Discussion... Were slotted rods holding Sonor back?

[Frank Godiva]

Btw, before WW2; many Sonor drums came with square rods. The company did not go all slotted for all models until the mid 50s at the start of the Link Era which is why the slotted rods are a hallmark of those decades…. In my opinion.

So Sonor actually went back to something they had done pre war by changing over from slotted to square.

Here is the Model USA from the 20s that featured square rods.

[Jules]

Interesting. I wish the old catalog photos were clearer. I have some knowledge of Sonor history as a company, but not much about the products up until the late 70's.

[Jules]

Didn't Steve Smith have slotted rods on his Signature snare with Phonic lugs for a touch of class and as a tie in back to the glory days?

Yep! As did the Sonor 150th Anniversary Signature, Lite and HLD590. All of which were built for a very niche market.

[Frank Godiva]

Interesting. I wish the old catalog photos were clearer. I have some knowledge of Sonor history as a company, but not much about the products up until the late 70's.

Were you under the impression that Sonor had always used slotted tension rods since the beginning?

[Jules]

I never gave it any thought. I know Leedy and Premier are two other companies that used slotted rods but I don’t know time frames on that either.

As I’ve already stated, I’m not a historian on Sonor products. My range of knowledge and interest begins at the late 70s era.

It is so odd that I’m playing a vintage series drum set because I could care less about the originals. Even buying and selling to flip up and fix up and all that I never had an interest to get any of that stuff and work on it.

[Frank Godiva]

ST video on different slotted rods