I hope your new year is off to a great start. Just when I had gotten used to writing 2016 on my checks, they went and changed the year to 2017 on me. I don't know how long it will take me to get used to that. To tell you the truth , I am still living in the pre-2000 years. Time marches on, and so must we. I have a somewhat rare and unusual snare drum to show our readers this month. I just bought it from a collector friend recently. I will tell you about that deal later. This snare is an RSD 146G Rogers Gold Plated Dyna-sonic. It is really not like any other Dyna-sonic ever produced with the Rogers name on it. It is a very beautiful drum and actually sounds great.
The great Rogers drums we all love came to an end in the 1980s. That whole tragic story is well documented. At the end of the line, the Rogers name was licensed to Island Music, an import distributor in the 1980s, according to Rob Cook's "The Rogers Book". Cook says, "Island Music planned to import inexpensive versions of the Rogers drums which had been produced in the last CBS days, as well as again start production of some high quality American made drums." This gold plated drum was produced for Island in the late 1980s. Photos of the gold plated Dyna-sonic and the following text is found in Cook's book. "Apparently only a couple dozen of the RSD-146G gold plated Dyna-sonics were made for Island Music. The retail price was a quite reasonable $495.00, but the poor quality of the plating impeded the sales."
I said this drum is unlike any other Dyna-sonic ever made with the Rogers name on it. Apart from the fact that the lugs are unlike any on Rogers drums, the drum has no snare bridge that was a distinct feature of Rogers Dyna-sonic drums. The smooth 6.5" shell is gold plated brass. The die cast rims, throw, and all other parts are also gold plated. It is a very pretty drum. I was able to purchase this drum along with a complete collection from a close collector friend. He had been collecting for several years and had several very nice pieces in his collection. When he decided to sell, he asked me if I would like to "cherry pick" his collection. I went immediately and started trying to pick the drums I really wanted, but the choices were overwhelming. I did what you really shouldn't do, I asked him what he would take for everything. He wanted to know if I wanted to have the collection evaluated. I said, no, what do you want? He told me his price and I didn't even haggle. And that my friends is how you really make your wife mad.
Please leave a comment if you have or ever had one of these unusual drums.
Have a great New Year, and keep looking for those drum treasures.