I have long been a fan of the Rogers wood dynasonic snare drum and have had the pleasure of being able to sell over 100 of these original drums, including some of the rarest, which include the rarer 6.5x14 drums in additon to the 5x14; a Wildwood example, a pink strata; two 5x14 WMP that belonged to Buddy Rich; three of the four known WMP "pre-badge" early Dynasonics (made before the badge sequence appeared), one of Louie Bellson's 5x14 WMP (which I still own); the first WMP Dyna that I bought (not for sale), and many more that have now gone to other collectors and players. So, the wood Dynasonic snare drum is drum is near and dear to my heart. And the reason I love it so much is because it is an incredible drum. If you spend a bit of time to get to know the fantastic snare system you will find that the drum can do anything you need it to. Amazing.

Some of you are aware that I worked with the current owners of Rogers on the R&D for the introduction of the new wood dynasocnic snare drums. I was involved for about three years and two of my personal vintage Dynas were used to spec out the new drums. Now, initially I was reluctant to become involved, simply because past "revivals" of the Rogers name were dismal affairs and did nothing to preserve the legacy of what was arguably the best-made brand of drums in the 60s. However, the new owners assured me that they wanted to do this properly so as to respect the legacy. So, I jumped in.  

Many prototypes were made and sent to me for approval. My collection shown here includes the four most key drums in the re-birth of the Rogers Dynasonic snare drum. They are as follows:

"THE drum": This is the 5x14 that finally was dialed in correctly and replicated the sensitivity, response and projection of the original Dynasonic wood snare drums. This is the drum that I used at the Chicago Drum Show when these made a "pre-production debut". You will notice that on this drum the badge is in the same panel as on the originals, which is something I felt was important to retain. (no serial number on the badge since this was a prototype). That badge position was changed on the production drums and the badge was moved over one panel. This actually was a good idea since it makes it impossible to pass off one of the new drums as the highly collectible originals from the 60s.

"ALMOST": This is the 5x14 that was almost correct, but not quite. It sounds great, but needed a bit of adjustment to eliminate a slight dead spot at the center. Most people wouldn't notice this, but a true Dynasonic fan would feel and hear the difference when playing. Bill Detamore, (the wonderful drum builder who does the assembly, edges and final build for these drums), knew what to do and he corrected it for the final prototype above. So, this one is "almost, but not quite". You will see that at this point the badge was still in the original positon as I had recommended. Once again, no serial number on the badge since this was a prototype, and no serial number since it was not a production piece.

"Number D1001": As all Rogers Dynasonic fans know, the very first wood Dyna with a serial number was #1001. (There were some very early wood Dynas made with no badge, just an internal paper tag). The decision was made to keep that serial number sequence and to use 1001 as the first number, but that the new drums would have a "D" before the number. This is the very first production drum. 6.5x14. Notice that the badge has been moved over one panel as they were for all production drums. 

"Number D1002": This was the second drum produced, and the first 5x14. This drum shares the same build characteristics as D1001 in terms of the badge etc.

It was truly a pleasure for me to be involved in this project. I remember back to when I was young and sat with the early 60s Rogers catalog with the black and white image of a WMP Dyna #1001. Helping to re-introduce this great drum was truly a high point in my drumming life!