Have we finally reached Peak Pad? Maybe, at least for now.

I've been watching used pad prices rise and fall -- mostly rise -- on the internet for well over a decade now. While I don't claim sole credit for the meteoric rise of used pad prices since 2021, I do believe that the Drum History Podcast interview I gave in July of that year certainly helped to accelerate some interest, especially in vintage pads. Since then, prices for select used practice pads have shot through the roof, most notably the tan Real Feel practice pads of the late 1990s and the first-generation Xymox pads from their pre-laminate days.

While prices on the tan Real Feel pads remain high, especially for those in mint or near-mint condition, I've begun to see some prices for other pads fall.

A pre-laminate Xymox pad that sold two years ago for over $100 is now stalling out at asking prices of $60 to 80.

And with the availability of information on the Internet, general antique dealers have gotten in on the action. An unlabeled pad that's probably an old Slingerland model, which would have sold in 2023 for perhaps $40-50, is currently going for almost $200 on Etsy. The dealer didn't know what she had, and when I reached out to tell her what I thought, she raised her price and listed it elsewhere for even more. It's a nice old pad, but without a label its provenance is impossible to verify. 

Old vintage pads have little or no appeal to most drummers under thirty. They all want the cool marching-specific pads that came on the scene in the late 90s and 2000s. In addition, many newer makes and models of marching-forward pads have since come on the market -- and the market is positively glutted with those pads now, as older drummers graduate from school, age out of drum corps or otherwise leave the activity altogether. With school arts budgets being slashed, music programs being eliminated and the birthrate beginning to fall, fewer kids are getting into drumming today. 

The end result is that there are now more pads available than people who want or need them.

I've watched prices fall on these used makes and models over the last year and a half:

-- Real Feel gray pad, from $30 to $10;
-- Ram Pad, from $70 to less than $40;
-- Xymox laminated "reserve" pads, from $100 to as little as $25;
-- Offworld Invader pads, from $60 to as little as $20

And so it goes.

I've been slowly offloading a number of pads from my collection over the last year and a half, either by selling them, using them as trade-in on stuff I need at local drum shops, or giving them away to students. Technically, I'm sure I've lost a fair amount of money in the process, but as someone who used to own a retail business, I understand that a new thing loses half its value when it leaves the store and will almost never get it back. I've enjoyed the research and testing of these pads. But I'm retired and am approaching the time when I will really have to downsize. So off they go, in dribs and drabs.

As of this writing, some significant practice pad deals are to be found online, especially on eBay. If you've been putting off your search for a cool practice pad, this may be a good time to take a more serious look. (No guarantee how long these items will be available, of course; but they give a good example of the state of the used pad market right now.)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/158325682366 -- Offworld Shuttle pad

https://www.ebay.com/itm/237030291700 -- Pair of Remo pads

https://www.ebay.com/itm/820132643625 -- Vintage Ludwig 1960s aluminum pad

https://www.ebay.com/itm/178494949572 --  vintage WFL 1950s aluminum pad

Tan Real Feel pads are still being offered at over $200 in good condition, but I've sensed that the hype around those pads is lessening over time. So if you have your heart set on one of those, be patient. I think that Peak Pad will eventually come around to these models as well.

I'm not being all doom and gloom here. Drum equipment follows the same retail rise and fall patterns as almost everything else being bought and sold on the market. There may come a time when smarter heads will prevail, schools will once again devote more funding to arts education, and maybe the demand for music equipment will increase again. Meanwhile, more people are DIY-ing their own pads, drums and other gear to save money and/or to express their ingenuity and creativity. It's an interesting time. Pay attention, and as always, happy chopping.

 

Dating vintage practice pads

Some key points for those looking at old pads:

— Brown gum rubber may have been lighter tan. The only way to verify this is to peel back an edge and peek. Gum rubber that hasn’t been exposed to sunlight will retain more of a tan color. (If you accidentally pull off the gum rubber too far, simply glue it back. Spread a thin coat and roll a drum stick across the top to spread it evenly, turn over and weight down until dry.) 

— Mass produced, or homemade? How to tell? While it’s not an exact science, it’s worth noting that in the mid 20th century, a lot of Americans still knew how to work with simple hand tools and many did their home minor home repairs. The wood finishing here is just rough enough for this to possibly be homemade.

On the other hand, lower-grade wood was reserved by drum companies for things like practice pads, and the nicer quality planks 

That said, the small matching “feet” on bottom, and the clean cut of the round rubber and the edged wood top and bottom panels, both suggest that this may have been made in a local factory for a music store to sell. I’d guess a smaller, local outfit made it because of the lower overall standard of the wood used. (Most homemade pads wouldn’t be edged, and I’ve yet to see one with matching feet.)

— The larger 9 x 7” sized pads became less common in the late 1950s, as bigger drum companies sought to streamline pad manufacturing by offering fewer models. A smaller, standardized size would reduce the material required and cut costs. 

A pad that has no label or stamp can be harder to place, but I’d feel comfortable estimating this to be a smaller-scale, mass-produced pad from the late 1940s to early 50s. Happily, the rubber still feels great to chop on.

VIntage pad: 1960s Pep Pad

This is a recent find, a vintage Pep Pad from the mid 1960s, which I found in the original box.

Pep Drum Products, based in Kankakee IL, produced the pad for what seems to be a limited period of time.

A patent from 1963 is on file, and shows an anticipated expiration date of 1982. There doesn't appear to be any follow-up on file, and the patent permanently expired this year.

The pad is unremarkable in design, though the angle of the tilt seems to be good.





























The pad I found came in its original box, which is rare and cool. The box has been repaired with clear packing tape, which I don't mind at all as I'm not fussy about condition issues in my collection.

The pad itself is a solid piece of rubber and is still lively and offers good bounce for its age.

Playing the pad proved easy. There was plenty of rebound, but not so much as to take away some work from my hands -- which is generally how I like my rubber practice pads to feel.

A little video below gives you an idea of how well the pads works for its size and design.

(Apologies for the camera holder obscuring my right hand)