Project Rogers Snare Drum - COMPLETED
May 15, 2008 by jeddler
This project Rogers snare drum is done, and honestly, it’s been done for a while. This was not my most challenging project, to be quite honest. If you didn’t read the original post, you can check it out here. I left off with taking it apart, doing some basic crud-removing cleaning and making a short shopping list of bits and pieces needed.
Since then, I did two full rounds of chrome polishing. Plenty of elbow grease went in to this one because dang near everything on this drum is chrome. And it was worth it. The pictures tell the story, but it really did polish up nicely. There is a bit of pitting on the throw-off and the snare guards, but nothing to tragic. After polishing, I re-installed the lugs, throw-off and butt-plate.
I purchased new heads, which I installed at this time. A REMO Powerstroke3 coated with dot on top and a REMO Ambassador clear snare on the bottom. This is my favorite combo of heads for a snare drum. They sound good, tune up easy, and do not ring too much. This drum is interesting because the snare side doesn’t have snare beds. Because of the snare frame (or bridge), apparently snare beds are not needed. It did make tuning the bottom head very easy.
I also ordered PureSound snare wires that are specifically made for Rogers Dyna-Sonic snares. These installed easily in to the frame with a couple of screws, but it was a bit tricky to set the height so that the strainer would sit flat in the frame. Once I had the snare wires installed, I tightened the snare tension control and strummed the snares stopping when they are just starting to make a nice musical jangle sound. The loaded bridge was then installed on to the drum using the cords supplied with the snare wires. Because the snare wires are tensioned within the frame, there really is no need to pull the snares against the drum with much force. I adjusted it up until I was getting a good snare sound, but it was still very light tension compared to my other snare drums.
Overall, I’m really happy with this drum. It looks great and sounds great too. The amount of adjustment on the Dyna-Sonic could scare some folks away, but once you understand the principal behind it, it’s not too tough to get it dialed-in. FYI, this drum is pretty dang loud. It’s got a few dBs on my wood Ludwig snare of the same size. I guess that is the crome-over-brass shell doing it’s magic.
Well, this project is complete. Check. Next up, Project Slingerland Drum Kit! Stay classy Tuss.
