On drums...

Hi everyone,

So my current project (after obtaining my beautiful Designer set) is to shine up my previous drum kit and re-sell it.

The kit is a beginner's Ludwig Accent Combo in black finish which usually sell for around $400 new. I have all of the original gear, minus the high tom mounting brackets, which I replaced with Pearl ones.

The problem lies in the fact that the drums were relegated to a garage with no climate-control features and, as you can guess, rusted quite a bit. In addition, some of the wraps are starting to peel at the seems and the bass drum wrap now has a slight "bubble" on the top of it.

I've managed to take apart everything and use Never Dull to shine things up. Some of the hoops and lugs have pitted a bit and there are some scrapes along the shells (albiet, nothing too terribly bad). One of the posts on the bass pedal also snapped...I managed to repair it with Gorilla Glue.

SO...now, my questions:

1) Is it even worth it to sell this kit? I planned on putting it on craigslist with all the above caveats and labeling it as something to use as a "practice" or "garage" kit. I can't see myself getting anything over $200 off of it though.

2) Would Guitar Center take a trade-in of this quality? If I can, I'd rather offload it on them so they can do whatever they do with it and perhaps use the trade-in to buy new heads for my Sonor set.

Any suggestions would be wonderful! Thanks, guys.

Prog on!

_________________
Justin

Designer Maple Light (Bubinga) 8,10,12,14,16, 22 kick
Force Custom (Bee-Bop Jazz) 12,14, 18 kick
Remo Roto Tom (Chrome) 14, 16
Snare HLD 588 Signature

Hey, Justin. I think the way that works is if it still looks good, someone will buy it. On the other hand, you might want to rethink selling, since there's always somebody that wants to come over and play your drums. Don't know your needs for space or money, or how those stack up against convenience.

Generally, nobody gets to play mine, unless I am certain of their approach to a kit. But I was being a responsible adult for some youngish children between 10 and 16 years of age, and I wished repeatedly that I had your Ludwig kit every time they sat down at my Signatures. Just the consequence on tuning and head life would have been worth more than you'll sell the kit for.

_________________
Gregory

Hey Justin,
Congrats on an outstanding kit. Quite a leap from your old kit.

I don't think GC will give you what it costs in gas to get em there. Maybe bring in a few pictures and ask them first.
Craigslist is great for stuff like that though.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

Greg,

I would really love to keep them considering I've taken every piece apart, cleaned it, polished it, lubed it, and reassembled it. The difference is amazing (both in sound and look) after a little...ehem, I mean, a lot....of TLC the last few weeks. With that said, I'm currently living where space is a major issue. Luckily, I'm the only one who plays my kit and while it would be nice to have a practice/"shady gig" set, it will just have to wait.

Kelly,

I figured that GC wouldn't really be worth my time but it's nice to have a confirmation on that. I figure I'll post it on craigslist and look for someone interested in a "spare." If nobody snags the bait, I'll probably donate them to the Jackson Symphony Orchestra where I began my percussion studies. Unfortunately, the JSO's single kit is a worn down low-end Tama 5 peice with Sabian B8 cymbals....YUCK!

_________________
Justin

Designer Maple Light (Bubinga) 8,10,12,14,16, 22 kick
Force Custom (Bee-Bop Jazz) 12,14, 18 kick
Remo Roto Tom (Chrome) 14, 16
Snare HLD 588 Signature

My thought about craigslist was you have a great chance of hitting a cautious parent who's 9 year old is screaming for a drum set. 150-200 bucks goes a long way towards heads or perhaps a cymbal you been wanting.