old name of Duplex, originally from St. Louis, Grossman Music assembled singles and sets from their old Rogers suppliers and badged them with this resurrected name.. Shells came
from Keller, lugs and leg brackets, designed by the renowned
Joe Thompson for the Yamaha built Rogers 360 series, hoops,
rods, and metal shells came from the same vendors they used
at Rogers. The holders and stands came from our old friends
at Walberg and Auge. And the butt plates came from Japan.
Rogers Headliners. Duplex was not around for long, because
Grossman replaced them with Dixie drums, imported from
Pearl in Japan. As you look at these pictures, you can see the
Rogers influence. I know they weren’t around long, because
the late and venerated Ben Strauss told me that he did not
remember them
This is the only Duplex Cleveland catalog I have found. It is
from June, 1968. The print style and picture formats are just
like the 1964 and earlier Rogers catalogs. I have seen 2 Duplex
sets, and only one 8 lug snare drum, that is easily a close rela-
tive of a Rogers Powertone. It looks like Grossman continued
their favorite 20/12/16 set up that worked so well with the
The Duplex name is still with us, and we see it on snare wires,
beaters and mallets from Grossman Music, still alive and thriv-
ing in Cleveland, Ohio.
Duplex was with us, for a moment of American drum history.
Harry Cangany is the author of The Great American Drums, and Mr. Leedy and the House
of Wonder
