New Rogers...really?

sonormapex

Senior Member
Anyone excited about the new Dixon made, assembled by Pork Pie, reproductions that DONT say made in the USA?.
I'm not even remotely interested in this. Take a look at all the others who have tried this and try to determine how long the buzz will last.
It goes to show you that the industry is no longer capable of re inventing the wheel, or improving it.
Wheels on the bus go round and round..
 
I was just at a Clinic sponsored by Dixon and the marketing director stated that Dixon drums are made in Taiwan, by a company that has been making OEM drums for a long time. I saw two kits made by Dixon and couldn't care less who made them. The looked great and sounded great . Not sure where you got the info or what your are trying to say. He didn't mention Pork Pie or Rogers at all. Maybe all three brands are made by the same parent company.

Pork Pie has USA made drums and Little Squealer that are made in Taiwan.

Rogers:

Yamaha displayed its new Rogers drums at winter NAMM 2007. The drums appear to be an amalgam of different Rogers eras, with some Yamaha touches.

In 2013, the rights to Rogers drums were acquired by Joseph Chen, then the president of Dixon Drums. Nothing has been done with the brand as of April 2015 and its future is uncertain.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_Drums
 
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I'm told Dixon made the hardware, shells are Keller but some disagree with this, and Bill Detamore is putting them together to be sold by Maxwells in Chicago/New York. Its all just starting to surface, so we should get answers soon.
I have heard that Dixon does indeed make great drums, and have been doing so for a long time. There is so much going on in Taiwan as far as drums go!!
 
There has been a lot of buzz about it on Facebook lately. They were unveiled at the Chicago drum show. Looks like American shells and wrap with the hardware made overseas by Dixon. Bill Detamore is going to be putting all these drums together. As SonorMapex mentioned, these will be exclusively available through Maxwell's shop.

They will also be selling snare parts and it has been hinted that there are plans for Swivo parts and full kits in the future.
 
Reliance owns Dixon and other companies, and has OEM'd hardware (esp. parts) for companies for decades.

About 4 years ago, Reliance bought the Rogers name from Yahama USA, and placed it in their Antigua Winds division, headed by Grant Henry (Grant is ex-Ludwig management.) At that time, Grant asked me and others (confidentially of course) how to best handle the name and avoid the mistake that Yamaha USA made by issuing the brand as an entry level line. I suggested to start with the Dynasonic, made exactly to spec, with the correct hardware, and even offer genuine Rogers replacement parts (which would be easy to do with Reliance as the parent!)

Well, nothing happened for a few years, Grant left Antigua, and the name was moved under Dixon, where it should have gone in the first place. I saw some of the shells Bill Detamore was working on last year, but the product was apparently not ready for NAMM.

I saw a pic of the wood Dynasonic, so I guess things are finally underway. It may be too little too late, but at least the brand is being honored properly.

Bermuda
 
If this means there are going to be some cheaper North American Maple Keller shell kits floating around out there, count me in...as long as the edges are good. I don't care what the logo says.
 
I suggested to start with the Dynasonic, made exactly to spec, with the correct hardware, and even offer genuine Rogers replacement parts (which would be easy to do with Reliance as the parent!)

Seems like they took your sound advice to heart. Some of the collectors are getting excited over the re-issued "bread and butter" lugs. They're made of stronger material than the weak brass originals which were prone to cracking.

I don't care where these parts were made, they're going to breathe new life into a bunch of poor old drums with cracked lugs that can't be played. Plus, someone on the FB group pointed out, now someone can score a Dyna shell off the 'bay for cheap and assemble a new Dyna out of these repro parts.

OP's "wheels on the bus" attitude has been kicked around online quite a bit. Some of the more hardline purists even suggested separating groups because they don't want to see these drums with repro parts. I don't care where they were made, I am just happy to see someone who cares looking to bring the Rogers name to its former glory. I'm not going to be one of these cats that spends $800 on a repro Dyna (I'm too cheap) but I am really enjoying seeing all these hardcore collectors all giddy like kids on Christmas.
 
In the guitar world, it's nice to be able to obtain re-issues of the instruments that were released in the 50s/60s/70s. Even companies that no longer exist (Univox, Mosrite, Airline, etc) have had their rights purchased and the guitars reissued. In many ways, these reissues are better than the real deal.

I feel the same way about my GWay, and hopefully the new Rogers will be no different.

Many make the "Dixon vs Keller" argument, but I'd really like to speak to someone that has done an in-depth side-by-side comparison of the two shops' output. I'd also like to see that the price discrepancy is for a large run of shells.
 
Bermuda; "It may be to little to late"
Do you think they missed their window of opportunity to enter the market, by leaving it to idle too long?
 
Am forever amazed so much debate and energy is devoted to the pedigree of drums and parts, rather than their sound, quality and workmanship.
 
Am forever amazed so much debate and energy is devoted to the pedigree of drums and parts, rather than their sound, quality and workmanship.

I think the main reason for this is that there's never been a published Apples to Apples comparison of a Keller shell and a Dixon shell (or any other shell producer), and neither company seems too interested in doing this comparison.

When you do not make it easy for consumers to obtain detailed product information, or deliberately hide behind the guise of "trade secrets", they will often make it up by extrapolating on any anecdotal tidbits they find.

Don't get me wrong, I purchased my GW based on a ~15 minute playing at DCP.
 
Don't get me wrong, I purchased my GW based on a ~15 minute playing at DCP.

As would have I, they are simply beautiful sounding drums.
But I personally wouldn't give a rats *ss they were made by Dunnett, have shells from Smith, lugs from Jones and assembled by Witherspoon.....in Taiwan or not. To me, the sound of the sum product is what matters and most important to judge.
 
None of us does as much research as to parts manufacture of cars and or houses and we pay a ton more for them as we do drums. Who did make those spark plugs in my Japanese car, now made in the States,
 
None of us does as much research as to parts manufacture of cars and or houses and we pay a ton more for them as we do drums. Who did make those spark plugs in my Japanese car, now made in the States,

I don't bother with such things. As long as it says "Toyota" on it, I trust that it is sturdy and well made.

Back the topic at hand, just got a reply from Steve Maxwell. They sell a replacement bridge for my Dyna WITH wires for a pretty good price. I think I'm going to score one for myself.
 
Am forever amazed so much debate and energy is devoted to the pedigree of drums and parts, rather than their sound, quality and workmanship.

Some could state that sound , quality and workmanship is the reason they have a pedigree. Rogers are still very fine drums, Some say Buddy sounded best on them.
 
Early to mid 60,s were outstanding drums by Rogers. I played them for years and found them very road worthy, and the hardware was the very best!
 
I don't understand reissuing something at at a lesser degree than the original. of course it will fail. i think they were pretty good right up to 1970. But then a lot of things went down the crapper after then.
 
Bermuda; "It may be to little to late"
Do you think they missed their window of opportunity to enter the market, by leaving it to idle too long?

Certainly a possibility. The name was sort of dormant for a while before Yamaha USA soured it by issuing entry-level kits under the brand. And then, dormant again for the last 4-5 years.

Aficionados are skeptical, and others just view it as another Keller-sheller (even though it's not.)

I believe Steve Maxwell is currently the US distributor (not sure why it's not Dixon...) and he's going to have to market these smartly. I'm sure the drums are great again, but it's going to be a tough sell.

Bermuda
 
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