tom.
 
The pearl is a 9 piece because he is including the snare.
Those toms are called concert toms.
Those kits are kind of rare but there isn't a large demand for them in fair condition because of the concert toms. $400

The Tama kit is only worth about $300

The older stuff is hard to value because you can't tell the condition, etc.

It's a tough call without seeing the gear up close.
There could be a Gem in there.
 
The Tama and Pearl only need new heads. Ludwig needs some light restoration and cleaning up. I only want the Ludwig and would sell the Tama and Pearl, I'm thinking $600-$800 resale value for the two.
 
I don't think that you will get that much for the Tama and Pearl in the current condition.
The Luddy needs more than light restoration if the wrap is peeling.
It's a tough call.
 
The only wrap peeling is one of the hoops on the bass drum, guess I shoulda said that. Other wraps are fine only needs cleaning cause they have been sitting for 20+ years.
 
The Luddy is missing bottom hoops and tension rods for the toms.
The Pearl is missing bottom hoops and tension rods for three of the toms and the bass drum.
 
I read that during the 70's they removed the bottom hoop and skins because it gave a diffirent sound. It looked like the Pearl was manufactured w/o any bottom hardware. Not sure on the Ludwig.
 
The smaller toms on the Pearl are concert toms. (No bottom heads)
The larger mounted toms and the Floor toms are not concert toms. (Supposed to have bottom heads)

The Ludwig had bottom heads. They are missing.
The bearing edges may be damaged on the drums from having no hoops to protect them.
 
Here's what I think:

- Old economy drums like those Tamas regularly sell on CL for ~$150-250.
- Both the Pearls (BD and at least one tom) and Ludwigs (FT and maybe ST) are missing hardware for the bottom heads. If you have to replace parts, it could easily cost you >$100.
- The Pearls are fun, but not exactly in demand- I would want to get a great deal on them to be worth the trouble of finding a buyer. Maybe you could get $600 for them if they're in great condition, with nothing missing? Or maybe you won't be able to move them for 8 months because they're a little too funky and nobody wants a concert tom set, and you finally give them up for $400.
- OK, the Ludwigs are old, but they look pretty suspect to me. The ST has extra holes because someone removed the bottom heads and lug casings; those will be costly to replace if he didn't save them. I don't know my mahogany Ludwigs from that era, except most of the ones I've seen have been pretty junky. And that picture doesn't inspire a lot of confidence that these will be any different. I don't know what they sell for, but these are not premium Ludwigs as far as I can tell.
- The Japanese cymbals are garbage- yellow-tinted sheet metal with zero value. The Zildjians may be worth something, if they're playable. If they're heavier than crash-ride weight, it's going to be hard to find a use for them, and hard to find a buyer.
- Drumheads are disposable, and you usually assume that you're going to have to replace them when you buy a set of drums, but you should do the math on what that will cost you in this case.

It looks like he's trying to make you pay for the privilege of taking a big problem off his hands. To get anything like $1200 out of reselling them (for a profit of $0), you'll either have to get very lucky finding unwary buyers, or you'll have to put in a number of hours and a few hundred bucks in replacement parts fixing them up. There probably isn't a price he would accept that would make this worth your time and trouble, so I would pass.
 
Thank's Todd,
You pretty much backed up my thoughts on the drums.

Ragedman, You can simply buy a real good vintage Ludwig kit for less than $1200.
A kit that all that you would have to do is, Set Up, Tune, and Play.
It doesn't seem worth the effort to clean his house for him.

If I were the seller, I would part the ludwigs out on eBay as shells, lugs, and hoops.

Believe it of not, the Tama is the most useful kit there because one could buy it in the morning for a few hundred bucks and play a Rock gig with it that night after putting heads on it.

I have a 7 piece, 70s Gretsch kit with four concert toms that I bought new. It is good condition with no missing bits.
I was going to sell it. It was worth so little that I drilled the toms and I installed bottom heads on three of the toms myself. I kept the kit and I play it as a 5 or 4 piece at home now.
Its in the pic above.
 
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Iam with Bob on this one...CL is a great place to get a feell for it.....i buy stuff from there and sell too....people do try to beat you up on the price hard....gggrrr
 
Iam with Bob on this one...CL is a great place to get a feell for it.....i buy stuff from there and sell too....people do try to beat you up on the price hard....gggrrr
The main difference between craigs and eBay is that both an eBay buyer, and seller has to keep his satisfaction rating % up.
An eBay seller will go out of his way to show all of the flaws in the item so that the buyer has no issues.
The auction factor also helps to regulate the price. Too high, and people won't bid.
eBay polices itself.

A craigs seller has no rating to worry about!
There are both good and bad deals on craigs.
craigs sellers often don't provide good detailed info and pics.
They often don't answer questions as fast and as well as an eBay seller will.

craigs is not as elite a club as eBay is.

A smart buyer can do well on craigs if he is careful and he does his research.
You have weed through the bad to find the good.

I have met many good sellers on craigs because I weed through the bad ones.
I always ask a question or two to see how fast and well the seller answers.
If the seller seems like a slacker, I move on.
I ask them to provide more close up pics for me and email them to me.
If they can't handle that I move on.
 
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