Hi All,
Can somone clear up what and when these drums came into existance? Reason I ask is... you'll find on occasion ads with the "Rocker" designation with pics of B/O baged drums.
I was under the impression that Rockers were White/Black badged or... that funky red job.
...Anyone?
I was under the impression that Rockers were White/Black badged or... that funky red job.
You are under the correct impression. The Rocker and Rocker II came on the scene around 1984-85 and until they switched over to the "funky red badge" always had Black & White's.
A lot of confusion is generated when people see the Rocker Line of Heads on any drum, B&O Badged included, and call it a Rocker.......
LVDC
You are under the correct impression. The Rocker and Rocker II came on the scene around 1984-85 and until they switched over to the "funky red badge" always had Black & White's.A lot of confusion is generated when people see the Rocker Line of Heads on any drum, B&O Badged included, and call it a Rocker.......LVDC
Thanks for the clarification. My late 70's kit came with 'Rocker' heads but the kit was listed as a Quadra plus sound projector kit.
BTW would you know if the sound projectors were a limited run for Ludwig??
John
Ludwig started making sound projectors in 1977 for marching drums. Made them well into the '80s, and still offer them for their 14" marching snares.
Ludwig showed them as an add-on for a drum set in 1 catalog that I know of; it was in 1978, I think. They never really caught on with drum sets, perhaps because drum sets that needed to be louder could be mic'd (not an option with marching drums), and/or because the projectors forced players to keep the toms up pretty high in order to clear the kick drum.
Sorry all lost track of this post.
Thanks for the clarification.
I picked up a set of Rocker shells this weekend! 12, 13,16,22 and 14" snare. Shells only, for $30. I pulled the old beat down and scarred wrap off the drums and found a rather nice looking wood grain underneath. They had Black and white badges and the seller said they were from the mid eighties. Anyone have any idea what kind of wood these shells are? Are they worth re=finishing, finding harware etc.
thinks for information
I believe the shells were described as "Select American veneers" in the Cat,most people think it was a maple and poplar shell,I have a 1983 S/L kit the line that that preceded the Rockers,same shells except the kick is 6 ply.I would believe there is maple in them,I have had the kit down to just the shells and wrap and they are pretty heavy,heavier than what I imagine all poplar would be.
I have seen a quite a few instances where people removed the wrap from S/L and earlier rocker kits and found a nice looking outside ply on all the shells nice enough to do a clear coat and have a nice looking Natural maple finish kit.
I originally bought my S/L kit because I wanted the Classic Lugs and hardware to use on a custom build,but the kit sounded good,so later I went and slowly found the used mini classic lugs etc and put then back together as a beater/gigger rehearsal kit.The earlier rocker kits had mini classic lug casings on toms,later had the rocker / standard lugs,if replacing the classic lugs with new ones would be pretty darn expensive,I found the 50 lugs I needed for between 1.00 1.50 a piece,most were in fair to good cosmetic condition.I would bet those lugs new would be close to 15 bucks a piece these days.The Rocker type lugs if you can use them would probably be cheaper.I know that the standard type lugs and the classic lugs,don't know if it is the large classic or mini classic is interchangeable with the standard lugs I believe.
