Rogers Dynasonic White Pearl questions!

[Rob White]

Brand new to the forum, thanks and glad to be here!

I have a vintage Rogers Dynasonic snare, with a white pearl finish, that I am considering selling, and had a few questions for the experts.

The drum has a paper sticker inside, which says "Cleveland, Ohio" but the serial number has been scratched off. Will this affect the value?

Also, I've noticed that most drums from this era have an internal muffle, which this one is missing. I know that Louis Bellson's custom snares were made without this muffle, so I'm wondering if the "family stories" about this drum are true, as indicated by the missing serial # and muffle.

Can post photos if interested. Thanks for the help!

[thornbeck]

to the forum.

When you say the "muffler" is missing, do you mean the shell was never drilled for a muffler?

Do expand on the "family stories". You might have some member's attention with this statement.

Pictures of this drum would be more than appreciated.

-Tim

[Rob White]

Thanks, Tim. I have attached some pix. It appears that the drum was never drilled for a muffler. I do have the top hoop and rods/washers... all hardware seems to be original.

I will ask around and get the full story, if it's to be had. Meanwhile, would love to hear some feedback about this drum.

[thornbeck]

Wow! Beautiful snare. The wrap looks to be in great shape with very little fade.

Are there any cracks with the lugs? They are notorious for cracking.

I also noticed the vent hole does not have the Dyna-sonic/Custom Built badge. It doesn't look like one was ever installed either, because the two screw holes are not in the shell.

It's interesting that the paper tag had the serial number scratched out too.

The Rogers experts will chime in real soon.

Thanks for sharing.

-Tim

[Rob White]

No cracks anywhere that I could discern, Tim, in finish or hardware. I'm wondering if the snare head is the "original" from the 60s (or whenever this drum dates from).

Looking forward to hearing from the experts!

[Cruisin]

Certainly a beautiful snare....worth a good dollar as well. Just an ...early Dynas with the tag inside are rare, and external Dynasonic badges were not installed on these. Later on when the tags were no longer used, external badges were installed starting with serial #1001 I believe.
The serial # scratched out will detract from the value somewhat...not exactly sure how much.

Good Luck!
Bob

[Rob White]

Thanks, Bob! Too bad about the serial, I know...

[FFR428]

Rob, that is one fantastic looking snare drum. Thanks for sharing pics. Despite the serial # missing it's one any Rogers collector would love to have in the collection. Beautiful early example too!!

[FFR428]

BTW reso snare head sure looks original.

[Powertone]

Cruisin nailed it. You have an early paper tag DynaSonic. No external vent badge. Great drum and highly collectible. I don't have a problem with part of the paper tag being missing, especially on a rare piece. In your case, I think the rarity of the drum outweighs the number being scratched out. Not all vintage instruments make it through the decades unscathed.

The snare side head is most likely original to the drum, and based on the fact that the snare frame still has the black shock cords, I doubt that it has ever been off the drum.

The fact that the drum does not have a muffler could mean that it was possibly ordered that way or an endorser drum. Another possibility is that being such an early dyna, perhaps it was made without the muffler. I have a COB paper tag dyna also without a muffler. They weren't exactly mass producing them, so perhaps some did and some didn't.