It's great to have something I really enjoy like drums. I don't know how you feel about it, but I for one really enjoy everything about them. One time someone asked me if I played drums? I told them I was "Mr. Drums." I play them, buy them, sell them, collect them and love them. I feel fortunate to be a drummer. You know the ladies always prefer the drummer, or so I'm told by my wife. I left the drums for ten years when I was preparing for Christian ministry. I thought I would never be playing drums again, having sold my one and only drum set to my neighbor and saying goodbye to my band. God had other plans, and He gave them back to me. I always say He gave them back when He saw they meant less to me than Him. I gave Him one old beat up kit and He has given me hundreds of beautiful drums in return.
When I started collecting, I wasn't focusing on one particular brand. Some collectors like Ludwig and others Gretsch. Still others like Rogers, Slingerland and you name it. I wanted to have some of them all. I guess Ludwig is my favorite vintage drums. The Ringo influence is very real. I also love Slingerland because I played them in our school band. I have some of them all just as I hoped I would, but Rogers Drums have always had a special place in my heart. I had a friend when I was in school who I thought was very cool who had a kit with a Rogers logo head on the bass drum. I later came to find out his drums were a stencil set and the only thing that was Rogers about them was that logo head. Nevertheless, I wanted a set of Rogers drums. They were expensive when I was young and considered a step above the other big names.
I now own a few beautiful Rogers kits and I would like to show you one I prize highly. I only bought this set a short while back from another writer of our magazine. The thing I most like about this kit is the finish. It is a Wine Red Ripple set. I had bought a WRR set several years ago from a guy who put two sets on E-Bay. I bought a Londoner set from him with two mounted toms, a 12 and a 13, and one floor tom. The bass was of course a 20X14 and the floor drum was a 16X16. He also had a 14X14 that I bought, not even knowing how rare that was. He had another kit with a snare that I didn't buy. I was so proud of them that I took them to the Chicago Drum Show. It was the first time I had ever gone to sell and buy. I didn't actually want to sell the WRR set but I wanted everyone to see them.
I unpacked them on the Friday set-up day and something I didn't even know about happened. The Japan "drum buying crew" came by with a roll of cash. I was new to the game. They bought my set for a handsome price. I figured I could go home and easily buy another WRR set. That was not the case. I have waited a long time to get another chance to buy a nice WRR set. It was not as easy to find this finish as I thought. This Wine Red Ripple 1960s Rogers Swingtime set I am featuring came up for sale a while back and I quickly jumped on it. I was not going to let them get away from me. This is a gorgeous set with a 20X14 bass 12X8 mounted tom and 16X16 floor tom. Also, with this set I bought a lovely 14x5 Covington 6 lug snare with Bread-and-Butter lugs. The catch was the seller didn't want to ship to me. I bought them anyway and told him I would work out a pick-up.
The drums were out in the mid-west and I live in the deep south. I was able to get one of my son's friends to pick them up while on a hunting trip. The drums went to my son's house in Florida and stayed there until I could go for a visit and pick them up. About six months went by in this process. I was glad to see my WRR set when I got them and they certainly exceeded all my expectations. I have never played on them, but maybe I will set them up and play them one day. The rest of the story is also very interesting. This set was the other set that I didn't buy when I bought my first WRR set. I found that out when looking at some photos provided by my friend when I bought them. There was my first set in the pictures. What a wild end to the story.