DW Drum kit value?

BigMeach

New Member
Hi all,

I'm new to forum so if I've posted in the wrong area I do apologize.

I am looking at buying a DW kit made in March of 1998. The sizes are:
9x12, 10x14, 13x16 toms with a 18x22 Kick. Nothing else comes with it, just the shells.

I am not sure nor is the owner of what series of DW they are, but here is a pic of a tom:
88006

Anyone have any ideas of the series? Value of this kit in these sizes roughly? Also if you've owned, played, heard, etc. How do they sound to you?

Really appreciate the input, this will be my first purchase of a kit in a very long time.

Thanks,
-BigMeach
 
That's a DW collectors series kit. If I remember correctly that's around the time they started making their own shells, so it could be a keller shell or a DW made shell. You can tell the difference by looking at the seam in the reinforcement ring. If it's a straight seam it's a Keller made shell, and if it's wavy it's a DW made shell.

I'm no help with the value. What are they asking?
 
Do you like those tom depths?

I was trying to figure that out last night with a measuring tape and my current kits. I feel like the floor tom is a bit shallow but for the toms I do (I like to flatten my toms out). My thought was I could either find or have another floor tom made that matched and was 18 with more depth as I personally prefer 2 high toms, 2 floor toms.

I've been trying to find a similar set/year that has sold online to get an idea of what they're worth but have yet to be able to do that.

I'm gonna go hear them and check them out in person though.
 
There was a time when several drum companies started making shallower toms, and it was a trend that has since died down. If I were you, I'd only buy them because I absolutely loved them as they are and don't plan on making any money on them or selling them anytime soon. The rack tom and the kick are pretty standard sizes. The 16 is a tad shallow, but that 14" is the odd bird in my book. For me, it's too big to be a rack tom and too shallow to be a floor tom, but once again, that's just my opinion.

I'm no expert, but I bet it's going to be both difficult and expensive to get a tom made. It's not that a tom is hard to make, but getting an exact finish match might prove to be difficult. Even if DW has the same color on file, it may not look the exact same as a stain that was applied over 20 years ago. It's going to be difficult for them to color match exactly, and you'll be paying a premium price on a gamble. They may not have any more badges that match either. Also, if you get the drum set at a REALLY good price, I'd bet an add-on tom would cost almost the same as the kit itself.

Let's say you buy the kit, you absolutely love it, and you want to add drums. I would suggest finding a used tom in the size you want with the same badge and then just wrapping the kit in another color. Use Bumwrap if you are just wanting a solid color or one of their graphics, or choose a Del Mar wrap if you are wanting a sparkle (but it will cost about twice as much).

As far as you initial question though...I wouldn't pay more that $500-$600 for that kit due to a few reasons:

I'm a cheapskate.
I'm not a huge fan of DW.
The sizes are odd (That 14" is useless to me.)
Resale is going to stink if you ever have to get rid of them.

Best of luck!
 
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It's a fair point, the 14 is pretty strange. I'm not a huge DW guy either, never really had any inclination to go with them it just seemed like this was a good deal at $900. I just started kind of looking for a used kit, maybe I'll just keep an eye out. Technically speaking I'm in no rush.

Appreciate the thoughts you two.
 
It's setup to mount with a Rims mount currently. I do have floor tom legs that attach to the hoop I could be using with it. But it looks like it is currently setup for mounting.
 
It's a fair point, the 14 is pretty strange. I'm not a huge DW guy either, never really had any inclination to go with them it just seemed like this was a good deal at $900. I just started kind of looking for a used kit, maybe I'll just keep an eye out. Technically speaking I'm in no rush.

Appreciate the thoughts you two.
It's a good deal at $900. They'll sound really good. I have mid 90's DW Collectors kit with the Keller shells and it sounds really nice. If you have the DW shells they'll probably sound even a little sweeter. I also wouldn't be a huge fan of the tom sizes, but at the same point these will be the nicest sounding four drums you can purchase for under $1k in my opinion. If you're a 4 piece player then the tom sizes will be nice. I'd use the 16" as my main floor tom and set that weird 14" up on the left.

I was shopping for a gigging kit a few months ago and I would have snatched that up in a second had I come across it.
 
Yeah Dan, that's kind of how I felt about it when I saw them. I really like 2 up 2 down setup personally but it's not absolutely required. I have an opportunity to get a brand new Mapex Saturn 5 exotic kit with that 2x2 setup for a killer deal for new, but it's not $900. We're talking around $1400-$1500.

It's hard to decide what to do. I think I'll have to hear them, and if the sound outweighs the odd sizes and less than preferred setup maybe I'll go with them.
 
This is kind of a continuation of another thread titled DW Finish Ply.
This is no doubt a well made and nice looking kit but one that the original buyer specified in odd/unusual sizes.
I’m sure it can sound great but it’s an oddball. That kit in more standard sizes would command top dollar from enough people to make it easily sellable, as it is even someone who’s always wanted but couldn’t afford a DW Collectors will look at it and wonder if it’s worth the risk.
 
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It's setup to mount with a Rims mount currently. I do have floor tom legs that attach to the hoop I could be using with it. But it looks like it is currently setup for mounting.
It's setup to mount with a Rims mount currently. I do have floor tom legs that attach to the hoop I could be using with it. But it looks like it is currently setup for mounting.
I don't like mounted floors, but if you already have the parts to leg it go for it. It's not a great deal but it's good. I find the tom sizes interesting and would rather tune big drums up than small drums down. I have a DW in the collection I ordered in 2001 which is the same era and it's an extremely well built kit.
 
I'd go and check it out, and if you like the sound of it buy it. My DW kit has mounted floors (16" & 18"), and I don't even notice any movement when I hit them. Maybe it's because they are mounted to a rack and not on a stand? Granted, I've had my kit for 20 years so it's what I'm accustomed to. I've noticed more movement from the new Tama leg mounts when playing on those kits, but it's still not a deal breaker for me.
 
The sizes really aren't that weird. Current DW 16 inch floor toms are 16 X 14 in most cases these days. A inch in depth won't matter. I also like 14 X 10 rack toms. They fit perfectly between a 12 and 16. I'm a long time DW dude. Awesome drums!!!
 
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