Wow!! Cool1

Some good sounding advice and comments. I appreciate it all. Helps me justify any final decision.

Eamesuser, you said, "Look in side the shells,the inside should be gray and white speckled paint.and look for paper tags,the tags could say Fullerton california,that would make it 1969 -1971,tag that says 9/72 would make them 1972 -1975 ish."

I can say, thanks to some Evans clear heads, I looked into the toms, and the shells are gray and white speckled. Did not notice any tags, but was not looking. I will be returning for another look. Thanks for the suggestion. The store owner did tell me he thought they were an older pre-70's. He has two other Roger sets and said those are early 70's.

So, you are "right on"...and what you mention at least confirms the retailers 'honesty and knowledge'.

What about the inner chrome looking rim on the inside of the drums, under the heads? Indication of anything?. The retailer mentioned something about added quality and indicative of 'Rogers' built. He had mentioned also, something about the edges being more pronounced adding to sound quality.

I added 2 additional pictures which could not add earlier.

I will take a bit of all comments to aid in 'bartering'

Thanks again, and I will let you all know my decision.

I have a reasonable idea about Rogers, and I would tend toward the $600 to $700 range and then try to secure that shell and hoop that Cam offered so that you have the whole thing back in nice shape. Even explain to the seller that you need some discounting due to the wrap crack on the bass because I doubt you will find any of that wrap on the market today.

If you have gotten close to price with the shop, ask to have all the heads removed so you can check the bearing edges and reinforcing rings. During the Fullerton era, there were definitely edge cutting issues. They should have a nice sharp profile and the shop did mention that.

Two items that distiguish the earlier Fullerton from later Fullerton are the mounts on the floor tom, which move from two piece joined by a spline to solid castings. Similarly, the collets used to tighten the swivomatic mounts on the mounted toms and spurs are machined then become cast. The earlier is generally preferred for both items, particularly the machined collets though both types have some issues we can get into if you decide to move ahead.

Thanks Dan...taking all this advice in mind...you guys have been ideal.Clapping Happy2

I know the history of Rogers and would like to continue that with this set. Doing some nice modifications could be a sweet project.

I remember Danny Seraphine/Chicago doing a nice solo at the Fillmore East in NY, back in 1970. He had a nice white pearl Rogers. He used calf-heads at the time, producing that nice melodic sound. Real Sweet.

I've been looking for something like this for a long time. Spanish Gold is

somewhat of a rarity. Has the swirvo hardware, which I prefer. Try to

get them for less than the asking price. Looks like they'll cleanup nicely.

My Rogers hunt continues..... Have you bought them yet???

Inner chrome rim???

Were these concert toms that someone added a bottom hoop to? Do they even have a bottom bearing edge? Is there a reinforcing ring on the bottom like there is on the top?

Is that what he meant by more pronounced (i.e. they are square)?

If they are indeed 9/72s, this is the era of Swivomatic hardware was made of cast metal and are prone to cracks. Investigate the condition of mounting hardware on the toms, and pay particular attention to the collet noses (part that spins and holds the tom) for cracks. They will not hold once you start playing!

Good luck!

BTW- I'd find out about this "inner chrome rim" business.

If it's Fullerton and Holiday then its '69, if its Fullerton and Powertone then 70-71, then 9/72- correct?

These are late Fullerton 9/72 series, probably late 1975 right before the transition to the Big R Memriloc hardware in 1976, as Spanish Gold was not an available wrap until 1976. Finding swivo sets with Big R finishes is uncommon, but not super rare as Fullerton had to use up the remaining swivo hardware on the new shells with the new finishes which were rolling out.

Value of this set? As pointed out earlier, it's possible to find such a bass for $100-$150 on eBay, then generously estimating each mounted tom at $100 apiece and $150 for the FT, plus the double tom mount... $600 would be a fair price in a private sale.