In the middle of my first year of junior high school, I decided to switch from trumpet to drums. Using the money from a neighborhood paper route, I was able to purchase my first kit with the help of my parents: a Rogers R-360 kit.
This kit was a workhorse for the next 15 years. From junior high and high school jazz bands to an original punk band to jazz combo gigs to playing at church to recording sessions and finally serving me for several years of original funk and rock bands in Seattle.
These drums survived a house fire in the 90s in Seattle with only the maroon wraps melted off and tarnished hardware. After stripping off the wraps, my Mom hand painted the shells, and these were back in business!
In 2000, a 15-year rest period began for this kit as I decided to pursue skydiving full time.
In 2015, I dug these out of the closet to start practicing for an audition to play for my local church. Within a few weeks of practice, the lug hardware started to fail and crumble. I replaced my original pride & joy with a custom DW kit, but started working at the same time on restoring the Rogers drums.
After installing new lug hardware, cleaning up the bearing edges and replacing some heads, my first Rogers kit was singing again…and is now part of the Mike’s Drum Tracking recording gear. Check her out: