Bo Eder
Platinum Member
Had a gig tonight and debuted the Rogers kit I got a few weeks ago and I have to admit, these drums sound really good! For those of you that have sorta followed me here, you know I’ve played just about every major brand out there (and in the case of some brands, I’ve owned multiples of their kits). And a lot of those other kits were great as well - I’ve always said once you get past a certain price point, they all sound good and will do the job.
When I was a kid back in the 70s, there really were only four makers, and Rogers always seemed priced a little higher than the other three, so of course, mom and dad got me a set of Slingerlands and I was off and running. Over the next few decades I’ve had Ludwig and Gretsch but never got a new Rogers because by the time the 80s came in, Rogers was dying a slow death.
Fast forward to the last three years, and I acquired the black orphan Rogers, which sounded great, and now this basically untouched NOS 1979 XP8 kit with a lacquer finish and the metal parts in prime condition and on the gig tonight (unmic’d) and it did an incredible job. The shells are straight maple without re-rings, but they’re thinner and lighter than say, Ludwigs shell from the same era. The lugs also don’t have springs in them (Rogers is the company many other companies stole ideas from - probably speeding up their demise), so no hidden rattling anywhere. The Memriloc hardware from over 40 years ago still functions and once set up, I didn’t have to readjust anything all night.
But the sound - all the drums did this thing where I’d feel the tone in my chest (DynaSonic snare included). I probably sounded stupid because I just couldn’t stop doing rolls down the 12/13/16/18 toms - and the 14x22 bass drum put the ultimate point on the downbeat. Gretsch USA probably gets very close to this, but I always felt the die cast hoop on their thin shells kinda muted them somewhat - it’s a good tone, but it wasn’t this Rogers with regular 1.6mm triple flanged hoops. These sing a little louder because of the thin hoops.
Yes, you have to tune them once mounted on the Memriloc hardware because if you tune it off the mount, it’ll be choked once mounted, but that’s how it is. I know professionals hate that fact, but once you accept it and just deal with it, you can make these drums sound great. Maybe in this era, Rogers really figured it out - they didn’t use super heavy lugs and hoops, combined that with thin maple shells and came out with really good sounding drums. And since they don’t weigh a lot, I didn’t mind hauling six drums to this gig. Got lots of compliments (always taken with a grain of salt as the clientele are drinking), but even the two band members were impressed. I know some people think 1960s Swivomatic Rogers are the best, but don’t be afraid to try the 1970s Fullerton era ones (I pored through the Rogers 1976 catalog as a kid and was quite impressed with their Memriloc hardware (in theory) as I dealt with the anemic Slingerland hardware on the first kit mom and dad got me. Now I know why these cost a little more back then. But, I could see people just not buying them as stores were pushing these new drums made by the likes of upstarts like Tama and Yamaha and Pearl
