Rogers Wood Dynasonic Snare Drum

Most drummers have a favorite drum or drumkit that they play or that they would like to play. In that way, they are no different than guitar players, bass players, horn players......all musicians really. For me, that drum kit was made by the Rogers Drum Company and the snare drum is the Rogers Wood Dynasonic.
My first drum set was the Ludwig Super Classic Outfit in Black Diamond Wrap. I still have that kit. My father bought me the set in 1964. It listed for 465.00 dollars and he bought it for 350.00. It has seen many smokey bars and clubs and it has always come through like a champ.

But I was always fascinated by Rogers Drums. Buddy Rich and Louis Bellson played the drums and if they were good enough for them, then I had to check them out. Little did I know about endorsements at the time. The drums sounded great and the hardware was state of the art for the era.

It was many years later that I was able to afford a Rogers drum kit. I wasn't disappointed. I bought quite a few kits in various colors and I tried to get the Wood Dynasonic Snare drum with each kit. The Dynasonic was a marvelous snare drum, but it was finicky to tune and, truth be told, some of them sounded better than others.

Both Louis Bellson and Buddy Rich used the drum in the early 60's. When I spoke to Louis about the Dyna, he waxed eloquently about one particular Dyna he owned that sounded terrific. But even he mentioned that there were other Dynasonics that just didn't have it.

The Rogers Dynasonic has become a highly collectible snare drum, but that only applies to the wood shell model. The drum also came in a metal shell, but it's no where near as desirable or expensive. There are some Rogers Drum collectors who believe the early brass "bread and butter" lug drums are better than the "beaver tail" lug models.
In any case, the Wood Dynasonic is a part of drumming history. These drums are excellent examples of the golden age of American Drum Companies