Nice set. You can never have enough Rogers.

I'm a mess, I know it's Starlighter, my bad. Yeah, I got a kick out of the Evans bashing, that was a first for me. I will dig out the Rogers hardware and wail away.

Hi all,

Tommy/Super, it's my understanding that Rogers always used all-maple Keller shells throughout their prime years, not maple/poplar as Tommy stated. At least, this is what I've read from almost everything written about Rogers shells that I've come across. I'm not sure that Keller was manufacturing anything BUT all-maple shells for drum companies in those years.

Maybe someone else can confirm this?

It's easy enough to tell, though: Next time you have any hardware off, check the cross-section of wood plies. If you see pretty much one tone to the wood color, it's all maple. If there's a whitish ply in there, that would be a poplar ply (or another wood), but I doubt you'll find this. Pretty sure your kit is all-maple.

I have a great '64 BDP Holiday kit myself and it sings.

Charles

CharlesM...

You are incorrect on your assessment of Rogers shells. Rogers ALL MAPLE shells were not offered until the XP8 8 ply series of drums in 1979. Up until then, the lay-up was in fact, maple/poplar/maple for three ply, and maple/poplar/maple/poplar/maple for the five ply series of shells. The re-rings ARE in fact, solid maple. I'm not sure where you got your misunderstanding from, but I assure you, the shells ARE NOT solid maple.

The venerable wood Dynasonic snare drum, Rogers top of the line, wasn't even solid maple. That was also in the maple/poplar lay-up. All of this is borne out by looking at a bearing edge next time you change heads. So,

CharlesM: Take a good look at your bearing edges... you WILL SEE that they are plied. Don't let the re-ring fool you.

Your 64 Rogers kit sounds like a beauty... and yes ... they are plied shells too! Got Rogers?! :-)

Tommyp

Tommy,

Thanks for the info.

Just to clarify, I was referring to all-maple plied shells, not solid-maple.

Can you tell me what your source is for the information on the ply specifics? Is it Rob Cook's book?

Thanks,

Charles

I remember something about that in the paperwork I got with my 1977 Rogers set, when I bought it in 79 from the original owner. Long since lost. But I knew about the maple poplar maple poplar maple thing back then.

Hey CharlesM...

The majority of my "knowledge", comes from years of playing and messing around with Rogers drums. And, I still play professionally, full time, and on what else... Rogers! So,

In this case, my source of information comes from a visual on a Rogers drum shell. For this, I used my '65 WMP Powertone snare drum. The plies are easily seen by looking through the transparent bottom snare head... but as the Ploughman mentioned as well, we all knew that Rogers used a maple/poplar ply lay-up... again, from years of playing/restoring/refurbishing/cleaning, Rogers drums. Now, regarding the Rob Cook Rogers book:

Rob did a FANTASTIC job on the Rogers book... but ... it isn't totally accurate. Please don't misunderstand... I have both editions of the book and love the book, but there are area's that aren't correct. Regardless, I recommend the Rogers book HIGHLY! There is so much information in there, and most of it is dead on. In the case of Rogers shells, Rob has it right. Oh, before I forget,

I KNEW that you didn't mean SOLID MAPLE as in, well, solid maple! I knew you were referring to ALL MAPLE plies, and so was I. I just figured that was a given.

ENJOY your Rogers!

Tommyp

Tommy,

Thanks. I stand corrected! Very interesting.

From what I've been reading, Rogers used mostly Jasper shells during the Cleveland era but also some Keller shells at times. Is it accurate to say that the Keller shells were all maple, then? Jasper, on the contrary, apparently always used the maple/poplar construction.

See the link below to the Keller company: They state that they began making shells for Rogers in the '60s and their literature on these "traditional" shells implies that they were all-maple:

http://www.kelleratthecore.com/products.php?SubPage=traditional

I don't have access to my kit right now so I can't take a look at the plies. The interiors (including bearing edges) are all painted the flat gray, though, so I'm not sure I'd be able to get a good look at the plies.

No problem about the "solid maple" thing; that's obviously a *sensitive* phrase in the vintage drum world, so I took your wording literally!

Best,

Charles

Hey CharlesM...

Nope... Early Rogers shells, and continuing through the Ohio period, were in fact, maple/poplar/maple... etc. Didn't matter that they were Keller, or Jasper, they were always a maple/poplar lay-up. The XP8 shells were the first ALL MAPLE plied shells that Rogers used... and those were in fact, made by Keller, exclusively. You should be able to SEE the ply lay-up by looking at any Rogers snare drum. Check the bearing edges by looking through the bottom snare head. ( if your bottom head is transparent and not translucent of course! ) Even with the gray painted interiors, the bearing edges should be clean and devoid of paint, allowing you to see the plies. Interestingly,

I have a very good friend who is head of R&D at Keller. I will get the inside skinny on this from him too. Stay tuned! :-)

Tommyp