Greetings to all and happy Summer. It is getting really hot in Georgia where I live. We usually have hot weather in July, but I personally think Al Gore has something with that global warming stuff. It might be I'm getting older and just too used to the air conditioning. I don't have a good place to photograph drums, so I have been using the outside lighting and garage door as my backdrop in my photos. My wife says my photos are very tacky and I can't deny they do lack sophistication and class. As I set up this photo shoot I was sweating the whole time. If you see some water spots on the Rogers set it's not rain drops.
Rogers drums are among my favorites for many reasons. They always look good, and they always sound good too. The Rogers set I am featuring from my collection is a beautiful 1970s Fullerton Wine Red Ripple Holiday set. This set has caused quite a stir among the Rogers collectors. I have always said Rogers collectors are a bit "snobbish" anyway. I mean that in a very respectful way. They are usually well versed in all things related to the history of these fine drums. They will be quick to point out if one washer on a tension rod is not "correct" Rogers issue. The reason these drums are controversial is they were made in Fullerton in the early 1970s, but Wine Red Ripple had already been discontinued. Wine Red Ripple was listed as a Rogers wrap from 1960 to 1967. In talking to other collectors I have concluded that these shells were made and wrapped in Ohio and shipped to Fullerton when the plant moved. They were completed and tagged in California and thus became A late blooming Wine Red Ripple set. One thing is for certain, this fine vintage wine will make you high just looking at it.
The wrap is in excellent condition and the chrome is extremely shiny. Everything looks very correct. The drum sizes are 20X14, 12X8, 13X9, and 16X16. I have placed a gleaming chrome Dyna-sonic with the kit. The Dyna is also a beautiful 14X5 1970s Fullerton issued snare drum. The interiors of the bass and toms are specked grey paint with large Fullerton paper tags. "Holiday" is the series name on the tags. Some call this a "Dave Clark" set. This configuration was called "Dave Clark" Londoner set in 1967. In 1970 the "Dave Clark" name was dropped. I guess Dave's name wasn't in 1970 what it was in 1967. I loved the Dave Clark 5 and I don't care who knows it. He was a great influence on me.
This set showed up on a Facebook page. A friend of the owner was helping to spread the word that they were for sale on E-bay. I, like so many of you had sworn off buying drums for a while, but I just had to have or at least try to have this set for my collection. The buy it now price was actually very fair, so I made the buy. The seller was very nice and it was a pleasure communicating with him. Now the rest of the story. The seller shipped the set by a very reputable shipper, and he did an outstanding job packing them. The address labels got switched on the boxes with another drum going to California. My drums toured the country for about a month before I received the entire kit. The seller was totally upset at the shipper, but the shipper never claimed they were at fault. I'm just thankful the set wasn't damaged when they made it to Georgia into my loving arms.