STUDYDRUMS.com
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SUPER FINISHES:
BRILLIANT CYMBALS:
DRESSING UP UGLY CHROME:
DRUMHEAD SAVINGS:
NUTS & BOLTS:
HOW TO FIND GREAT BARGAINS:
THE CYMBAL BUYERS GUIDE:
This little business is great for the man/wife team as a vehicle
for producing a little extra income. It could also help the
energetic teen make a few summertime or weekend dollars.
* INSIDER BUYING TIPS: Designed to save you
30% or more on your next big music instrument purchase.
As promised in my Buyers Guide . . . I want to give you
a great money-saving tip that could save you up to $600 on your
next large music instrument purchase.
This trick will work every time, no matter what
brand or model musical instrument you may choose to buy.
It should also work in nearly any country around the
World . . . provided we are comparing apples to apples
and there isn't a major currency conversion involved.
It's best to get all your price quotes from within the country
where you live.
ABSORB THIS POINT. The mark-up on new musical
instruments is usually 50 percent. Mark-up on some items may
be as high as 70 percent. ANY music dealer may (and
USUALLY WILL) allow up to 30% of that profit to remain in
your pocket. On a $2000 purchase, this could mean you'll
walk out of the store for as little as $1400 on a $2000 sale,
saving you $600!
It's up to us, 'the consumers' to MAKE the dealers
offer the maximum discount. When they are threatened
with losing a sale to the competition, most will drop
their price to the lowest acceptable discount right away.
No dealer wants to lose a sale to their
competition! They'll ALL wheel-and-deal with us if only
we'll apply the correct amounts of leverage and pressure.
THE GOOD NEWS. We now have MORE LEVERAGE than
ever before, because of the Internet. All we have to
do is SEE it, and USE it to our best advantage!
HOW DO WE DO IT?
The web now makes this easy. Here's how.
STEP 1. Decide first, on the EXACT drumset and
accessories you will be needing. Know exactly what
you want . . . the brand, the model, etc. Then get price
quotes from EVERYWHERE . . . on that exact same
SETUP. Always compare apples to apples.
It's very important to be VERY specific here.
Decide first on EXACTLY what you'll be buying. Then,
follow through . . . Arm yourself with quotes from
several online (and offline) sources on those exact
same items. Use your lowest quote to force the next dealer
of that product go even lower and lower, until you get down
the BEST POSSIBLE PRICE-QUOTE.
2. NEXT, visit your FAVORITE local dealer.
Explain to them that you can get 'x' item(s) at 'y' price
by ordering via the net from the dealer with the best
price-quote.
Your local dealer will do their dead-level-best
to match that bonafide price-quote, almost every time.
They'll know they are about to miss the sale, if they don't.
Forty percent of SOMETHING is better than zero percent
of nothing.
Keep in mind that your local dealer is LOCAL.
THAT MEANS A LOT! It might mean that it's worth a little
more to know you can get some LOCAL support if there's
anything wrong with the equipment, or if you need
help, in-person. There's a special value there!
At any rate, BUY from the dealer with the lowest
price on 'like' items, with all things considered (ie; taxes,
shipping, guarantees, etc., etc.)
Some dealers have low overhead, especially on the web.
Other dealers buy in large quantities at lower prices.
Both those dealers can afford to offer the deepest
discounts. And that my friend is the secret that
will force your local dealer to sell at a price MUCH lower
than they would like.
Your bargains may be found with the largest
or smallest dealers. Check them all!
HERE ARE SOME GOOD PLACES TO START (in the U.S.), ONLINE:
'Vermont Drums Online' at:
Vermont Drums
SAM ASH DISCOUNT MUSIC:
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OLD DRUMS INTO NEW MONEY . . .
Don't just throw that old drum set out or trade it off without
putting up a fight. For only pennies you can make your old
drums look good as new again and increase their trade value. You
may decide to keep them and use the money saved to add additional
pieces. Why not consider upgrading your current rig into the
monster drum set you might otherwise be unable to afford? This
little booklet will show you just how easy it is to recover any
old tom toms or bass drums to match your original drumset.
There are many options with this little idea. You may want to
go into business recovering drums for others (for a hefty price of
course). Or, you may choose to buy old drums and recover them
for a resale profit. Then again, you might prefer to simply
produce the covering material and sell it outright to other
drummers and let them cover their own drums. Play with the ideas
for a while. You will begin to see the profit potential!
Create your own high-gloss, durable, heat resistant drum
covering material in a variety of custom colors and styles. The
design possibilities will easily range into the millions as I will show
you in a moment.
There is more . . . You can do this, right there where you
live, in the spare bedroom of your house or garage in most cases.
This is absolutely and especially true if you are willing to invest a
few dollars into the needed equipment.
Then again, you may choose to farm out your drum cover
production work to someone in your locality who already owns the
essential equipment. In all likelihood, they will welcome the
increase to their trade and may slash prices drastically to invite
your business. I suggest the second approach in the beginning.
Establish a market first, then buy the equipment.
The drum covering material I am referring to will withstand
temperatures of 120 degrees or more without buckling or bubbling
and will resist scratching and marring under normal use. As a
test, I have submerged it in water for over 36 hours and it survived
with only minimal damage.
GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS
OK! Let's get down to brass tacks! What the heck am I
talking about?
It is simple! So simple you will wonder why you haven't
thought of it. I am talking about laminating! The same kind of
laminating that you probably have on your drivers license or credit
cards.
Paper! Almost any paper when laminated will produce a
beautiful, high gloss, heat resistant covering material that may
outshine and dwarf any drum finish you have ever seen.
Like I said earlier . . . the design options are
virtually endless! Pay a visit to your local Wallpaper store for proof. Look
at their catalogs! You will quickly be overwhelmed by the
creative potential! You can get any outrageous design you might dream
of. Think of your drumset finished in Zebra, Leopard, Alligator and on
and on. Not every wall papering design will look good on your
old drumset, that is true. However, some will knock your lights
out! Now you can design your own old drums to be the most
artistically unique in town.
Other than wallpaper, there are tons of other paper designs to
choose from, like gift wrap or maybe your own special designs,
printed and produced from original art work. What about
laminated Aluminum foil? As you play with the thought, more
ideas may come to you.
The following is a list of quickly available designs that I found at a
Wallpaper store near my own home.
Grab your local phone book and look in the Yellow pages for
'Laminating' or 'Laminators'! You should find several businesses
advertising there. They own the equipment already and want to put
it to work! Since you may potentially represent a steady stream of
new business, they should be most willing to show you the entire
process and maybe even produce a couple of small samples for
free.
THE POTENTIAL PROBLEM:
Size considerations may occasionally create a potential problem.
The average bass drum may require a laminated width of 16 inches.
Some laminating machines may not be designed for jobs that large.
If your local laminators cannot accommodate this width then
about all you can do is buy your own large laminating machine or
try the laminating professionals in another large city nearby.
Almost any Office Supply store will be able to direct you to
manufacturers of laminating machines and supplies. Check out the
possibility of buying your own laminating machine if push comes
to shove.
I will suggest that you start with one small drum just to get
a little experience. A small tom or snare with make the best drum to
learn on.
Grab a cloth tape measure and take a close look at the drum
you wish to cover. Notice how snugly the drum heads fit onto
the shell. Will there be clearance enough for the laminated
material to slip between the head and the shell? Do you really
want to cover the entire shell or will it be preferable to leave a
little room on each edge for the drum heads to seat properly? I should
warn you that covering all the way to the edge may sometimes
make it difficult for the drumheads to seat. Experimentation is the
best teacher. You can always trim the edges of the finished
covering material later if need be.
Measure across the width of the drum shell. Make a note of
this dimension. You will cut your chosen paper to this width.
Next, measure the circumference of the drum you wish to
cover. This is the length of the paper cut. I always add an inch or
two to the length for safe measure. It is easy to trim the excess
later. However, if your measurement is too short, even a quarter of
an inch can look really ugly! Measure long on purpose and be
certain that those vertical cuts are exactly 90* degrees.
CAUTION: This Is Very important!
Cutting the vertical width of the paper is crucial and
critical! Pay close attention to this! The angle must be exactly
90* degrees with NO tolerance for error. As the paper goes through
the laminating machine, it will need to line up exactly! Any variation
in the angle of your vertical cut across the paper may cause the
paper to veer from the laminating path. This may cause crimping
and blemishes in your final product. It really should be up to the
laminator to ensure that this doesn't happen but to be safe, use a
square to mark the vertical cut of your paper to exactly 90*
degrees.
TAKE THE PAPER TO THE LAMINATOR:
Cut the paper and take it to your laminating
professional. He will finish the job for you for three or four
dollars. Your new drum covering material will come back ready to
go onto the drum.
If the laminator feels that you may bring him a considerable
amount of new business, he could be willing to offer you a special
deal on his prices. The haggling is up to you!
Like I mentioned earlier, it is probably best to begin with a
small drum first. Either the snare or smallest tom. That way if
you make mistakes it won't be too costly.
You will need a drum key. Begin by removing all the lug screws
that hold the rims in place. Remove each rim. Then pry off each
drum head with your fingertips. If you are disassembling the
snare drum, you will need to remove the snares or wire strands
from underneath. Now with both heads removed, look inside the
drum. Every nut, screw and piece of apparatus must be removed.
Grab a screwdriver, a pair of pliers and go to work. I've found
that a cordless drill with a screwdriver bit can be a great
time saver here. Also, I hold the drum in my lap and place a
large box or container at my feet to catch the pieces as they
fall. Use a different box for each drum that you disassemble,
that way you won't lose track of what pieces and parts go where.
Now, with everything removed from the old drum, you are holding
just the shell with the old covering still intact. Roll the
shell around in your hands and look for a seam on the outside
surface of the drum where the old covering material has been
glued or fixed. Slip a knife between the old covering and the
shell. Pry it a little, then cut it with the blade. Hopefully, it
will snap all at once and fall to the floor. If it has been
glued, then you may need to scrape and peel it off. The old glue
should be lightly scraped or sanded away to prepare the shell for
application of your fancy new material. All the
drums in your set that you wish to cover will require about the same
procedure that we have covered here. You may continue stripping
them all or move ahead to the next step. The choice is yours.
A lot may depend on how meticulous you want to be here. If you
are doing a lot of drumsets for resale, in hopes of making a
profit, then time becomes an issue and you will want to finish
quickly. When I'm in a hurry, I use "Simonize Mag and Wire Wheel
Cleaner," sold at most department and auto parts stores. I spray
a little chrome cleaner on all the important chrome parts of each
drum and toss them in a plastic tub and, let them set for a
couple of minutes. After that, I spray them with a garden hose on
high pressure for about two or three minutes. Finally, finish by
wiping them individually with a dry towel to bring out the shine.
On my own drums and when I'm being picky, I take a little more
pains by knocking the rust away with light sandpaper, then
meticulously hand polish each piece with Turtle Wax Chrome Polish
and Rust Remover.
If you are aiming at a profit and the drum heads are looking
really bad, it can hurt the resale price of the drumset. First,
inspect them. If you find any tears or breaks, then the head should be
discarded and replaced. Otherwise, I scrub them with "409 All
Purpose Cleaner" available at nearly any grocery store. If they
still look bad after cleaning, I may try to paint the underside
of clear drum heads in a color (usually Gloss Black) that will
match the new covering color. I then lightly sand the wooden
Bass drum hoops (rims) and paint them the same color. My choice
of paint has been "Krylon Interior/Exterior Enamel" but almost
any quality spray paint will probably do as well.
Music stores will often have a stack of old drum heads just
laying around. They are often happy to receive a dollar each for
them. Go around to all the local stores and leave your name and
number. Tell them to call you if they ever want to unload their
old drum heads.
Your music store should carry cymbal polish that will make
most cymbals look brand new. If they do not or if you notice they
seem to be gouging on the price, try using "Twinkle Copper and
Brass Cleaner" available at most drug and grocery stores. This has
become my own personal favorite choice because of the price. It
seems that cymbal rouge from a music store may cost upwards of
eight dollars per ounce. I have found that "Twinkle" will do the
job just as well for about one forth of that cost.
Simply follow the directions on the can. The more you scrub,
the prettier the cymbals will become.
After the laminator has returned your finished product, it will
be time to apply it to the drum shell then reassemble the drum.
Since we were meticulous when we cut the paper to match the
drum, the finished product will fit perfectly. Sure it will!
Now, if you are NOT going to the edge of the shell with your
material, place both the top and bottom heads on the drum without
the rims and wrap your new laminated covering material around.
If your measurements are correct then everything should look
about right. Center the material like you want it, make a little mark
on each side, throw the drumheads off to the side and lay a bead of
quick drying glue or contact cement on the under edge of the
material. Center and stick one end of the material to the drum. Pull
the covering all the way around the drum until it meets in the same
place that you started. Pull it tight, be sure it is straight, make a
mark, draw a line, and trim it across. Lay another bead of glue on
the underside of that edge of the material and stick it down. If there
is a little overlap, don't worry about it. Just make sure it is pulled
tight so that there are no wrinkles and the material is centered
properly on the drum. It is much better to have a little lengthwise
overlap than to cut your material too short, leaving a gap.
That's it, the covering is in place. Now you are ready to punch
holes and reassemble the drum.
You may use an awl or a small phillips screwdriver to punch
your holes.
CAUTION:
The first few holes may be critical if the glue hasn't set up
yet.
Find a point where you want to attach the first lug casing. It
is best to start close to the seam of your laminated covering.
Punch those two holes first and do so by bracing the material
with your hand next to the holes that you are punching, being
careful not to stick yourself.
Push on through with your screwdriver or awl, from the inside
of the drum, using the old holes in the shell as a guide. Now attach
a lug casing to the outside and screw it down tight from the inside.
Continue on around the drum in this fashion until all the pieces
are reassembled and the drum is like new again.
When finished with the whole drum set, you will undoubtedly
agree that the resale price has just appreciated by 50% or more.
Someone has said that there are over three million used drumsets
for sale in America on any chosen day. Go on out and buy another
set and do it all again.
All this fun and money too! How can you lose?
If you expect to make money with this little operation then it
is imperative that you learn to buy drumsets at the right price!
This is the most important part! You will need to begin a search
for the best 'used' kits available in your own local area. They
are 'out there' by the millions! Take my WORD on 'blind faith'
and you will (hopefully) find the drumset treasures you are
looking for in no time at all! These kits, may be in your
neighbors broom closet or they could be in the garage of some
stranger in the nearest large city. The trick is finding them!
My positive attitude is the result of many long years of
searching for these bargains, then turning them over for a
profit. At times when gigs were slow, I have supplemented my
meager income by turning this positive attitude into profit and
survival! You can do it too!
If you are buying used drums, follow these suggestions:
Timing is a major factor when buying used drums. The search
may require some persistence and patience on your part. The best
times to find the bargains are February thru May but don't let
that discourage you. Simply add that nasty little fact to your
list of tips and start looking now. Read the want ad section of
EVERY newspaper and suburban shopper in your immediate area.
Look thru last months (old) editions first for individual ads
touting 'Drums For Sale'. If the drums did not sell when
originally advertised, the seller may have become discouraged and
dropped the ad after a only a few insertions. This is where the
REAL bargains are found! You will be in a powerful leverage
position! This type of seller will be very anxious to
get the drumset out of his house and may accept any reasonable
offer you will submit. Remember this! He is in need of extra cash
RIGHT NOW!
Why?
Keep the faith! Try all the current media want ads. Make
special trips to surrounding towns and cities in your quest.
Scour the web for personal want ads. You may find your drumset
on the web but then distance becomes a major factor. It is hard
to equate a great deal if the seller is 4,000 miles away.
At any rate . . . Stay away from the music stores and pawn
shops! This includes website dealers like . . . none other than
'yours truly'!
When looking for the best deals on used drums . . .
communicate with individuals only. We dealers have the ugly habit of adding
additional profit to the merchandise under the guise of free
enterprise and survival!
The best deals are in the broom closets, garages and storage
rooms in your own neighborhood and they are in the possession of
disheartened and discouraged sellers . . . RIGHT NOW! You must
constantly search them out if you are to make this little business pay
off.
Well . . . you have tried all the above tips and found nothing!
Rats! You must have the luck of the Irish! What next?
ADVERTISE!!!! Yep! You heard me right! Run a small
inexpensive ad in your own suburban shopper or newspaper! Place
the ad in the 'Wanted section' or the 'Used Musical Instruments'
section. Why not both? Keep your ad simple and to the point!
Announce that you are in the market for a used drumset and will
pay $XXX.XX for the best deal you can find. Buy an answering
machine! You may need help in answering all the calls! You
should have plenty of leads in very short order!
I will bet my money on this one tip. It usually works!
NOTE: The following price info was taken from dealer catalogs
sometime around 1995. Today's (new) prices will obviously be higher.
As I re-read this in 2014, it seems like a good idea to leave everything
as it was originally. My thinking is that, as you discover these items in garage sales,
broom-closets and garages, you'll have a more accurate idea as to what they
sold for when new. It may help you assess your bargaining power a little
more accurately. Remember too, it is very possible to acquire $300 to $400
Zildjian cymbals for as low as $10 (US). I've done it many, many times. Cymbals
can more often be where the profits are as opposed to the drumsets themselves.
Ahh! The stories I could tell! Sometimes I still blush at the ridiculously low
bargains I've made on very expensive (but green and ugly) cymbals.
As you assess the value of a potential drumset purchase
it is best to understand that the cymbals may make or break the
value of your bargain! So, with this in mind, I feel it is
important to offer a few more tips that will hopefully aid in
knowing the best deals when you find them.
Before we begin, I should say that Zildjian cymbals are
generally accepted by most drummers as the best. The Zildjian
family has been making cymbals in the country of Turkey for more
than 400 years. They have turned the business of cymbal
manufacturing into a fine art! All the other cymbal
manufacturers are busy trying to imitate them and some have come
very close, including manufacturers like Sabian and Paiste. All
the cymbal brands I have mentioned here are considered to be
brand name quality merchandise. Yet each manufacturer will have
high end and low end versions of their own products. The prices may
vary up to one hundred or more dollars on some of their own relative
products.
For this reason it is a good idea to acquire a dealer catalog
if possible and familiarize yourself with all the (current) different brands
and their new suggested list prices. I will provide excerpts
from my own catalogs later in this booklet. This way, when you
encounter a used drum kit with several cymbals included, the
evaluation process will come naturally. At least you will know a
bargain when you see it.
About the first thing a drummer will hock, when he is down
on his luck, are his cymbals. Where are those cymbals now?
They are in your local hock shop, of course! Yes, it is much better
if you can find these cymbals before they reach the pawn shop.
Even so, I have found great bargains this way and have managed to
turn them over for a profit. I tell you this in case you may be
needing a cymbal or two to fill out a set you may be selling.
Sometimes it helps to dress a used set up with a few extra
cymbals, then jack up the price to match.
All dealers . . . (hock shop owners included), are in
business to make a profit. The OBJECTIVE is to make the largest
profit possible. The game begins when 'WE' the consumers refuse
to pay top dollar!
Haggling is the order of the day for this little business. You
must do it if you are to show a profit!
There are many low end cymbals to choose from too. Some of
these low end cymbals will fool you. One example I can think of
is 'Camber' cymbals, made in Germany. I tend to recommend
'Camber' to students on a budget. Camber cymbals are economical,
with decent tone and they hold up well under all the torture!
They are usually priced well below the other brand name cymbals,
so don't be fooled into paying too much for a used 'Camber'
simply because it has the look and sound of a high end cymbal.
Just drive a hard bargain and don't pay too much! Remember,
any music store can sell the same cymbals at a 20% discount, BRAND
NEW, if you pressure them enough.
If you are buying used cymbals, follow these suggestions:
I am providing a bit of the DEALER CATALOG'S information that
I mentioned earlier. This info is scanned directly from the 1995
Dealer catalogs. The prices you see quoted here were the
suggested dealer list prices at that time. As I said earlier,
almost any dealer will discount at least 20% off these suggested
list prices.
I am providing this info as a service to help give you a better
idea of original costs. This knowledge should assist you in
assessing a fair used price on these or similar items.
ZILDJIAN AVAILABILITY & MODELS
CAST CYMBALS are individually fashioned from a special alloy that has been
a Zildjian family secret for over 370 years. This results in extra hard
bronze cymbals that give you increased power and projection; cymbals that
are natural alive and expressive.
AVEDIS ZILDJIAN:
A.Zildjian cymbals are the most versatile and popular cymbals ever
produced. The generally hiqher bow accentuates the ,Zildjian mid-ranqe
and higher frequencies which creates a brilliant and full-bodied sound
with a wealth of tonal colors. A.Zildjian cymbals are appropriate in any
musical setting, with the widest variety of weights and sizes available.
A. CUSTOM:
A select range of sounds drawn from the A.Zildjian family, radical new
hammering techniques and special thin weights give these exciting cymbals
their exceptional sound. A.Customs are not too dark, not too bright. Their
sound is strongly reminiscent of the other A.Zildjians, but with a
contemporary feel. The ultimate in sophisticated modern cymbal sound for
the drummer looking for total sound quality. All A.Custom cymbals are
Brilliant finish.
K. Zildjian:
The unique tonal colors of K.Zildjian cymbals have always been associated
with the most innovative drummers in music. K.Zildjian cymbals are hand
crafted to produce their dry, dark, shimmering tonal colors.
Z. Custom:
Originally launched in 1985 the Z Series was the first totally new design in
cymbals to be created from the Zildjian alloy in over 3 centuries. Now
Zildjian has incorporated its latest computer hammering techniques and
"Custom" manufacturing processes to create new lathed Z Custom cymbals
with more volume, brilliance and cuttinq power.
ORIENTAL:
A totally new cateqory of cast cymbals. lncorporatinq traditional
"Chinese" manufacturinq philosophy. Authentic "China" sounds with Zildjian
durability. These cymbals offer an array of completely oriqinal and unique
sounds.
SHEET-BRONZE CYMBALS are created from discs of high quality alloy in a
sealed, dust-free environment by skilled technicians. All sheet-bronze
cymbals are totally consistent in sound within their model specification.
SCIMITAR bronze
A significant breakthrough in cymbal manufacturinq technology...the result
of extensive research and development. Scimitar Bronze and Scimitar Bronze
Rock are complete lines of professional quality sheet-bronze cymbals that
are afford-able even to the entry-level drummer. They feature special new
profiles and dramatic combinations of hammering never before utilized.
All Scimitar Bronze cymbals are highly buffed to a very beautiful,
high-luster, reflective finish and the entire line is characterized by
a fast response, quick decay with colorful, yet clean overtones.
NEW SCIMITAR
Zildjian's popular line of entry level cymbals has been updated and
improved. Most importantly, 'New Scimitar' is now created from the
same sheet-bronze alloy as Zildjian's more expensive Scimitar Bronze
range. New profiles and hammering have also been employed.
International Copyright Secured @ Bill Powelson 1994-2014 all rights reserved.
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