Once you search for “drums” on FB marketplace, it’s game over.

Each day, your feed now features tantalizing drum kits in all colours, shapes and sizes.

And the prices are right. As with acoustic pianos, there seems to be a buyer’s market for acoustic (non-electronic) drums. I think that’s because many drummers have opted for electronic drums, and unloaded their acoustic kits.  Likewise, those who are learning drums may start with an electronic kit for its portability and good sound.

So there’s no shortage of nice acoustic drum kits out there, at very reasonable prices. The Japanese company Pearl, which also manufactured drums in other Asian locations, features prominently in the used drum market. Same with Tama. Occasionally, some of the older brands come on the market, from the golden age of U.S.-made drums — fabled names like Ludwig, Rogers and Slingerland.

As gorgeous kits flood your feed, you transform into some kind of drum-buying-obsessed zombie. And this is your apocalypse, buddy.

Dreams of maple

“Well what have we here this morning?” you muse to yourself as you stop scrolling and land on a post. “This looks like a fine shell pack of vintage Rogers drums.” You feign nonchalance, but you are kidding yourself.

The golden-brown shells and their chrome are set off against an orange backdrop for maximum marketing effect.  “Shell-pack” means a bass drum, floor tom and two mounted toms, looking like they need a good thumping. And the price of $450 is chump change.

Of course, to pound these drums properly, you would need to add a snare drum, hi-hat, ride cymbal, crash cymbal, bass drum pedal, drummer’s throne, and perhaps a few more doodads.

With your better judgment now quite unhinged, you tap out a quick note to the seller: “Nice drums. Would you be able to do a package deal for a full kit?” You visualize having to fend off other suitors for this gorgeous vintage kit. You don’t want to sound too desperate, but you do try to get in there quickly.

The next morning, a reply: “Thanks for getting in touch. Yeah, I can do a package. I will throw in Zildjian ride and crash, Sabian hi-hat cymbals, Yamaha stands and bass pedal; you can choose from a Pearl or CB snare drum. Don’t have a stool but will give you a tuning key. I can do the full kit for $850.”

Be still your beating heart. The Sabian hats alone are worth a couple of hundred. The golden Rogers maple shells seem to gleam even brighter now in your imagination. You’re hooked.

“I’d like to see the kit if I could. Are these drums U.S.-made?”

Minivan bros 

The seller gets back with details of a storage locker location in Toronto’s downtown west end. You meet there on a fine pre-covid summer day in 2019 and you both happen to be driving Dodge Grand Caravans, relics of the family minivan age. You are not quite bonding with seller dude, but have something in common. He is a younger guy, business-like, clean cut, in his 40s.

“I don’t know the provenance of this kit,” he tells you. “I played them a few times, they sound good. I got a locker of old drums I gotta move out, so I hope you like it.”

You meet up and he pops open the locker. The drums are stacked vertically and look very nice, with their multi-ply maple showing through clear heads. Minivan dude has sticks and proceeds to pick up and strike each of drum and cymbal.  Thump. Thump. Ping. Etc. “We can’t set them up but you can get a feel for the sound.” With my new cochlear implant hearing system, combined with a conventional hearing aid in the other ear, they sound pretty nice to me.

You ask him again about the origin of the Rogers kit and he replies: “It’s 1980s for sure; I took it in a trade years ago and haven’t played it much.”

You get a funny feeling in your gut and google “Rogers maple drum kit”, trying not to look too worried, and you get all kinds of great images of Rogers drums.

Satisfied, you bargain the guy down to $800 and get a nice drum kit with good accessories. He helps you haul it to your minivan and the deal is done. Hook, line and sinker.

But your intuition was correct. In your desperate google search, you did miss the fine print. Like other traditional U.S. drum companies under pressure from new offshore competitors in the early ’80s, Rogers joined the game of producing some of its drums using cheap labour in Asia. This particular maple kit is made under the “Big R” Rogers brand label, but does not have the required “Made in U.S.A.” on its chrome nameplate. possibly built in Taiwan to Rogers’ specifications in late 70s or early 80s. Or built by a company called Island Music that had rights to produce the Rogers line for a few years in the mid to late 1980s. Rogers ceased production in the 1980s but its signature brand and new drum lines were relaunched in 2017.

Going offshore

So your new drums are offshore Rogers, a category sometimes scorned by Rogers enthusiasts.  Minivan dude is some kind of drum-broker who can spin a good story for every kit in his storage locker. His ad and identity have now dissolved from the Marketplace website in a puff of electronic smoke. Damn his hide.

But you know what? Your drums sound nice. The shells are solid. Through the transparent drum skins, they look like five-ply wood, possibly maple. The cymbals are very good quality and crisp.  The CB snare drum you chose has U.S.-made heads and a deep, rich sound, even though it too is a Taiwan special. The stands and pedals are good quality and operate well.

Rogers purists be damned. You have been out of the music mix for awhile and want to dust off your drum-set skills.

You will learn to love your Rogers Big-R offshore kit.