Rogers Swiv-O-matic Hardware

William Ludwig Jr. spent the later years of his life, proudly celebrating the legacy of his drum company. For a number of years, he made an appearance at the Chicago Vintage Drum Show talking about Ludwig Drums and the company's rich history. One moment in particular sticks in my mind and it's directly related to the topic I'm addressing today.

During his visit to the show, Bill would host a question and answer symposium. At one point, a fellow drummer asked Bill which competing Drum Company, during the 60's heyday, caused him the most concern. Without hesitating, he said that Rogers, "scared the dickens out of him."

The Rogers Drum Company was aggressive in promotion, marketing, and innovation. The picture here is a copy of the 2nd page of the Rogers 1962 catalog. The Rogers Swiv-O-Matic hardware was truly revolutionary for the time. The uni ball idea allowed the drummer to place his hanging toms in almost any imaginable position. In addition, the hardware was tough and durable. In the 50's, the rail consolette, or the Ray McKinley tom holder as Slingerland called it, was the holder of choice. Indeed, Ludwig, Slingerland, and Gretsch all used the rail. It made its first appearance in 1947 and it was solid, but very limited, particularly concerning height and angle. The Swiv-o-Matic tom holder changed the playing field dramatically.

Soon, other companies began to change their hardware. Slingerland adopted the uni ball idea and came up with the Set-O-Matic holder. Fibes used the concept almost exclusively. Even Camco shipped some kits with the Rogers hardware attached. On the other hand, Ludwig and Gretsch continued with the rail, continuously improving it.

In the 70's and 80's, as rock music became louder, drum companies were forced to adapt. Rogers changed to their Memriloc hardware. It was beefier and much, much heavier. Slingerland followed suit with their Magnum hardware. Even Ludwig began selling sets with their Modular series hardware.

But it's the Swiv-O-Matic hardware that caught the fancy of drummers so many years ago, even drummers who didn't play Rogers Drums. The link below shows Keith Moon with his Pictures of Lily Premier kit and the Rogers Swiv-O-Matic hardware.

http://www.vintagedrumsandmore.com/media-drum-articles-keith-moon-swivo.htm

And here's the great Buddy Rich.
http://www.vintagedrumsandmore.com/media-drum-articles-buddy-rich-swivo.htm

The Premier Super 4 Snare Drum

The 1960's was a time of intense competition between Drum companies. American companies like Gretsch, Ludwig, Camco, Slingerland, Rogers and,to a much lesser extent, Leedy did their best to attract the prospective buyer. But they weren't the only players on the field. European drum manufacturers entered the fray as best they could. Two German companies, Sonor and Trixon, promoted and marketed their drums using all means possible. But it was a English company that really carried the standard for the "Old World." That company was Premier.



Premier was founded in 1922 in central London. Premier made drums up until the Second World War. After the war, they resumed production. Premier attracted it's fair share of endorsers. I was first made aware of the company when I saw a picture of Sam Woodyard playing a double bass drum kit with Duke Ellington. Other jazz players like Rufus Jones and Barrett Deems also played Premier. Ringo Starr played Premier at first, but then switched to Ludwig. And the irreplaceable Keith Moon, of the Who, played the brand his entire career.


But Premier faced an uphill battle in the U.S. Perhaps it was the distribution. Or maybe it was the fact that the early Premier drums were metric sized. The fact that 3 of the major American Drum companies were based in Chicago, with a 4th one in Ohio, certainly didn't help Premier sales in the American Midwest. But you could find the drums if you looked for them. Both Frank's Drum Shop and Drums Unlimited in Chicago carried the line. And Premier was worth investigating, which brings me to the drum you see pictured here.



The 1960 Premier catalog called this model the Super 4. This little beauty sports one piece die cast hoops and Premier's parallel snare action strainer. The strainer was designed to allow the 18 snare wires to "float" against the snare head. Tension across the head would be consistent and the drum wouldn't choke, at least that was the theory. Premier was the only company in the world using this system in a 4 x 14 snare drum.

But does it work? Well. by the sound of the drum, it works just fine. The drum sounds as good as its American competitors. It's heavier than a comparable Ludwig, Slingerland, Gretsch, or Camco 4 x 14. Surely, the strainer has something to do with this. But it's a fine drum, solidly constructed, with state of the art chrome plating.


In the early 60's, the name was changed from Super 4 to the Royal Ace 4" model. And, for many years, it was a staple in the Premier catalogs.

As of this writing, Premier's future seems to be in limbo. That's unfortunate. Premier made some fine drums in the 60's ( and 70's, 80's and 90's). The company always seemed to be " swimming against the current." But its place in the history of drum companies is assured.



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The Fibes SFT 690 "Black Beauty" Snare Drum

In 1966, Bobby Grauso and John Morena founded the Fibes Drum Company. The shells were constructed of fiberglass which was revolutionary for the time. Clear shells were offered along with solid fiberglass shells covered with wraps. In addition, a sprayed on finish called Fivel was featured in the early Fibes catalogs.

The flagship snare drum of the Fibes Drum Company was the SFT 690. In fact, it was the only snare drum offered by the company. In a previous blog (See January 27th), I spoke at length about the 5 1/2 x 14 SFT. It was, and still is, a fine musical instrument. And it has enjoyed a great run. No less an authority than the great Buddy Rich played one even while he was endorsing Slingerland.

Bur Fibes didn't sit on its laurels, so to speak. The company started offering different wraps and different shells. Actually, the shells were still fiberglass, or Crystalite as they called it, but the company began to fiddle with the look. They came out with a " bumpy" or dimpled shell that looked frosted when held up to the light. Fibes also made a solid black acrylic shell, which brings me to the drum you see pictured above.

Perhaps the best way to describe this drum is to quote from a Fibes Ad in Downbeat Magazine, dated March 14th, 1974. The ad is titled, "Bobby and the Black Beauty." The copy reads as follows. "Our new Fibes drum is a beauty, but it's black. Black like you've never seen black. Made with our regular Cystalite shell, but with a difference, the color has been impregnated internally so that scratching of its high gloss blackness will never occur. We're proud of the Black Beauty and proud of Bobby Grauso, who thought of black being beautiful on a drum."

Now it's important to remember that this is Ad copy. When one thinks of a Black Beauty, one thinks of Ludwig, not Fibes. Nevertheless, up to this time, black wraps were used to cover drums. There were no solid black shells, although Fibes shells were made of black fiberglass.

Clearly, this was an attempt to sell more drums and drum companies, since the beginnning of time, have been trying to do that. More importantly, this is a very fine sounding snare drum in the rare 6 1/2 x 14 size. The drum is loud, but very sensitive and very similar to her smaller sister.

I haven't seen many of these and I suspect it was not a sales success. Still it's a important drum from the golden age of American Drum Companies.

The Rogers Century Snare Drum

Like all the Drum Companies in the 60's, the Rogers Drum Company offered a variety of snare drums for every taste and budget. The Powertone snare drum was clearly the mainstream choice.(See Blog Aug.10th). But in an effort to increase sales to the concert drummer, Rogers offered up the drum you see pictured here.

The Rogers Century Snare drum was the largest snare drum that ever graced a Rogers catalog. This beauty was 8 inches deep with a 15 inch diameter head. The early 60's catalog describes this drum as a "Perma-Built" snare drum. This was simply a slogan that Rogers used in its catalogs to indicate the strength of its shells. Indeed, the 1956 catalog showed a photo of 5 employees balancing themselves on a Rogers parade drum shell.

The drum came with triple flange hoops, the standard swivomatic snare strainer, the maple/poplar shell with Maple reinforcing rings, 16 self aligning lugs, and 20 strand snappy snares. The drum listed for 95.00 dollars in the mahogany or lacquered version, 105.00 dollars in the Pearl version. For an extra 2.00 dollars, one could opt for gut snares.

The Rogers Century was designed to be played in a concert band or an orchestral setting. It's large size allowed it to be heard in an environment where it had to compete with 100 other musicians playing large scale symphonic pieces. As one can imagine, it's a loud drum, but not particularly sensitive. Sensitivity was up to the player. The cost of the drum put it right in the middle range of Rogers Snare drums. The Rogers Dynasonic was the price leader at a suggested list of 150.00. Today, that doesn't seem like a lot of money, but in 1962 that wasn't peanuts.

As far as I can tell, the Rogers Century was never associated with any particular player or orchestra. I never seen one used in a commercial band. It would seem to be perfect for a loud rock or metal band. I suspect that the issue is one of availability. Also, I don't imagine many have survived over the years. It's not a very collectible drum and I've never seen one at the many vintage drum shows I've attended over the years. I picked this sweetheart up for a song at a drum store in Toronto Canada many years ago.

This drum's time has come and gone. Nevertheless, the Rogers Century Snare Drum still occupies a place in drum history.

The Rogers Wood Powertone Snare Drum

Every Drum Company in the 60's had its "workhorse" snare drum. It was usually a drum that was competitively priced and one that was offered as standard equipment on the majority of drum kits one could purchase from a specific company. For the Ludwig Drum Company, that drum was the Ludwig Supraphonic 400 ( See blog dated Jan. 5th). In the case of Slingerland, both the Radio King ( See blog dated Feb 27th.) and the Gene Krupa Sound King ( See blog dated June 29th) shared the limelight. And in the case of the Rogers Drum Company, it was the drum you see pictured here--- the Rogers Powertone Snare Drum.

Both the wood shell model and the metal shell model were featured in Rogers catalogs. Indeed, in the 67-68 catalog, the wood shell Powertone is standard on the Headliner kit, the Cozy Cole Constellation kit, and the Dave Clark Londoner kit. The metal shell is standard on the Rogers Timbale-Twin double bass outfit. The Rogers Dynasonic is also featured, but that's a story for another time.

The wood shell model came in two sizes, 5 x 14 and 6 1/2 x 14. The finish choices were either pearl, lacquer, or mahogany. The drum came with 8 Self aligning lugs and 20 strand wire snappy snares. The pictured Beauty is wrapped in the Black Onyx Pearl wrap. This Pearl finish was only available for few years in the 1960's. In addition to Black, Blue Onyx and Red Onyx were also offered. These wraps were exclusive to Rogers and only Slingerland sold anything that was remotely similar. Indeed, the Slingerland Blue Agate pearl wrap does resemble the Rogers Blue Onyx in a side by side comparison.

The shell was a composite of maple and poplar. Early models were 3 ply, but later models were 5 ply. Both had maple reinforcing rings. Originally, the interiors were sprayed with a flat gray sealant. Later models show a light gray speckled treatment.

This drum has skyrocketed in value over the last ten years. But the metal shell model has not kept pace. In any case, the Powertone is extremely versatile and over the years more and more drummers are discovering what a fine snare drum it is.

The Rogers Super Ten Model Snare Drum

The Rogers Drum Company, like Ludwig, Slingerland, Camco, Leedy, and Gretsch, tried to offer a drum or drum kit for everyone's budget. In the case of Rogers, the Dynasonic snare drum was the flagship of the company followed by the Powertone (See blog dated July 20th). Over the years, collectors have made the Dynasonic, particularly the wood shell version, one of the most prized and sought after snare drums in the marketplace. Prices have gone through the roof. Certainly, the fact that both Buddy Rich and Louis Bellson played the Dyna helped matters considerably. But Buddy also played a wood Powertone and although it too has increased in value over the years, that increase hasn't come close to that of the Dynasonic.

As mentioned earlier, Rogers offered other models during the company's lifetime. Not all of these drums have weathered the test of time as well as the Dyna. In fact, it's a truism that just because a drum is old, doesn't necessarily make it good, desirable, or collectible. The same can be said about anything that is considered an antique. Which brings us to the drum you see pictured here.

The Rogers Super Ten was introduced in 1973. Its production run lasted until 1983. It came in two sizes, 5 x 14 and 6 1/2 x 14. The shell was made of steel, as were the hoops, and it had ten lugs, thus the name Super Ten. In 1983, a wood shell model was offered, although I've never seen one in the flesh. The Super Ten replaced the Powertone, which had finally run its course.

The 1976 Rogers catalog describes the drum as follows. " At last, a snare drum you can dig into and it still responds and feels good....carefully designed snare beds provide that thick sound that has become so popular....easy to play, easy to tune, and durable, the Super Ten gives a funky sound that is so much a part of today's music."

Suffice it to say, that the above catalog ad copy is just that....ad copy. The reality is somewhat different. There's nothing special about the Super Ten. The carefully designed snare beds are a figment of someone's imagination. It's not a bad drum, but it has no specialness about it at all. The sound of the drum is rather pedestrian, although with the choice of drum heads nowadays, a drummer could tweak the Super Ten to his heart's content. No endorsers were ever connected to the drum. And perhaps that's the problem. In any case, you don't see many of these in the marketplace and they are not considered very collectible.

It's all rather ironic really. Here's an average musical instrument that is currently considered not very desirable. Yet, it is relatively rare and it does share the same Rogers hardware as her more expensive sisters. It's true that the Rogers Drum Company had started its long slow slide into oblivion around the late 70's. Unfortunately, this drum was one of the casualties.

The Rogers Powertone Snare Drum--metal shell

The Rogers Drum Company occupies a special place in the history of American Drum Companies. Like its competitors, Gretsch, Ludwig, Leedy, and Slingerland, Rogers had a long illustrious run producing fine drums and accessories. Unlike these aforementioned companies, Rogers early ( 1930's) snare drums and drum kits were not as desirable as those from Slingerland and Ludwig. The great Gene Krupa saw to it that Slingerland ruled the roost during the 30's and 40's. Ludwig, and to a lesser extent, Leedy were always nipping at Slingerland's heels during that time. In the mid 40's, Ludwig signed Buddy Rich to an endorsement deal in an attempt to put a dent in Slingerland sales. At the same time, Gretsch attempted to ride the Be-bop revolution with the great Max Roach.

Rogers, on the other hand, quietly made drums and stayed out of the fray. Indeed, for a while, Rogers had a working relationship with the Camco Drum Company buying parts and hardware.On May 5th 1955, the world changed for Rogers. On that date, Henry Grossman, the owner of the Grossman Distributing Company, announced he had bought the Rogers Drum Company. Henry brought two gentlemen into the company with him, Joe Thompson, a musican/engineer, and Ben Strauss, a marketing and sales professional. These three proceeded to turn the Rogers Drum Company into a powerhouse.

By the early 60's, Rogers was offering top of the line drums and hardware. They had snagged two of the drum world's most famous names, Buddy Rich and Louis Bellson, as endorsers. But they didn't stop there. There list of endorsers included Cozy Cole, Irv Cottler, Jim Chapin, Roy Burns, Hal Blaine, Earl Palmer, Frankie Capp, and J. C. Heard.

The company was innovative....and very aggressive. Rogers offered something for everyone in the percussion world. Snare Drums, Drum Kits, Marching Drums, Glockenspiels, Deagan Marimbas, Vibraphones, a full line of drumsticks and mallets, Pasha and Zildjian cymbals, FIPS, (an early silent practice drum kit), Conga's, Bongos, Maracas, Timbales, Temple blocks, tuned bells, complete Rhythm outfits, twirling batons, and bugles (soprano, baritone, bass baritone, and French!!!!). They even offered a U. S. regulation Bugle for sale.

But it was the hardware and shells that made the Company's reputation. The Swiv-o-matic hardware was revolutionary at the time. There was simply nothing like it. The Dynasonic snare drum was a wonderment. And the various drum configurations and finishes were special.

Rogers offered 7 different snare drum model's. These included the top of the line Dynasonic, the Powertone, the Century, the Tower, the Luxor. the Banner, and the Student model. The Dyna and the Powertone came in both a wood shell and a metal shell. Over the years, the wood models have increased in value 5 to 25 times above the original price. The metal shell drums have not increased in value nearly as much.

The pictured drum is a metal Powertone. The 5 x 14 listed for 99.00 dollars and 6 1/2 x 14 listed for 102.00. At the time, this was a lot of money. If you figure in dollar devaluation and inflation, such a new drum would list for 1000.00 today. Given that, the drum is of quite humble origins. It's competitors in the marketplace, the Ludwig 400 and the Slingerland Gene Krupa, had brass shells and, in the case of Slingerland, brass hoops. The lowly Powertone was made of steel. The Powertone had no special strainer. It shared the Swiv-0-matic strainer that graced its more expensive sisters. There was only an 8 lug version.

Nevertheless, this drum could more than hold its own against its competitors in the most important category when talking about a musical instrument----the way it sounds. It's a solid, fine sounding snare drum. She will give you everything you ask of her, and then some.

The wood model is more desired ( I'll address that in a future blog). But no matter, and no apologies are needed. The Rogers metal Powertone is a fine snare drum. It's a fine example of a drum made in the golden age of the American Drum Company.




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