Rogers Holiday restoration

JClutchD

Senior Member
Hi all, I recently purchased an old Rogers Holiday kit in semi-rough shape in the hopes of restoring it to a player's kit. My dad used to have this exact kit in this same color when he was a teenager and ended up giving it away to an orphanage since he was moving away for work. He's been talking about picking up the sticks again so I plan on giving it to him as a Christmas present. :)

Like I said, the kit's in pretty rough shape. The wrap's scratched quite a bit (some of it's missing on the floor tom), the insides of the shells were repainted and the lugs (a mix of beavertail and b&b) have some mild pitting, which I'm not too worried about. I ordered some beavertail lugs to match the rest of the kit and some floor tom mounts/legs from eBay so I got the hardware covered.

What I'm most worried about is the bottom part of the floor tom, it seems to have some moisture damage and the bearing edge is in pretty rough shape (it's basically just rounded over). I thought I had a picture of the bearing edge but I guess I didn't take one. Should I be worried about this?

Also, the bearing edges on the 12" and 13" toms are different so I'm guessing they're from different eras. The bearing edge on the 12" tom is a rounded-over edge, almost flat; whereas the edge on the 13" tom is a 30 degree edge, like the floor tom and bass drum. Is it safe to assume that the two toms are from different eras or did Rogers actually cut different bearing edges on the 12 and 13" toms?

Thanks for looking guys. Any info about the floor tom and bearing edges is appreciated.

Cheers,
J-D

PS. The sizes are 20x14, 12x8, 13x9 and 16x16.
 

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Are the paper tags still present in all of the drums?
The floor tom is from 1962 or thereabouts, the drums with beavertails and B&B lugs have had the holes wallowed out a bit to fit the Beavertail lug. You could probably put Beavertails on the whole kit, and make it really playable. For the floor tom, you could probably find a replacement but its going to cost a couple bills. Or, match the gray paint, redo the interiors, and rewrap the floor. If the B&B lugs aren't cracked, then leave them alone,
 
Are the paper tags still present in all of the drums?
The floor tom is from 1962 or thereabouts, the drums with beavertails and B&B lugs have had the holes wallowed out a bit to fit the Beavertail lug. You could probably put Beavertails on the whole kit, and make it really playable. For the floor tom, you could probably find a replacement but its going to cost a couple bills. Or, match the gray paint, redo the interiors, and rewrap the floor. If the B&B lugs aren't cracked, then leave them alone,

The paper tag is missing in the bass drum and are present in the toms, but were painted over (grrrr). I do plan on putting beavertail lugs on the entire kit, the only drums with all b&b lugs was the floor tom, and I ordered the beavertail lugs for it yesterday. Should I be worried about the floor tom shell itself? It looks like it might of had some moisture damage, but is still perfectly in round.
 
If it is not delaminated, just repaint it and go.

If there is some delamination, inject some glue into it. Elmers makes something that is thinner than the standard white glue.

Now, I am a Rogers purist....... I love to see good restorations.

These drums have already been messed with. Make them playable. A suggestion...Get a good representation of a Rogers Holiday Tag, and make your own replacements, but add a bit of a twist....... Put your pops name on them instead of Holiday. As for the finish,,, some of that you can buff out. Light polishing compound and be careful around the holes and seam joints.

If your B&B lugs are good, you can get money for them. Don't toss them. Even if they are lightly cracked.

What is the story on the keystone Supra?
 
If it is not delaminated, just repaint it and go.

If there is some delamination, inject some glue into it. Elmers makes something that is thinner than the standard white glue.

Now, I am a Rogers purist....... I love to see good restorations.

These drums have already been messed with. Make them playable. A suggestion...Get a good representation of a Rogers Holiday Tag, and make your own replacements, but add a bit of a twist....... Put your pops name on them instead of Holiday. As for the finish,,, some of that you can buff out. Light polishing compound and be careful around the holes and seam joints.

If your B&B lugs are good, you can get money for them. Don't toss them. Even if they are lightly cracked.

What is the story on the keystone Supra?

Nope, there isn't any delamination so I guess I'll leave it alone. I probably won't be able to sand/repaint the floor tom either since it's getting way too cold to work in my shed. My dad's got a nice woodshop/garage so I'll repaint it after I give them to him for xmas.

I love the idea of making my own Rogers Holiday tags, I have a few friends that are really good graphic artists so that should be an easy job for them. Thank you so much!

Only a couple of the b&b lugs are cracked, so I'll make sure to polish the rest of them off nicely and sell them afterwards. I'm following the Cleaning and Restoring article I found on vintagedrumguide.com.

The Supra I bought a few years ago and is my backup snare. It's a 1964 (same year my mom was born) and I'll be lending it to my dad to use with the Rogers kit.
 

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That's quite the project you've got going there. Looks good!

Here are a couple pics of the lugs I'm expecting in the mail.

Thanks! I must say though I was actually after a Rogers kit when I stumbled on mine accidentally. I have really been wanting to get a holiday kit and yours is going to look amazing when done I am sure. I am really wanting to hear how it sounds. Keep up the great work.
 
Thanks! I must say though I was actually after a Rogers kit when I stumbled on mine accidentally. I have really been wanting to get a holiday kit and yours is going to look amazing when done I am sure. I am really wanting to hear how it sounds. Keep up the great work.

Thank you! Looking forward to seeing your finished product as well.
 
Talk to Larry. Uncle had some product he used to polish the wrap on his drums if I'm not mistaken.
 
Update: I've encountered a problem. I ordered some shiny Holiday lugs for the floor tom and the Holiday lugs won't fit... Only the B&B lugs will fit.

So that leaves me with two options:

1) Drill some extra holes for the Holiday lugs

or

2) Clean the B&B lugs as best I can and have a mismatching floor tom

Thoughts?
 
I'd go for #2. Don't drill these old drums. Mismatch is better.
Who cares about matching, and drilling instantly devalues the drum, if you care about value more than looks.
 
I'd go for #2. Don't drill these old drums. Mismatch is better.
Who cares about matching, and drilling instantly devalues the drum, if you care about value more than looks.

This is more what I was leaning towards. Some of the wrap at bottom of the floor tom is missing (a chunk about 3x3" wide) and the inside of the shell is in pretty rough condition so that's the only reason I was considering drilling it. But I'll just slap on the B&B lugs that it came with instead.

Reproduction B&B lugs are available,but they aren't cheap.

http://www.jp2creations.com/

I admire your quest.sometime,the expence is worth the outcome.:)

Steve B

Yikes! I'd say. $40 is a little steep in my opinion. Thanks for the link though, good to know that there is some sort of option out there!
 
I would just do the "diy" fixes on the B&B lugs and leave the drum as it is. Who cares about the lugs really so long as they work. BTW I did score a 1968 Rogers kit myself recently. Only the wrap needs some attention.

Here is what I did for my old Ludwig kit:

1. Cleaned with simple green
2. Used some automotive rubbing compound where needed
3. Used some liquid carnuba wax

Gave me awesome results. You could also do the full wet sand approach. Same as you would do to fix a dull car paint.
 
What a neat project....looking forward to seeing the results!

I did NOT KNOW Rogers were made in Cleveland?!? Holy Cannoli, now my interest is piqued.

They were made in Covington. Cleveland was the shipping and warehouse center. Later, it was in Dayton, CBS moved it from Cleveland for some reason. Drums were still made in Covington.
 
They were made in Covington. Cleveland was the shipping and warehouse center. Later, it was in Dayton, CBS moved it from Cleveland for some reason. Drums were still made in Covington.

Good Stuff....Covington is much closer to Dayton than It is to Cleveland, so some suit must have been looking to save on shipping and where housing or maybe labor rates. I was born and raised in Cleveland and graduated from OSU, so there is a link here.

So this link seems to be a very valid reason....one my wife will surely understand....to acquire a Rogers kit and restore it.
 
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