Rogers Swivomatic pedal review

Just a few points of information about Rogers.Forum member JOHNPLOUGHMAN is an encyclopedia on all that is Rogers and he will dispell or confirm all of the accuracy of the internet info that's on the net.

The truth is Rogers was NOT a major drum company by the early 50's.Cleveland Rogers was ill at the time and his factory was in shambles.He then sold his company to Henry Grossman of Grossman Music.CBS didn't buy the Rogers name or patents till 1966.So the company was NOT family owned when the Swiv-O-Matic hardware line was introduced.

Ben Strauss and Joe Thompson who were Rogers employees,designed the Swiv-o-Matic line of hardware,which included hi-hat and cymbal stands,tom mounts,floor tom legs and mounts,and bass drum pedal.This entire line was called Swiv-o-Matic or Swivo Matic,and not just the bass drum pedal,as all of this new hardware swiveled.in multiple directions.The were introduced in 1957.The original name was Swivel-Matic.

As far as a decline in quality after the CBS take over,reguardless of what stickers are in the drums,they were all made at the same factory since 54 in Covington Ohio, So there should be no difference in quality pre or post CBS.

Steve B
 
Hmmm you may indeed be right about Grossman, however there is a big difference between the pedals that were made pre CBS and after. That is what I am stressing.

I never said that the later pedals were not made in the Rogers factory but what I said was basically everything CBS and after was not made up to the standards that the first lines were.

I never said there wasn't hihats or hardware called swivomatic, the video is about the swivomatic bass drum pedal, not everything swivomatic. Did you read the title of the video or of this thread?

Have you ever held, played or looked at the insides of the later pedals? They are indeed not the same and got worse over the years.

As far as JOHNPLOUGHMAN never heard of him, I am not here to talk about every little bitty part of Rogers history, I am only stating that after CBS the quality changed, and I am also showing all the custom settings the pedal can do.
 
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I found the whole review quite interesting. Thanks for doing it, Jay. I think Steve is right about the history of ownership. Rogers seems to have a history that is well documented from the 50's (when it was sold to Grossman) up until 1983 when it was sold to BMMC. There isn't much to write about after that, especially after Yamaha turned Rogers into a low-end, nothing line. What fascinates me, is that the company dates back to 1849, and throughout most of its history, there seems to be very little written about it. (I think I will dig through some old posts to see what there is about Rogers history).

Rogers had many professionals playing its products - drums and/or hardware - during the period that pedal was made. That was way ahead of its time.
 
I found the whole review quite interesting. Thanks for doing it, Jay. I think Steve is right about the history of ownership. Rogers seems to have a history that is well documented from the 50's (when it was sold to Grossman) up until 1983 when it was sold to BMMC. There isn't much to write about after that, especially after Yamaha turned Rogers into a low-end, nothing line. What fascinates me, is that the company dates back to 1849, and throughout most of its history, there seems to be very little written about it. (I think I will dig through some old posts to see what there is about Rogers history).

Rogers had many professionals playing its products - drums and/or hardware - during the period that pedal was made. That was way ahead of its time.

I would like to see those old posts if you find them. I believe Steve is right as well about the ownership, I will go back and put some notes in the video. I made it because there is really nothing like it about rogers on the internet. I need to get that Rogers history book thats out. I bet that is a great read. Thanks for watching it and I'm glad you liked it. It was mainly made to show the many adjustments the pedal offers and also to talk about a few of the differences that I have come across in the pedals.
 
Hmmm you may indeed be right about Grossman, however there is a big difference between the pedals that were made pre CBS and after. That is what I am stressing.

I never said that the later pedals were not made in the Rogers factory but what I said was basically everything CBS and after was not made up to the standards that the first lines were.

I never said there wasn't hihats or hardware called swivomatic, the video is about the swivomatic bass drum pedal, not everything swivomatic. Did you read the title of the video or of this thread?

Have you ever held, played or looked at the insides of the later pedals? They are indeed not the same and got worse over the years.

As far as JOHNPLOUGHMAN never heard of him, I am not here to talk about every little bitty part of Rogers history, I am only stating that after CBS the quality changed, and I am also showing all the custom settings the pedal can do.

Yes I did read the title of you thread.The History of Rogers is well documented,and was no longer under family control in 1953,which is when Grossman bought the company.That is a documented fact.

In 1957 the Swiv-o-matic hardware line was introduced,under the control of Henry Grossman,and not Cleveland Rogers,so there was no family control of anything,including the QC of the swivo pedal.

I've owned a few swivos over the years,and I have found no difference in the quality of any of them.I have found that in all pedals of like brands and models....some were just better than others.That can be said for all mass manufactured products.

No need to get defensive.If I was incorrect concerning a certain fact,and someone points that out to me......I apologize for my error,and thank that person for setting me straight.

I mearly pointed out your error in as far as Rogers family having any control of the design and manufacturing of the swivo pedal.I used historical factual evidence to reference my assertion.

I meant nothing in a personal way.Just facts.


Steve B
 
Yes I did read the title of you thread.The History of Rogers is well documented,and was no longer under family control in 1953,which is when Grossman bought the company.That is a documented fact.

In 1957 the Swiv-o-matic hardware line was introduced,under the control of Henry Grossman,and not Cleveland Rogers,so there was no family control of anything,including the QC of the swivo pedal.

I've owned a few swivos over the years,and I have found no difference in the quality of any of them.I have found that in all pedals of like brands and models....some were just better than others.That can be said for all mass manufactured products.

No need to get defensive.If I was incorrect concerning a certain fact,and someone points that out to me......I apologize for my error,and thank that person for setting me straight.

I mearly pointed out your error in as far as Rogers family having any control of the design and manufacturing of the swivo pedal.I used historical factual evidence to reference my assertion.

I meant nothing in a personal way.Just facts.


Steve B

It's cool and you are right. i appreciate your posts. I know for a fact there were three different swiv pedals and I am thinking there were four.

I have owned three pedals, First one was I beleive a third generation, It had the area where the bottom shaft slides in real beefed up, this pedal also had NO bearings in it, had a copper cylinder. The second pedal was what I believe to be a second generation. It had a smaller area under footboard that excepted shaft and it had 11 bearings on each side. Last one is the one I have now. It is built a lot stronger and the parts looks machined instead of casted like the other ones I had, it also has 22 bearing on each side.

The one I have now to me plays a lot better and just feels and looks like it was made with higher standards. Something MUST have been going on for them to start casting the parts and taking half the bearing out and then all of them.

The "forth generation" I believe had a bass drum atachment that you could do with a lever and Im not talking about that rogers pedal with the hinge that looks like a tank, there was a late model swiv pedal with a lever that attached the pedal to the bass drum if memory serves me correct. Damn I hate that drum companies change all this stuff without telling us. Anyways thanks steve
 
It appears that there was, indeed, a change at Rogers from machined to cast parts.

http://www.thedrumexperts.com/rogers-drums/articles_swivo_hardware.html

Just looking around the internet, I am beginning to believe that the reason there is so little information on the Rogers Company prior to its sale to Henry Grossman, is that they were primarily makers of calf skin heads for drums and banjos. They were marketing drums comrised of their heads with shells made by others. The so-called "Covington Years" marked what I am surmising are the company's best.

I played a Rogers kit from that era in a recording studio once. It was a fun set to play and it sounded great. I didn't have the opportunity to try the pedals, but from looking at the quality of the parts shown in the link. I would imagine they are indestructible.
 
Wow! I think you are on to something there. I looked on ebay and most of the swivomatic pedals there had missing parts. This would not only serve as a means by which an owner could make new parts, you could build yourself one (or have a machinist do it)

Did you do a search on the patent number?
 
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