The definition of "vintage drum"

The controversy over the word ‘vintage’ as applied to drums has been going on for a long time. As a writer, editor and publisher of drum information since 1985, I notice that those who proclaim that the word vintage does not mean old but rather, the date of its manufacture, may not be aware that the word is both a noun and an adjective. Also, the meanings of words can change according to common use. Dictionaries and thesauruses update their meanings constantly as words evolve and change as culture changes. The word vintage that we drummers and drum collectors use is the adjective. Please read these Merriam Webster dictionary entries:

Definition of vintage
noun
1a(1): a season's yield of grapes or wine from a vineyard
(2): WINEespecially : a usually superior wine all or most of which comes from a single year
b: a collection of contemporaneous and similar persons or things : CROP
2: the act or time of harvesting grapes or making wine
3a: a period of origin or manufacturea piano of 1845 vintage
b: length of existence : AGE
vintage

adjective
Definition of vintage (Entry 2 of 2)
1of wine : of, relating to, or produced in a particular vintage
2: of old, recognized, and enduring interest, importance, or quality : CLASSIC
3a: dating from the past : OLD
b: OUTMODED, OLD-FASHIONED
4: of the best and most characteristic —used with a proper noun: vintage Shaw: a wise and winning comedy

I own two businesses that deal with vintage drums: Not So Modern Drummer Magazine and it sister site DrumSellers.com (which is the modern version of the White Paper classifieds for those of you old and cranky enough to remember.) Not So Modern Drummer has been the most constant publication and gathering of vintage drum users and collectors. I have had to define or set a policy about what qualifies as a vintage drum for several reasons: #1 to set parameters for what is considered vintage in a sales listing on DrumSellers.com or in an article in NSMD and, #2 to prove to insurance companies that an appraised instrument is vintage, or antique, or irreplaceable.

Vintage, classic and antique cars are classified by the states and by insurance companies. There are monetary and legal ramifications of a car's age; insurance rates, allowed usage, registration fees, etc. And, of course, resale value. Much of vintage drums' classification comes from the world of cars and antique furniture and art, not grapes or wine.

Drums are different. There is no one in charge of specify how old a drum has to be before it is declared vintage, so there are way too many "authorities" about the matter. Most tend to define vintage as the drums that were popular during their youth which exposes a personal bias. There are Facebook groups that limit their members to certain brands of drums made only between 1950 and 1976, etc.

The Not So Modern Drummer and DrumSellers.com policy is "A vintage drum, drum set, cymbal or other percussion instrument or hardware is considered to be vintage if it is thirty years old or older, OR if it's model that is out of production". This does not mean a vintage drum is rare or a collectable - it’s just a certain age or out of production. This policy was set because customers and readers wanted it. I can't even estimate how many times I've been asked the question. I based it on the average age of cars that qualify for a vintage or antique license plate in the United States. Why? Because it is a legal standard which we understand best.

When I owned George's Drum Shop in the late 2000s and had just bought Not So Modern Drummer from Bill Ludwig, I used to define vintage as anything built before 1975 and I did not change that with every new year. I got into vintage drums in 1971 as a junior in high school. I realized I was being somewhat of an old fuddy duddy when I got a call from a young man asking for a specific DW drum model no longer in production that he was calling a "vintage DW". I almost said that there is no such thing as a vintage DW, before I caught myself and realized that he was seeking a model that could not be acquired from the manufacturer because it had been discontinued. He was searching the other sources; Ebay, craigslist, etc. for something that could not be bought new. My definition of vintage as 1975 and older was my arbitrary decision based on MY preferences: Rogers from the sixties, Gretsch Round Badges, Ludwig three ply drums from the fifties and sixties, etc. I also realized that my personal set of DWs that I had used on numerous recordings were vintage, because they were from the era when DW was still using Keller shells and they were no longer available with Keller Shells. ( I still prefer that era of DW and wish I had never sold that kit).

So, I decided to take myself out of the equation and base the definition of vintage on the established definitions of other industries such as cars. I also took into consideration that the drum manufacturing industry had changed drastically since the sixties. New models are now introduced every year, just like in the car industry, and many of them have been discontinued in as little as a year. You might claim that some drum that was only made for a year and then discontinued is not "vintage", yet there are drummers searching far and wide for that drum, whatever their reason. So, they are sought after. Sometimes the manufacturing process or materials would change and a model still in production would have lines of demarcation: Acrolite bare aluminum shells became rarer than later Acrolite powder coated aluminum shells because they were no longer being made. So a model that is still in production can have earlier stages of that model which will be considered vintage.

So, there will be those who disagree with his definition/policy. That's fine, but your mind could be changed if you ever have to prove provenance to an insurance company or a serious collector. But I think we can all agree that vintage is an adjective in describing or classifying vintage drums, and that not all drums are "vintage". Yes, all drums have a year of vintage: "vintage 2018" (noun), but that does not mean that they are vintage (adjective) in determining availability, collectability or desirability.

On another note, the meaning of 'antique' in the world of drums can be debated. I describe anything made before the modern drum set era as antique, based on 1909, the year that W.F. Ludwig's folding metal bass drum pedal was introduced and 1918 when the first drum set was marketed: The "Jazz-er-up Outift". There were bass drum pedals before this, but they were all primitive compared to Ludwig's collapsible and protable pedal. Also the transition from rope tuning to screw tensioning is a good line of demarcation for antique drums.

This opinion and five dollars will buy you a cup of mediocre coffee at Starbuck's. Please express your opinion, pro or con, in the comments below. Lively discussion is always encouraged.