Many vintage drum enthusiasts have taken advantage of the existence of serial numbers on drums as a relatively reliable tool for estimation of manufacturing dates. Many have compiled lists of drums’ serial numbers and date stamps to understand and exploit the relationship between them. Most cared little about why the serial numbers were there, but were just happy that the serial numbers were there to provide a rough tool for use in dating drums. As one learns more about how drum manufacturers used serial numbers, one begins to question the reason that serial numbers were used at all.
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