Between July and November 1975 production of Rogers drums the only changes that occurred were some wraps were no longer offered, five ply shells were used exclusively, Swivomatic hardware was discontinued/Memriloc hardware introduced, the chrome script logo was retired, the Big R badge introduced. The same person that assembled a Swivo tom mount last week was assembling a Memriloc mount this week.

As has already been said...... everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Except of course when said opinion is a crock of SSS. And the idea that the Memriloc era Rogers drums are inferior is a crock of SSS. They may not be desired, they may not be loved, they may be shunned by collectors, the wraps may be ugly and really do nothing for you, but they are NOT inferior.

How much more inferior can you ever hope to achieve than Cleveland Era Rogers........... with bread and butter lugs?

There were way too many big name drummers from jazz, country, rock, new wave....playing Rogers during the Memrilock era to accept they were inferior.

Never one of my favorites. Quality lowered all across the board when compared to the earlier swiv-o-matic series drums. Pedals and stands lost all of their earlier "grace" in favor of tripods and flat board pedals. Grey aluminum cast parts which were hideous to begin with but then oxidized to be even uglier and darker! Horrendous telescoping tube mounts which were ugly and cumbersome to deal with - observe just how many kits are around missing one or both spurs. PLUS the only way to secure the tube mounts within their sockets was with the use of their separate memory locks needed to hold spurs and other tubes in place. Observe how many kits are around today missing one or more of these locks rendering the mounts unusable. Good quality shells. Cheap looking flat color wraps used instead of quality finishes. However, my biggest peeve of all with the Big R kits was their use of thin, springless, lightweight lug castings. The threaded inserts loaded were held in place only with tiny c-clips. These tended to rattle around if tuning became too low and made the use of single headed toms nearly impossible because of the rattling. Whenever I encounter any of these lugs today I immediately remove the inserts and refit them with regular inserts backed by springs. Last but not least - Rogers assembled all the lugs to the shell using cheap 'cutter' screws' to cut cost - almost guaranteeing that one or more lugs strip out if disassembly is required.

p.s. - almost forgot - the logos are ugly too! Clapping Happy2 LoLoLoLo

This whole "My dad could beat up your dad" is kind of fun.

Never had my Supreme Hat stand foot board or BD pedalboard bend or deform in 20 years. Cant say that for the few Swivomatics I have owned. And the ninged heal version just sucked.

Oxidizing metal parts........ lack of maintenance.

Cleveland first gen beavertail fasteners/Cleveland/Dayton/Fullerton will oxidize, rust as will others. Self threading screws happened during your era buddy, put that pile of **** back into your column. I used to disassemble my set every couple of years and completely clean everything.... even taking the lugs off. I never replaced a single lug or screw during that 7 or 8 times. As for the lug casings themselves..... In the 34 years I have owned my Big R set.... none have failed. In the thousands I have looked at, NONE WERE BROKEN in use, or even disassembly when proper care was exercised on assembly or disassembly.

Rattling C Clip Lugs when bottom head removed? You should have learned tuning techniques, then those rims would not have gotten lost. Any tuning low enough to rattle C clip inserts is not tuning, its just a head on a drum without any tension whatsoever. User Error not manufacturing defect.

Memrilocks? Seriously? You complain about being able to turn a 30 minute set up and adjustment into ten without adjusting anything? You cant lose a Memriloc.... it tightens to the shaft. Only an idiot could do that. What you think they should be stored in a separate bag away from the hardware? it was the best and first true self setting hardware system, and EVERYONE got on board to make their own so much so that today...... Its a standard thing on MOST quality hardware.

The wraps, God those sucked. Some less than others, but they were so uninspiring. But so was Jimmy Freaking Carter. We had hostages in Iran for a year, it was almost a shame to admit you were an American. Disco was the epitomy of two million years of human evolution. Everybody tried to dress like Don Johnson. Our next president finished out his second term with more than the beginnings of alzheimers. Its a miracle God (if there is one) didn't destroy the earth with another flood in the 70s. Leizure suits, 100% polyester, EVERYTHING was pretty boring at the time. The whole world was suffering from mental depression. yea, that was the decade of Big R.

Big R logo? It was cheap, big, and no one would ever mistake it for Pearl.

Big R's are the bargain of vintage drums. Like most collectibles, perception drive the price.

I have Rogers sets from 1959 B&B (for sale), 1967 Swivomatic, 1983 Big R sets. All have good points, all have less than stellar issues for some folks, mostly in visual areas. No one who has played them has complained about the sound.

Worst part of Big R was the lack of imagination for the wraps - like a mayonnaise sandwich.

Ploughman.....I was just getting in to the rhythm and content of your post that properly chastised the guy who stated his flawed opinion as fact. And, then........just as the end of your comment was in sight, you unloaded with controversial statements on politics AND religion that effed up your (previous to that) very well-written post.

Seems like we all agree [more or less] that Big R's sounded good, looked bad, and were well built. Now if I could just find a damn pair of BD legs for mine! Grrrrr....

One should also mention that Slingerland, Ludwig, and Gretsch were also guilty of making changes in the 70's that were less than eye-catching, especially compared to their earlier years.

That is precisely why my preferences for "vintage" drums generally end in 1969 with a few exceptions. Slingerland continued with the same features for the early 70's. I have had a set of 1972 Walberg & Auge drums that were no different than their 1960's drums. And, I just acquired a set of 1970--72(?) Fibes drums that predate the 1970's excesses that began in the Nazareth, PA factory a year or so after mine came out of the Farmingdale, New York factory.

History is history. Nothing really debatable in any of it. That decade wasn't our finest hour. the world that then was...just simply WAS. By the way, I did vote for Jimmy once. The economics of the times drove all things, manufacturing, musical instruments, the color of appliances, and the gawdawful ugly shape of cars. Remember the 1978 Monte Carlo? or the Aries K car? Or them Chryslers with the fake wood vinyl sticker siding? Interest rates were skyrocketing, unrealistic wage demands drove manufacturing costs up and up, we had inflation. All pertinent to the issue at hand. All of it interconnected.

As for religion..... I don't believe my comment was an endorsement for or against, purely tongue in cheek. All of it to demonstrate the rather mundane times during which those mundane finishes were offered. I even gave evolution a mention, however... Disco music as an example is not much of an endorsement either.

The thing is, Rogers was not the only drum company to offer boring finishes. Mostly, they all did. And everyone pretended to be happy about it.

The bass drum legs are ugly as sin, but I would sure love to get an XP8 kit. Black, or if it exists....Butcher Block! Did they make XP8 in BB Ploughman? If so, Im on the hunt for a deal! Cool1

-Adam

No butcher block. But..... there is tobacco sunburst and natural maple in real wood lacquer. No formica on that one.