Well if the previous owner painted the interior black He surely covered the labels that would help identify the birthday and of the kit. BTW that is a great kit..

IF you plan on using it yourself for gigs and such I would say leave it the way it is. Yes you could strip the paint but if the gray paint is underneath it will come off too. Also i do believe that gray speckle paint gives some kind of warmth to the Rogers tone.

Also I do believe you could re-paint using that original paint..

http://vintagedrumguide.com/painting_shell_interiors.html

Again how much do you want to get involved in restoring ?

Is it a Dayton, a Cleveland or a Fullerton ?

Me. for a Dayton or a Cleveland I would go all out, for a Fullerton not so much.

Looks like a Cleveland era, from all the hardware etc,,

The top hoop on the floor tom doesn't look orig...

But everything else looks good..

I'm guessing Cleveland tags ...1964/65..

I like the bass drum (Cym mount) with the offset hex screws..!

Nice kit..

Where's the snare..?

Look where the scripted badge (Rogers) is & on the inside (same location) where the lil nails would be..

They place a paper tag about 3"x2" there..

Maybe clean off the Blk paint, see what city & serial # is there

P.s. The Roger's will always be worth the money...

Thanks guys!

It was described as 1965 Cleveland.

Since I am a newbie I am not dialed into the details.

But I bought hoping he is correct with Cleveland, maybe Dayton :)

I bought them to play, but want to pay homage to the instrument they are as well. If I can do something to enhance that, I am game. For sure do not want to do anymore damage then has been done.

They sure are unique, hoping they sound great!

Unfortunately, no snare :(

But I did just buy a Supraphonic ( late 70's ) and I have a pretty awesome project I will share soon on a snare I have had sitting around my house since the late 80's...Pre serial # WMP 5 x 14 Jazz Festival Ludwig from what I can tell.

Thanks again for the advice

Bean -

Welcome, and nice pick up. Be careful dipping your feet into the ocean of vintage drums (especially Rogers) - once you get the bug, you may never recover! I know I haven't.

If it were me, I would leave those interiors alone. I agree it does provide a story as to the provenance of the kit. It's not a kit that sat in a closet for forty years, never played. Nothing wrong with that.

John

Great kit! I'd probably leave alone as well but it's your call and either won't hurt you. Looks like I've got your twin (from '65-66). And John is right...now that you're a Rogers guy, you may never go back. Enjoy those!

Different kinds based on what type of black paint was used, but the proper "Graffiti Remover" Motsenbocker's is one brand with care the black may come off without harming original paint. Going very slow if the labels still there might be able to get them at least readable. Your call.

Creighton

GWM...wow, your kit looks amazing. I am hoping my kit looks half as good.

Great tip on the Graffiti Remover, I may try that, see if it gets me close.

But I will lean more towards leave well enough alone if it looks like it is going south even a little bit.

The picks show the labels still there, just covered with black :(

I am looking forward to playing them.

Thanks guys

Little update.

I just received the drums, arrived well packaged, and disassembled somewhat. I spent a couple of hours assembling and checking out.

My real issue is I am becoming obsessed with them.

They are amazing, and I cannot wait to play them.

I am going to leave them be as they are, black paint and all.

I will take them apart at some point for a big cleaning, and pack the lugs with felt as I have read, other than that these guys are going to be used...not abuse :)

thanks again guys!