Thank you!

The set was a Cleveland 14x20, 8x12, 14x16, 16x16 and matching 5x14 Powertone. That 14x16 was crazy!

Have them scrubbed down and sent to my tent !!

To the OP,yes the B+B lugs are much less sturdy and in the states prices reflect that.Since you want a sturdy gigging kit without hardware issues Rogers with beavertail lugs is the the way to go,you can buy a kit today and gig with them tomorrow.

I have a Cleveland 20 12 flat grey Dayton 14 ft.The 14 ft are great but since they are less common and desirable they will fluff up the price of a kit in a hurry.

The 20 kicks are quite strong,and larger kicks like a 22 or 24 are much harder to find dayton or cleveland but esp in the cleveland era.

I have played a few fullerton era and 9/72 kits and sonically I like them as much the earlier era kits.

I've owned and played many American vintage kits and I must agree with your choice to move to Rogers. I love how versatile the shells are...tune them any way you want and they sound great. Like many, I recommend the drums from the mid 60s with the flat grey interiors (Cleveland/Dayton era). I have a Tower kit with a 20" bass drum that I absolutely love and a Holiday kit with a 22" bass drum that I also love. I alternate between the two sets depending on the style of music I'm playing or the the size of the room I'm performing in.

Again many thanks for the help and info, it has been a great help, I have done some preliminary research via the Rogers book and what I could cobble from the internet and am soon to view my first kit.

It's a top hat kit (2x12" 16" and 20"), Cleveland era with beavertails, I'm more of a one up one down man which means one tom would rarely get used but the fact that it is in black onyx pearl means I have to at least consider it.

I'm looking forward to seeing it and having just tried a powertone snare am incredibly impressed with the tone and build quality of Rogers, why has it taken me so long to get here?