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Rogers Powertone COB VS Slingerland GK COB

Posts: 1345 Threads: 175
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From Jay_M

It looks like this is solved - nice find. I was trying to decide between the same two snares awhile back and had the chance to get both for a decent price. (My Powertone was $50 on eBay because the seller labeled it incorrectly). The Krupa SK felt better to play (prefer stick savers over flanged hoops for rim shots) and I liked it better sonically as well. Great sounding snare. My Dayton Powertone always sounded a bit compressed regardless of set up and the note was a bit odd so I'd always dry it way out to record, but if I had to do it again I'd probably take the Powertone simply because it's an amazingly built drum and the most reliable hardware wise of the American vintage brands. The strainer is great and the shell is solid. The Slingy shell is prone to dents near the Zoomatic strainer and as for that strainer itself…well, I'll say it wasn't for me and I wouldn't be at ease gigging with it too much. Glad you scored a quality drum.

50 for a Powertone? Well done! I paid around 250 Euro and I felt like I had won, but 50 is an amazing price. Sounds better when you get a good deal in it. :)

It definitely needs some new heads. I'm in Europe so it's hard to find the Vintage Remos so I'm going with Ambassador coated over Ambassador Hazy. Old reliables.

Posted on 9 years ago
#21
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250 Euro ($278 USD) is fine for one as nice as yours. Mine had the exact heads you are going to use when I got. It will sound great.

Enjoy!

Creighton

Nothing special here but I like them.
Posted on 9 years ago
#22
Posts: 1345 Threads: 175
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From Creighton

250 Euro ($278 USD) is fine for one as nice as yours. Mine had the exact heads you are going to use when I got. It will sound great. Enjoy!Creighton

I've seen them in worse condition sell for more. I was definitely happy to get one in such fine condition for that price. It's all there minus the heads and sadly the paper tag inside the shell is not there so there's no way of dating it to the year of manufacture, unless someone else knows of certain things about the drum that can give an idea of the time it was made. It has a black felt muffler unlike the Dynasonic that has a white felt. I don't know if the Powertone ever had a white felt and if that could give an idea as to what era it's from or not. I can't wait to hear it all tuned up with Ambassador heads. :)

Posted on 9 years ago
#23
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Nice snare drum. I have one from 68. Yours looks very similar in terms of the black felt muffler, tension rods with a bit of a shoulder, fairly tight stamping of the hoops at the rod seat. Earlier drums had square cut rod tops, white mufflers showed up in 69 and beyond and the hoops tended to have more curvature at the rod seat as time went on. Your drum is probably a 67/68 era drum assuming all the parts on it are the ones that were on it from the factory.

I find the COB PowerTone is really helpful to cut into a high volume situation. The wooden PowerTone is close, but with a bit less ring. The Dynasonic in good original condition and properly set up has more definition and tends toward less ring. The Dynasonic is a very heavy drum, particularly in the COB version. I think all that metal absorbs some of the ring that the 8 lug drum retains. So it is a dryer sounding drum overall. I guess I would summarize by saying that the PowerTones breath a bit more and are more difficult to control at lower volumes. There will generally be more snare buzz too.

I've never had a GK so can't compare. Might have to look into that one of these days.

Posted on 9 years ago
#24
Posts: 1345 Threads: 175
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From Dan Boucher

Nice snare drum. I have one from 68. Yours looks very similar in terms of the black felt muffler, tension rods with a bit of a shoulder, fairly tight stamping of the hoops at the rod seat. Earlier drums had square cut rod tops, white mufflers showed up in 69 and beyond and the hoops tended to have more curvature at the rod seat as time went on. Your drum is probably a 67/68 era drum assuming all the parts on it are the ones that were on it from the factory. I find the COB PowerTone is really helpful to cut into a high volume situation. The wooden PowerTone is close, but with a bit less ring. The Dynasonic in good original condition and properly set up has more definition and tends toward less ring. The Dynasonic is a very heavy drum, particularly in the COB version. I think all that metal absorbs some of the ring that the 8 lug drum retains. So it is a dryer sounding drum overall. I guess I would summarize by saying that the PowerTones breath a bit more and are more difficult to control at lower volumes. There will generally be more snare buzz too.I've never had a GK so can't compare. Might have to look into that one of these days.

Thanks for the information. It's nice to learn about these snares. I've had a couple of Dynasonic snares that I ended up selling. Great snare drum and just as you described - A little drier, more controlled sound and of course incredible sensitivity. I really like the Powertone. It does have a lot more ring which I like in a metal snare. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I wasn't aware of these little details. It's good to know. I wonder what Rogers drums would be like today if the company were still in business. I don't think the Super Ten was very popular as a replacement for the Powertone.

Posted on 9 years ago
#25
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I've had the Super Ten too. It is the one Rogers snare drum I've had that I didn't warm up to. A lot of guys like them though. If I were going to an all steel snare drum, I would prefer the Ludwig 400 Supra, which is a very versatile drum. Quite different than a Rogers in my view and with a lot less ring. I have to say I like a snare that can dig in though even though not everyone around you appreciates it. I have found it annoying at times to sit in on a kit where the snare drum is totally choked. Drives me batty. If you want to choke a PowerTone, you have to really screw around with it. With the Ambassadors top and bottom, it should sing every time.

Posted on 9 years ago
#26
Posts: 1345 Threads: 175
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From Dan Boucher

I've had the Super Ten too. It is the one Rogers snare drum I've had that I didn't warm up to. A lot of guys like them though. If I were going to an all steel snare drum, I would prefer the Ludwig 400 Supra, which is a very versatile drum. Quite different than a Rogers in my view and with a lot less ring. I have to say I like a snare that can dig in though even though not everyone around you appreciates it. I have found it annoying at times to sit in on a kit where the snare drum is totally choked. Drives me batty. If you want to choke a PowerTone, you have to really screw around with it. With the Ambassadors top and bottom, it should sing every time.

I've a Super Ten that I bought from one of the members here on the forum. It's a nice looking drum. Very robust and has a nice sweet spot, but perhaps not as musical as the brass drums. It was no match for the 10 lug Supraphonic Ludwig were making at the same time. Perhaps they sound different because the "LudAlloy" shell was a lot nicer than steel which can sound very pedestrian and uninspiring. I think the Super Ten was the beginning of the end of Rogers. It's still a fine snare in it's own right, but the metal snares they were making the previous decade were superior. They went backwards instead if forwards when they went from brass to steel. At least make an Aluminium drum or something. It's still a nice piece of drum history. ��

Posted on 9 years ago
#27
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These two demos of a GK and a Dynasonic are interesting in that it is the same drummer in the same recording arrangement. I could not find that he had done a similar one for the PowerTone, but it may still be interesting considering the whole discussion above:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC8g0uRkI3I"]Tom Venable with a Slingerland 1967 Gene Krupa 5x14 COB - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du5UnVGAt4A"]Tom Venable with a 1968 5x14 Rogers "DynaSonic" snare - YouTube[/ame]

Posted on 9 years ago
#28
Posts: 1345 Threads: 175
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From Dan Boucher

These two demos of a GK and a Dynasonic are interesting in that it is the same drummer in the same recording arrangement. I could not find that he had done a similar one for the PowerTone, but it may still be interesting considering the whole discussion above:

Nice find! I've watched some of his videos before. What a player! There's a huge difference between the two snares. Both excellent!

Posted on 9 years ago
#29
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I'm familiar with the Dynasonic, but I have to say that GK sounds really good. I've never had one or played one. It has some nice rim shot capability and is really crisp overall. Very interesting to have the them played back to back so to speak. Would have been nice to see one for the PowerTone too.

Posted on 9 years ago
#30
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