My “Beater” Rogers kit. The term beater is usually applied to old cars that are beat up and butt ugly but are reliable and run well enough to get you to work and back. I’ve had several beater kits over the years that fit that description. You know - that beat up old kit that you take to that outside festival gig in case it rains, or to the “jam night” gigs instead of taking your nice kit. You don’t care if it gets rained on, or if beer gets spilled on it, if someone else plays it, or if it gets scratched up – it’s already scratched up.
My favorite beater kit was a 1979 Slingerland Traveler kit in lacquer over maple finish. The sizes were 14x22, 8x12, 9x13 and 16x16 – and whatever snare I was using at the time. The finish was pretty aged, cracking and beat up when I got it. What I liked about it was that it was so simple. The double tom mount was a single post that didn’t have a lot of adjustability but collapsed real close to the shell. They were good sounding drums and built like a tank. They could take some abuse and I put them through the ringer. I didn’t use cases when carrying them around on local gigs. Big infraction of the rules, I know but, at the time, I needed the least amount of gear on these gigs I was playing and cases are just one more thing to deal with. I wish I had never let them go, but I can say the same for probably a hundred kits I’ve had over the years.
I recently acquired a Rogers Dayton era kit of orphans – 14x20, 8x12, 16x16 in blue sparkle. I bought it from a guy on Craigslist who brought it over to my house. It was definitely qualified to be a beater set and he explained what all was wrong and missing: There are so many un-original parts, extra holes and cracks in the finish that they would never be considered a worthy vintage kit to a collector. But I played all three for a few minutes and they still had that glorious Rogers tone – lots of sustain and they tuned up easily. The heads were new too. So I paid $600 for them with the intention of turning them in to a beater gig set at some point. I started that process last week.
There was no tom arm included. The previous owner was using the small tom on a snare stand. I tried a couple of Swivomatic arms I had but they would not fit the Swivomatic mounts on the bass and tom. There were two different swivo hole diameters that are known in the Rogers Swivo history. I ordered a new Dynomatic arm from the new Rogers company, but that didn’t fit either. I have never been thrilled with Swivomatic hardware anyway so I took the Swivo tom mounts off the bass and small tom and put them up for sale on DrumSellers.com. I kept the Swivo spurs and the Swivo floor tom brackets. I’m trying to locate some Swivomatic “blanks” to cover the mount holes with. Does anyone know how to source these?
There was already a large hole at the front top of the bass drum, probably for a Memriloc tom holder or other “upgrade” tom holder that a former owner installed. I had a simple generic bass plate in stock and a new Gretsch/Gibraltar single tom arm that fit the existing holes. I put a R.I.M.S. holder with a D.W. mounting bracket on the tom.
There are still some details that I may or may not address in the future: The tom hoops are not the Rogers Tower hoops. I might actually put die cast hoops on the toms. I’ve always wanted to see if it would have the same tone focusing effect that they have on Gretsch toms. One bass drum hoop has an inlay of contact paper that needs to be replaced with a blue sparkle strip. The bass drum hoops need repainting. There are small holes from old mounts in several places on the bass drum, some of which had been filled and blue sparkle wrap put in place. The tom legs are not original. I cut the generic tom legs to the length of the 16” tom so I could leave them on the drum and put them in the case (yes, I’m using cases). But from the audience’s perspective, no one would notice the defects, and the hoops don’t affect the tone THAT much. And the other musicians don’t care. They just care about how the drums sound and how I play!
I’ve been using a Rogers Powertone chrome over brass 5 x 14 with it. I mounted a microphone in the bass drum with a Kelly Shu suspension mount (not pictured). The bass drum is usually the only thing mic’d on these one nighter gigs, plus I use a Porter Davies BCX powered throne that requires a mic (If you have not tried the Porter Davies tactile monitor, you probably shouldn’t because you won’t be able to live without it once you’ve felt/heard it). So, one less thing to carry and set up if the mic is already in the bass drum.
My stands are the single braced ones I use for all of my gig sets; Tama Classic cymbal stands (almost identical to the old Ludwig 1400 flat base stands), Pearl snare stand and DW hi hat stand. I’m doing mostly one nighter gigs now; weddings, private house parties, corporate events, small concerts, etc. so it’s nice to have a compact four piece kit that I can sling around without worrying about keeping them pristine. I tried carrying them without cases the first time I used it and, wouldn’t you know it, it rained! I promptly found cases for them.
Send me pictures of YOUR beater kit and I’ll publish them. -George