Rogers R-Series | New maple kits from $1,499

Rogers has spent most of the last decade looking backwards. Its new kit is aimed squarely at drummers who gig every weekend.

The R-Series, reported by Drumming News Network on 27 October, is a range of maple kits and matching snares built around new hardware rather than 1960s blueprints. It’s the first Rogers line in years that isn’t sold on nostalgia.

So does that widen the brand’s audience, or blur what made people care about the name? Let’s look at what’s actually on offer.

What is the R-Series?

There are three kit configurations in four high-gloss lacquer finishes, with shell sizes from 8” to 24”. The shells are 7-ply maple, and every one carries Rogers’ dark fruitwood interior stain.

The matching snares step up to 10-ply maple shells, with an RS1 side-lever throw-off and 20-strand wires.

The hardware is new too: lugs, heavy-duty bass drum claws, hinged brackets, memory locks and shell risers designed to cut vibration by keeping metal off the shell.

How much is it?

The Rogers Drums USA site lists three kit packages:

• 12/14/18 from $1,499
• 12/16/22 from $1,699
• 10/12/16/22 from $1,799

Add-on drums start at $369 for a 12” tom and $479 for a 14” floor tom.

There are two caveats. The site lists these as sale prices and gives no launch date, so we can’t say what the regular price is or how long the offer runs. We haven’t seen UK or European pricing yet either.

Who is it for?

DNN describes the line as aimed at drummers stepping up from their first kit, live players and touring musicians. That’s a clear break from the Cleveland and PowerTone lines, which recreate the classic Rogers look.

That heritage is what the modern brand has been built on. Rogers came back in 2017 with reproductions of its famous Dyna-Sonic snare. The USA-made Covington Series, the PowerTone snares and the Cleveland kits followed, all of them nodding to the old factory in Covington, Ohio.

Those drums aren’t cheap. US retailers list Cleveland three-pieces at roughly $2,800 to $3,600, so the R-Series brings the badge in at around half the price, minus the vintage styling.

How does it compare?

Between $1,499 and $1,799 is a crowded spot for maple kits. These were typical US street prices at the time of writing:

• Yamaha Tour Custom 4-piece shell pack: roughly $1,300 to $1,500
• Gretsch Renown 4-piece shell pack: about $1,799 at Sweetwater
• Tama Superstar Classic 5-piece shell pack: around $950 to $1,100

On price alone, Rogers isn’t the cheapest way into a maple kit. It sits alongside the Renown, which also leans on a heritage name, and above the Tour Custom. Check what each package includes before comparing like for like.

If budget matters more than the badge, the used market and our beginner kit buying guide are good places to start.

Final thoughts

Commercially, this makes sense. Faithful reissues serve a fairly small group of collectors and vintage fans, while working drummers buy mid-priced maple kits in far greater numbers.

The risk is that a brand known for the Dyna-Sonic and Swiv-o-Matic becomes one more gloss maple kit at $1,700. Whether the R badge is worth paying for over Yamaha or Gretsch will depend on how these kits hold up on the road, and nobody has played one yet.

Shopping for the snare too? Our snare drum buying guide covers what to look for. For another mid-range maple option, see our guide to the Tama Starclassic Performer.