About a $1,000-$1,500 difference? In honesty, they look just a tad bit different. Real close in my opinion. Sorry for the vague answer. The Ploughman will give you a good response.

They were quite different in the early years of strata, which began to appear around

'67/68. Later on in the early 70's, the material Rogers used was much closer to the style of mid-60's Ludwig. So it moved from strata (as in rock strata) to something more like oyster.

Keep in mind Ludwig's oyster varied a fair amount from the late 50's to the late 60's and finished off as a bowling ball type finish. Picture of my '68 Rogers floor tom that is very strata like, and bass from the same era that is different and tends to be more oystery with some browns from the glue showing through the translucent areas.

While on the topic, if anyone has an 8x12 black strata from the Dayton era that you'd sell, I'd appreciate knowing.

Why do you got a silly drum blocking that locking dresser ? Is that the original finish on it ?

Probably not original finish. My wife ran an art and antiques shop for years during which all her customers wanted painted furniture. That is probably a piece left over from that era. The top pulls down and is my desk when I home. Likely another material - oak? - beneath the paint, but I'm actually not certain.

That piece is awesome, they don`t make em like that anymore.

Once again, I'm probably wrong. But, for all these years I've labored under the impression that the Black Strata and Black Oyster wraps were identical Delmar sheet goods, and the difference in appearance is due to the priming methods (if any) to the outer ply of the shell.

Sorry leedybdp, but your are correct that you are wrong (in general). Your are right that the eventual appearance of any of the semi-translucent wraps depended on the shell beneath. Factors affecting the final appearance include the wood at the outer ply of the shell, stains that may have been applied to the shell to affect the final appearance and the adhesive (as minimums).

After that, time, temperature and other factors could lead to two drums being produced on the same day using the same materials and eventually looking different (even made by the same shop tech). For example, two drums are built in Ohio, and one spends its life in LA and the other in NY. One spends its life in the house and other in the bar with smoke. Goes on and on actually.

But the Rogers black strata pearl was at one time a completely different pattern than say, the oyster black pearl that was on Ringo's kit. Their is no resemblance in the pattern of Ringo's kit to the Rogers floor tom I showed in the earlier picture. One is strata and the other is oyster.

Years ago I sold Blair a Gretsch Progressive Jazz set. It was green sparkle so darkened by smoke that a conversation years after led him to deny I'd ever sold him a green sparkle set. Green sparkle is pretty rare in Gretsch land as it is with most brands so there is reason to contend over it. Well, he too could be correct. This was a nice kit that probably was smoked to death and that affected the plastic wrap. May have been some other color originally though I'd still judge it to have been green sparkle on day one. Fact is, I never pulled a lug, but I don't recall seeing, for example, silver sparkle at the edges of the drums or any other color for that matter. But Gretsch red sparkle and gold sparkle are notorius for turning into other colors.

Check out these two pictures to see how varied Rogers strata pearl was over the period between late '60's and early '70's. I'm guessing the first one to be around '68 and the second to be around '71 or so.

PS - I think the first one is beautiful, but I don't find the second appealing.