Do Drumsets Ever Get thrown Away?

Skyking

Senior Member
So, 100 threads ago the guys were trying to talk sense to some kid who thought he could sell his barely used kit for retail minus $50 bucks. (The kid never did understand the economics.) But, it got me wondering about used pricing and whether people throw away well used drum sets at some point? And, if not, except for cases of spontaneous combustion and or alien abduction, where do the worst of them go after rejection by Craigslist and Guitar Center? If not to the landfill then there has got to be a lot of bargain basement equipment out there.
 
I think this was a discussion here a few months ago about how many drumsets are sitting in peoples basements collecting dust. I am positive there are way more drumsets than there are drummers.

However, in answer to your question. I have personally taken at least two drumsets to the dump over my years. One was an Export that didnt survive a transatlantic move and one was a no name with cracked shells that I got for free when I bought the accompanying cymbals.
 
it happens. hopefully they are all 'toys r us' drum sets. the WORST story i ever heard was playing w/ a buddy of mine who is a guitar player. the gig was at a VFW and he was talking about a gig at this same place years ago when he picked up his vintage guitar (one of those wes montgomery hollowbody things). FOUND IN THE VFW DUMPSTER. through some kind of communication to a bunch of the widows, one of the VFW heads told them all to bring all their unused instruments to the VFW. help clean out their garages or some sh*t ? anyhow, their vintage gear sat around the VFW for awhile until the guy (non player !!!) just threw them all in the dumpster. when my buddy spotted the guitar, there were vintage drums, saxes & clarinets also in there. he rescued as much as he could. this was just ONE of the weekends when gear was thrown in the dumpster. i felt sick afterwards.
 
I got rid of some shells that were buzzing a lot due to separation in the ply layers...they were MATEO Brand...first set I ever had...bad hardware and the screw holes were oval-ing...and I have never seen worse beds cut(worn) into cheaper wood with poorer quality ply glue/gluing.

I would not wish those shells on anyone...so to the landfill they went....but I did use them for 10+years...
 
I would think something that's even barely usable would just get donated to Goodwill or something. I've never tossed complete, usable drums, but I have tossed unusable shells after I've removed the hardware from them. I once bought a Rockers kit just for the lugs and hoops, with no intention of keeping the shells. The hardware was worth more than the drums as a kit, and the shells ended up in the trash.

Bermuda
 
We burned the first starter kit I used in a back yard bonfire whilst extremely intoxicated. The good news is that it was a terrible "sunlite" kit and I bet it would probably cost more to buy real fire-wood from the store than to replace that garbage.
 
Much better to donate drums to a kid then toss them. I just heard of an Acro that was put out on the curb by a failed drummers parents. One of the couples that regularly catch our gigs told me they had done it after the fact. They didn't know they could have gotten a Franklin for that. My parents tossed my first kit, a MIJ set of gold sparkle Stewarts, in the trash. They just disappeared one day. (I had another kit by then)

I bet hundreds of kits get tossed each year.
 
it happens. hopefully they are all 'toys r us' drum sets. the WORST story i ever heard was playing w/ a buddy of mine who is a guitar player. the gig was at a VFW and he was talking about a gig at this same place years ago when he picked up his vintage guitar (one of those wes montgomery hollowbody things). FOUND IN THE VFW DUMPSTER. through some kind of communication to a bunch of the widows, one of the VFW heads told them all to bring all their unused instruments to the VFW. help clean out their garages or some sh*t ? anyhow, their vintage gear sat around the VFW for awhile until the guy (non player !!!) just threw them all in the dumpster. when my buddy spotted the guitar, there were vintage drums, saxes & clarinets also in there. he rescued as much as he could. this was just ONE of the weekends when gear was thrown in the dumpster. i felt sick afterwards.

Oooo, the pain.........
 
Every once in a while there's a CL ad about free drums - they're on the sidewalk at a certain location. If you want them, get there before garbage pickup time.

There's also a 'free' section where all kinds of stuff is listed that people are trying to get rid of.

Some drums will eventually get to the point where they're no longer usable. Some of those make fair to decent outdoor firewood.

.
 
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To me all kits are works of art and as such I just can't imagine purposely mistreating one to the point of having to discard it. Then again the economics of repair and rewrap just don't seem to make a convincing case for rehab of damaged low end kits.
 
I can't help but think that Keith Moon tossed a few kits in the bin.
 
I bet hundreds of kits get tossed each year.
Now I see!

This is probably what the Brits I know are referring to when they call me a "Tosser". From now on I'll let them know in no un-certain terms that I don't just toss good kits on the curb. Boy were they mistaken!
 
To me all kits are works of art

You haven't seen the bearing edges on my Premier! Then again, it probably took immense skill to get them like that; it would have been easier to cut them straight. Re-cutting where possible - some couldn't be - has made a huge difference but I can't honestly put my hand on my heart and say that I think this kit is a work of art.

This is probably what the Brits I know are referring to when they call me a "Tosser". From now on I'll let them know in no un-certain terms that I don't just toss good kits on the curb. Boy were they mistaken!

Haga!

*kerb, in Britishland.
 
I can't honestly put my hand on my heart and say that I think this kit is a work of art.QUOTE]

Some drums are like people. They come into this world a perfect work of art but some leave it not so pretty ;)
 

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While I don't agree that ALL kits are works of art as some are just impersonally assembled to make a profit without an ounce of craftsmanship or love....some genuinely are works of art.Atop that mountain would be Andy and Deans, Guru drums,which look as beautiful as they sound,and are a true labor of love.True works of art.

I got my last Radio KIng snare at a yard sale.The seller said,"good thing you're buying it,or it would be on the curb tonight".Twenty bucks.We're talking a Slingerland 47 Super Gene Krupa Radio King in WMP,7x14,in easily a 8 of of 10 condition.I see stories all the time on drum forums,of people picking up drums out of the trash,at the curb,or in someones basement for a song that the seller just wants out.

I also teach CPR and First aid.I was giving a class at a local not for profit company,when I noticed a large box with some drums and cymbals in it.I didn't pay much attention,but when the class was over,the CEO,came over to thank me,and and said,hey Steve,don't you play drums?How about taking those off our hands,we're just going to toss em' out anyway.

So I check them out.CB 700,shells and hardware destroyed,.....but some late 60's A Zildjians...still in plastic bags,and not a stick mark on them.....14" hats.16/18/19 thin crashes and a 20" ride.I kept the cymbals,but took the box of drums to my car,and took them home,removed the wrap,and burned them in my fireplace.When a US flag becomes unserviceable,you're suppose to burn it in a dignified way....I figured...the same goes for drums.

This stuff usually happens when a child loses interest in an instrument,or a relative passes away,and the surviving family could care less about the true value of the instrument,and just wants it out of the house.A true shame,but then again,where would we drummers get our bargains?....:)

Steve B
 
Those Zildjians (metal things!) that come with the starter kits are a piece of art, if used for some kind of curios in the living room...I agree
 
There was a distinct period of time , I remember…… about 1969-1973 just before Disco (shudder).

My parents had Faux Orange Leather furniture in their Rumpus Room (Canadian Giveaway).

Some of their friends were taking perfectly good 1964-66 Ringo Ludwig Pearl and Bowling Ball finished drums and turning them into Bar-Stool, and Bar- Clocks.

The bad thing was that most of the Bearing Edges of all the drums used were either cut out, sanded down, or torn to bits.


Kind of like putting new Bobby Orr, or Mickey Mantle Rookie cards in the spokes of your bike each day..

More professional drums were ruined in making Velour Bar Stools than any species could handle, which is the same as throwing the drums away, or smashing them
 
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