Hey guys I've got a '73 Rogers Starlighter IV Roy Burns kit (22,13,16) and I was wondering how to get the best out of it. It has thin-ish 5 ply maple shells but also more modern style 45 degree bearing edge's, so its kind of a transition between a old and modern style kit. what kind of skins and tuning is gonna make this sound best? what would the makers have been going for sound-wise?
thanks
Coated Ambassadors top and bottom would have been the OEM setup. I am not much on the 22 BD size, I do not own one from that era, I do have a 22 and 24 from the early Big R period. I use an SK1 or an Evans EQ single ply on my 20" drums. I have an SK1 on my 22, and a PS3 Clear Pin on my 24. I use full front no hole Fiberskyn Ambassador resos
The toms will sing. The bass will make itself known.
thanks for the reply! do you have any tuning tips for these drums? would you tune a 70's rogers differently because of the bearing edges than you would a 70's Ludwig for example? I'm fairly new to properly tuning drums...
Your edges and shells should be pretty similar to most of the 60's ones. I agree with Ploughman on the Ambassadors and I often use an Evans EQ 1 on bass batter just to dampen it at bit. Other than that, I use them wide open.
I played out last weekend with my set (different sizes from 66 or so), and it just so happens that the bottom of the toms have Evans still on them since the prior owner. Maybe a bit brighter that way, but not too sure actually. No problems from the sound guy and sounded good from the throne, so you could consider that if you want some a bit brighter.
For live performance in a rock context I use Remo clear pinstripe for the batter, and clear Ambassador on the reso side of my toms. Bass drum was always set up with a Remo coated Powerstroke 3 on the batter, and coated Emp on the reso.
I don't use pinstripes with any other set that I own. However on the Rogers, those heads fit the bill for live rock work. I'm also fully miced with full production...
For studio, I always use coated Amb or Emps on the reso of the toms and clear Amb on the reso. Bass drum stays the same.
For live performance in a rock context I use Remo clear pinstripe for the batter, and clear Ambassador on the reso side of my toms. Bass drum was always set up with a Remo coated Powerstroke 3 on the batter, and coated Emp on the reso. I don't use pinstripes with any other set that I own. However on the Rogers, those heads fit the bill for live rock work. I'm also fully miced with full production... For studio, I always use coated Amb or Emps on the reso of the toms and clear Amb on the reso. Bass drum stays the same.
I would back all of that completely, 100%. Amazing how we came to exactly the setup, skin for skin.
Nice to hear from some other guys who don't think clear pinstripes are sacrilegious on Rogers toms. Ploughman is, as usual, spot on about coated Ambassadors being the best setup to get the original, factory sound out of Rogers toms, but I like the pinstripes because of their even, pure tone. When I wore out the original Rogers batter heads on my 1975 Fullerton set, I replaced all of them with those blue Evans hydraulic heads that were popular in the ‘80s. Boy were they dead and flat sounding! Like wet blankets. After those heads, I discovered the pinstripes and have stuck with them.
And my reso heads? All my toms (12,13,14,15, and 16FT) still have the original 1975 Rogers reso heads on them, as does my bass drum. Still look nice and sound nice.
Nice hearing everyone's opinion.
Mike
