I guess it's time for me to end my silence on this issue! Yes, I recently acquired a "clone" wood-shell to build a drum I knew I could never afford. The shell, known as a "Dynatone", was built for me by Joe Montineri, using a 5-ply shell layup, with rings, of his own design while he was working for Keller. The 5-ply thickness is just about identical to that of a 60's era Dynasonic. Typical Keller 5-ply shells are MUCH thinner. Edges are as close to Rogers-style as you will find!

What separates Joe's shell from the real thing? 1) The depth of the re-rings is a bit greater than what Rogers used. 2) Joe does use a snare bed, wide and shallow, almost like a Powertone. These two items are to let the trained eye know the shell is not original Rogers. Does the inclusion of the bed change the sound? Possibly, but I sure can't tell! The overall build and workmanship is First Class! Total price I paid, which included the wrap and shipping was under $450.

Next, I obtained a COB shell, with badge, for around $60, including shipping. I got the shell as there was no way I even considered removing the badge and grommet from my 1966 COB 7-line Dynasonic.

Finally, all the parts, except for the badge and script logo, came from my 1966 7-line Dynasonic. I paid about $450 for that drum almost 5 years ago. I will hang onto the shell and have no intentions of selling it.

So, some quick math shows I paid about $960 to have a "clone" Dynasonic. It's as close to the real thing as I can ever hope to own, for less than half of today's price to obtain the original. My Dynatone is a joy to behold and play...and I have no regrets about what it cost me!

Based on all that, I think that most "clone" wood-shell Dynasonic snare drums, with equal build quality as mine, are worth about $1000. Just my two cents!

-Mark

Mark!

Allow me to flesh what you have written out a little more... as I am pretty up to speed on these JMCD Dynatones as you well know! The KEY to JM's "clone" is that the veneer is cut at 1960's THICKNESS, as are the re-rings. These "clones" mimic a genuine Rogers Dynasonic as close as one could possibly get, due again to the actual veneer thickness/rings. Joe used my 1967 ORIGINAL Rogers WMP Dynasonic as his "model" for developing this drum. It is indeed, darn near spot on .. but .. there is NO ATTEMPT made or implied on trying tp pass one of these off as an OEM Rogers wood Dynasonic. It is as Mark said: For anyone that has wanted one to PLAY, but just didn't have the jing for an original. All this said...

I gigged the prototype on two different gigs as JM gave me the drum to do just that. I was impressed. Seriously I was. Then again, JM's attention to detail and his artistry on edges, beds, etc. is also part of this equation. So...

I will have with me at the Chicago Vintage Drum Show .. ( in my Snare Drums of Buddy Rich display ) .. THREE of JM's specimens in this line:

5X14 WMP Dynatone

5X14 Powersonic

6.5X14 Swingin' 60's snare drum ... same shell/build

The Dynatone will be COMPLETE and built with hardware, the other two are shells with wrap, but no hardware so one can get an idea as the the shell/build using that SPECIAL 5/5 lay up. Stop by!... say hello! ... have a look!

Here's a couple pics of the prototype that I tested for JM which was an actual customer's drum, who is also a respected member of the VDF. Hello Mike! ENJOY!!!

Tommyp

Tommyp!

Thanks so much for the additional information! You and I have had discussions on these shells and I'm very glad I had Joe build it for me. We both now how long it took to get the shell, but, when all is said and done, Joe's attention to detail made it well worth the wait!

-Mark

Could be too that Joe could see how a different bed would improve the intent of the drum, which was to end the issue of choking the resonant head with the tensioning of the snares using the strainer. Wow, even the word strain is in the part description! My guess is Joe Thompson would have listened to sound engineering on the topic.

Ludwig had products to do a similar thing, as did others. But they have complicated linkage like a set of twin SU Carbs that can be a pain in the... well, you know. (All you British car fans know what I'm talking about.) Dynasonic was a simple solution to a practical issue. (Like the single down-draft two barrel Weber.) If Joe's M's making it even simpler, good for him.

Now, what about those DW Dynasonic clones????? Bad or good idea for DW to get into the mix?

I've built a couple of maple Dyna clones, and sold them to happy owners. I had my own 'Dyna' badge made in place of the oval badge, to differentiate them from the real thing. This was 9-10 years ago.

For a nice clone, I think $5-600 is tops in price. The cost of the components to do it right, including the shell, is about that much. As far as I'm concerned, there should be no premium over the cost to do one yourself.

That valuation is about 25% of the cost of a real one, which sounds about right to me...

Of course, considering the cost of the Montineri shell, a clone built up that way is going to cost more.

The clones I built were made using a standard Keller 5-ply shell with rings and correct edges from Precision drum. I honestly could not tell any significant difference in sound from the real maples Dynas I owned at the time. The drums were tight and dry with high sensitivity, but had an underlying warmth - like an original.

Anybody remember the 'DAN-A-SONIC'? Those were mine. I still have some of those badges. Hhmmm....

To each their own re clone dynasonics. I just hope they are clearly marked as such (i.e. Dan's Dan-a-sonic), and /or leave the original badge off. Even though a clone might be obvious to a trained eye, it isn't obvious to everyone. There are varying levels of knowledge out there (as is in evidence on this forum). I have seen people fooled into paying outrageous money for something that should have been obvious as a fake.

To me, the appeal of vintage drums is just that, VINTAGE. It's the history of the piece, and the mojo a drum carries. Guess I just don't understand the appeal behind making a copy. There are plenty of modern drums that I would much rather have for the money being spent to do a reproduction.

Hi Powertone!

I completely understand your view on this topic. And, yes, VINTAGE is VINTAGE. For myself, I can't afford $2k+ for a wood-shell Dynasonic, which is why I chose the "clone" route. Had it not been for the shells produced my JM, I would have never even bothered. Since I already had a really nice 7-line COB Dyansonic that I could use the parts from, I didn't mind the additional amount for Joe's shell and another donor COB shell for the badge.

Yes, I wanted my "clone" to have a proper badge, BUT, I would NEVER pass the drum off as original to anyone! The Dynatone was built for my personal enjoyment. I don't gig anymore and the drum is used with my Headliner kit in my "drum room". If I were to actually gig with the kit, I would use my matching Powertone, which is actually a Tower, but with a Swivomatic strainer and matching butt (no extra holes to mount the butt, due to a custom-made adapter plate!)

I truly feel that the bottom line is that as long as the "clone" is not passed off as original, I see no harm is making "clone" drums. Again, just my opinion!

-Mark

For anyone else who does choose the "clone" route for a wood-shell Dynasonic, I'd like to pass on some personal information and a cure that helped me. As you can see from the pictures, Joe put the overlap seam exactly where Rogers positioned it...right down the middle of the lug holes at the seam, in the panel just to the right of the badge. Owing to the thickness of modern wrap, and glass glitters in particular, you can see how "tilted" the lug at the overlap was! Vintage wraps were much thinner and didn't cause this issue. To solve this problem, I fashioned a "foot" out of a piece of matching glass glitter I had. You can see how nicely the lug now sits at the seam. Just wanted to pass this onto anyone thinking about a clone shell!

-Mark

Mark!

You don't have to explain your reason for buying this drum! Powertone.. Dan C .. me .. you .. whomever!, we all have our own opinions! And when it comes down to the final last word and comment on whether to clone or not to clone and all the philosophy for and against that goes with it... it's just that: One's PERSONAL opinion. ENJOY your drum Mark!

Dan C... I DO remember the DAN-A-SONIC! I have seen one or two of those for sale over the years! Very nicely done/finished as I recall. I think one might have been on eBay, and one was at a drum show! This "Dynasonic thang" has been done well before JMCD's version, and probably even yours too. That doesn't change the fact that it makes no difference WHAT the item being replicated is... SOMEONE is going to be unscrupulous and make every attempt to cheat someone else out of their hard earned money. Like with anything, especially so in these times... do your homework! Or, ask someone in the know for their opinion on said item BEFORE you buy!, unless you are purchasing from someone like Joe Montineri etc.

Tommyp

Mark!

Your cure was PERFECT!, but just so everybody knows: That does NOT happen with all modern wraps! You are absolutely correct here Mark: It was the wrap you chose that made that little tweak necessary! The WMP model I had, and the two Onyx models I saw, were perfect without having to do that. Again though, your tweak was brilliant! JM thought so too by the way!

Tommyp