Rogers Drums
 |
|
| Private | |
| Industry | Musical instruments |
| Fate | Merged to Yamaha Corporation |
| Founded | 1849 in Farmingdale, New Jersey, United States |
| Founder | Joseph Rogers |
| Defunct | 2006 |
| Headquarters | Covington, Ohio, United States |
|
Area served
|
Worldwide |
| Products | Drums |
| Parent | Yamaha Corporation |
Rogers Drums, was an American drum company created in 1849 and based in Covington, Ohio. Their drums were embraced by musicians from the dixieland movement to the classic rockers of the 1960s and 1970s. However, the manufacturer was most closely associated with the "big band" and swing drummers of the 1940s and 1950s.
The Rogers company was started in 1849 by an Irish immigrant from Dublin named Joseph Rogers. Rogers came to the United States and started crafting drum heads. His son began making drums in the mid-1930s at a Farmingdale, New Jersey location. The first Rogers drums were assembled from shells and hardware of other manufacturers, but mounted with Rogers heads.
In 1953, Joseph Rogers' grandson, Cleveland, who had no heirs, sold the Rogers drum company to Henry Grossman. Grossman moved the company to Covington, Ohio, and under his leadership Rogers was propelled to the forefront of American drum making for the next decade and a half. Design engineer Joe Thompson and marketing guru Ben Strauss were instrumental in Rogers' success during its golden age from the mid-1950s to the late 1960s. The company's drums were embraced by musicians from the dixieland movement to the classic rockers of the 1960s and 1970s. However, the manufacturer was most closely associated with the "big band" and swing drummers of the 1940s and 1950s.
Rogers is probably most famous for its "Dyna-Sonic" snare drum, which featured a number of innovations. In particular was a unique cradle in which the snare wires were supported. This device provided a means by which the longitudinal tension of the snare wires could be adjusted independently of the vertical force holding the snares against the bottom head. As a result, the snares could be tensioned as tightly as the drummer wanted without having to pull the snares against the head so hard they constrained (choked) the head's vibration. This and other innovations (for example, a remarkably shallow—4/1000"—snare bed) made possible by the novel tensioning arrangement gave the drum a relatively crisp and recognizably clear sound. Dyna-Sonics were made from about 1961 until the mid-80's. The company was bought in 1966 by CBS Musical Instruments, which had also acquired in 1965 Fender Guitars and Rhodes Pianos. The vast majority of Dyna-Sonics had COB (chrome over brass) shells. Only a small number of wood-shell Dyna-Sonics was made during the lifetime of the drum. Pristine models can fetch thousands of dollars on the vintage drum market. Other notable Rogers drums were the Powertone model of snare drums and the Holiday model of tom-toms and bass drums. Fiberglass timpani were also manufactured for a time, the model being called Accu-Sonic.
...
Wikipedia