Need an idea of value of this drum set...

kjup

Member
I'm looking to get an idea of what the value of the attached drums are. I believe they are from the 50's, my dad's drums and they are showing some signs of age and rust, but hopefully someone can help out here. If you ned specific photos or different angles of any specific drums or cymbals let me know and I can try to share. Someone had offered $1,000 for these but it seems like a lot of drums and cymbals to sell for that cheap and these are vintage from what I'm told. I'm not a drum guy so looking for some help from experts! It looks to be a blend of Leedy Drums and Singerland durms. It also has some very old original canvas cases to hold the drums also as well as a storage box filled with sticks, brushes and add-ons for the drum set. Thanks in advance for any help.
 

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The person who offered $1000 tried to take advantage.
If they are from the 50's the cymbals alone are more than $1000, maybe 1500, presuming they are Zildjians. Post images of the stamps you see embossed in the surface of cymbals to check their labels and vintage.
The Leedy drums are 50's. One looks like it has an old calf skin head.
The Leedy snare is rather rare and could get $400+ alone
The Slingerlands are late 60's judging by the one badge on one drum. The Slingerlands are maybe $1000-1500.
You'd need to clean these up to get some of those prices. Don't clean the cymbals!
 
The person who offered $1000 tried to take advantage.
If they are from the 50's the cymbals alone are more than $1000, maybe 1500, presuming they are Zildjians. Post images of the stamps you see embossed in the surface of cymbals to check their labels and vintage.
The Leedy drums are 50's. One looks like it has an old calf skin head.
The Leedy snare is rather rare and could get $400+ alone
The Slingerlands are late 60's judging by the one badge on one drum. The Slingerlands are maybe $1000-1500.
You'd need to clean these up to get some of those prices. Don't clean the cymbals!
Thanks so much for your awesome feedback! Yes, I believe all the cymbals are Zildjians! This is outstanding feedback and truly appreciate your time and thorough response and thanks for letting me know to not clean the cymbals, everything hasn't been touched since my dad passed away. I'll try to clean up the drums and see how the come out, and I'll get some photos posted tomorrow of the cymbals per your follow up, cheers!
 
I wouldn't take less than $2500 for everything.
 
To piggyback on what the other guys said, I'd sell the drums and cymbals separately. I'd sell the drums as a set, and sell the cymbals individually (except the hi hats obviously). I think they might sell quicker that way.
 
A bit of cleaning and inspection will go a long way to get more money. http://vintagedrumguide.com/how_to_vintage_snare.html
I would at least take off all heads and wipe off dust and remove excessive rust. With the heads off, you can inspect the shells for extra holes, ply separation or dented bearing edges. While you're at it, you could soak the rods in some WD40 to remove rust. Anything more than that might be too time-consuming or tricky if you're not used to working with wood. Another thing to check are wing nuts and mounting hardware - does everything stay in place? If you can answer those questions, you'll have a far better foundation to negotiate.
Also measure the diameters of the drums and cymbals. Provide the weight of the cymbals to attract more buyers.
The Hi Hat has a spot that looks a bit like a crack unfortunately - if it's just a deep scratch, that would be much better. Make sure to check the edges and center hole of the cymbals. Cracks often occur close to the bell, too. You really don't want to miss any cracks and deal with an unsatisfied buyer afterwards, so take a few minutes to inspect the cymbals - a flashlight can help to find them because some cracks are hard to spot.
Pros: Everything seems to be in good condition and the drums and cymbals aren't cheap. That Leedy floor tom on the right (first picture) looks very large. Some sizes fetch much higher prices.
Cons: Missing bass drum hoop, claws and rods. Also it's basically one complete Leedy set (The bass drum is a Leedy, right?) and two additional Slingerland toms without a bass drum. That might complicate selling everything at once a bit. I guess $2500 is doable for everything, but maybe not in one fell swoop.
 
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Cons: Missing bass drum hoop, claws and rods. Also it's basically one complete Leedy set (The bass drum is a Leedy, right?) and two additional Slingerland toms without a bass drum. That might complicate selling everything at once a bit. I guess $2500 is doable for everything, but maybe not in one fell swoop.
You're correct, the BD is a Leedy, as are one tom, one floor tom and snare. So yes a mostly 50's Leedy set with the 2 Slingerland additions.
 
Thanks everyone for the amazing feedback! I'm sharing some more photos in groups. This first group I will load in all of the cymbals from the set. There are a total of 5 different cymbals, one is attached on top of the bass drum and two toms in the center. All but one of them are ZILDJIAN, the one stray looks to be a Ludwig Standard. I zoomed in on the stamps so you could see them al clearly as well. There is also an extra stray cymbal stand as well without a cymbal and a separate stand that I'm not sure what it is for. Not sure if the stands are of real value. I can also get the diameter of each cymbal when I get some more free time. I will drop each cymbal seperately below....
 
CYMBAL 2 Ludwig Standard on an unlabeled stand:
 

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CYMBAL 3 ZILDJIAN on an Pearl stand:
 

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CYMBAL 4 ZILDJIAN on an unlabeled stand:
 

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CYMBAL 5 ZILDJIAN on an unlabeled stand (mounted on top of two tom toms and the base):
 

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The Ludwig Standard is made by Paiste. You can see their name under "Made in Germany". Paiste was headquartered in Germany between 1945 and 1957. My guess is your cymbal is somewhere in between.
 
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