The rack toms had their bottom heads cut out as requested by Metallica's audio engineer. This is discussed in a feature article with Ulrich in a 1987 copy of Modern Drummer. Definitely recommended reading.
Hey Fellows, dope topic & interview. I'm a huge Lars fan also and I still own a 9 Piece Granstar II in white from that era courtesy of "Ulrich Marketing." For clarity, the Tama Granstar II is an All Birch Kit and the Artstar II is an All Maple kit. I stared at the 1992/93 Tama Drums Marketing Catalogue on my wall for years before I bought the Lars endorsed entire 9 piece kit w/ hardware. The STILT system and counter weights on those beefy stands is SO METAL! The greatest Thrash Metal era looking & performing cymbal stands in my opinion. If Lars hears or sees this episode we'd love him to chime in on any specifics. Yo Chris Russio we need to chat Drums bro. Cheers drum fam! 🤘🏼
Please do the part 2 asap. And a studio version,odds n ends would be great. 1 hour...2 hours...3 hours....we all watch. A 3 hour podcast is nothing. Just ask Rick beato, everyone says his hour and a half interviews are way too short, and I always comment saying "make these interviews 6 hours long". Don't be afraid bart, beef these up! They will be a great treasure trove when the ppl finally stumble upon this great channel
Thank you so much for making this! I've always really wanted someone to finally make a video covering his iconic setup over the years. I even own an Artstar II because of Lars, but nobody seems to talk about just how kickass his whole look was
Yup I totally heard you in regard to nobody seems to be talking about how f'in fire that kit w/ stilt stands look was. I started thinking I was the only person appreciating that classic time.
This is a video I've wanted for easily 12 years ! When I was getting started with drums I tried to find out everything I could about these kits! So hard to find info on these! Bravo!
The One video with the kit he has in the background, black reso heads and mirror batter heads where you could see his reflection is what made me want to play drums. That grey kit and the black and white kit from the Black Album tour went so hard
I’m 51 years old now I started playing the drums back in 1978 at the age of six. I know being a big Neil Peart fan I notice he changed from a double bass drum to a double pedal on the roll the bones album which was in 1991 and that was pretty new back then.
Neil and Lars are the two drummers that have influenced me the most, really glad to see both get covered on this channel! I was able to fulfill a dream a couple years ago and acquire one of the 25 Artstar II replicas 😁
@@DrumHistoryPodcast I wish it was a more exciting story, I just had a chance encounter with the original owner on Facebook. We got in touch July 2020 and I made the drive from Cincinnati to central PA to pick the kit up a few weeks later. He said it spent about 10 years stored away until he decided it was time to pass it on. He had all the period correct cymbals and hardware too which I unfortunately couldn't swing at the time, a fact which still kills me to this day, but I am stoked beyond words to own the kit itself complete with Lars' signature inside of all 9 shells!
Speaking of the medium thin crashes, when I saw them in '86 on their Damage Inc Tour in Providence, RI, I could swear his drum tech replaced at least two crash cymbals during the concert while Lars was playing. The details are a bit fuzzy now, but that left a lasting impression on me. Blew my mind, really.
Zildjian Medium Thins were always the best of their crashes IMO, but when I was a hard-hitter (aka an adolescent idiot with bad crash technique), I just went right through them. I do still own an 18" Medium which still survives from that time. It sounds okay for either light riding or a huge fff crash accent, but I suffer the occasional urge to throw it up on the lathe for some shaving, as there's no usable middle ground.
This is great. That looked like a Slingerland Sound King snare in the pic you discussed. As for the Zolacoat … Tama Swingstar also had it. Back to the episode… awesome !
FYI- Taken from Rei on November 25, 2006, DRUMMER CAFE "Chances are that they are birch. Granstar, Granstar Custom, and Granstar II. All of them were birch, the Granstar had 45 degree edges and 8 plys of birch with a wrap. Granstar Custom had 8 plys of birch 90 degree (butter) edges and a lacquer finish. Granstar II had 7 plys of birch 45 degree edges and a wrap. Superstars in the 80s where either birch, or birch/mahogany (also known as the "SuperMahogany" series). Artstars were Cordia or Cordia/Birch (Artstar I), or Maple (Artstar II, Artstar ES). Now, where it gets confusing is that the Granstar/Artstar/Starclassic series is handmade, and available for custom order. Tama released a short series of Granstar II's that were maple because of the demand created by lars and his Artstar II set with Granstar lugs. This eventually became the Artstar ES (Artstar shells/Granstar hardware.) Also, people could special order this Granstar configuration. The good news is that most of the granstars were wrapped, and all the maple granstar II (outside of one-off special orders) were lacquer finish. So, if it is a lacquer finish with granstar II on the badge, there is a slim chance of it being maple. Otherwise, assume it is birch. Realise too, that the birch in the 80s superstars is (according to the Tama catalog) 'select grade' birch, and the birch in the granstars is 'finish grade' birch. ----------- I thought this was good info for the wood NERDS in us drummers - DM
Stick handler is the brand is the brand he always used. They made for hockey players. The white tape stick on the edges of green tape are by Band-Aid Co, which he also taped his fingers.
@@DrumHistoryPodcast also try to do Dave Lombardo and Paul Bostaph, both from Slayer...they both had huge kits with lots of drums and cymbals over the years, so those would be interesting and fun talks and discussions.
In like '90, I scored a Tama catalog...and obsessed over Lars' Granstar kit... For months, I'd look through that catalog...obsessing! Went a lot of different directions since...but still love that Granstar kit! Like the one behind Chris in this video! Props!
As a bass player who loved the Neil Peart series you did - this is another outstanding job. The attention to detail is an A++, the host has an awesome personality & asks the right questions & the expert, as in the Neil Peart series, explains things very concise & clear.
Camco.... 1960's originally from Illinois, then moved to California in the 70's. was purchased by both DW and Tama in the late 70's. DW keep their machines and inventory, Tama got the name and their patents.
The Ludwig kit in question appears to be an early 80's Ludwig Classic. The badges are blue & olive w/the rounded corners instead of pointy which was indicative of the early 80's. It wouldn't have been an SL/Rocker because of the Classic lugs on the drums and the fact that the kicks have 10 lugs instead of the 8 lug layout found on the SL/Rocker kicks. The hardware is still Yamaha.
I agree. The lug counts make it clearly early 80s classics. And as for the badges, yes, stage lighting can throw things off - but those badges look blue/olive, not black/white.
With the stuffed orangutan, i recall Lars saying in an interview that it was Flemming Larsen (RIP) who gave it to him; and (may have) put it on the kit, so it stayed there for a long time. Thanks for the detailed episodes, and for giving so much respect to Lars! He is my biggest musical inspiration. Lars, Dave Lombardo and Billy Cobham are the reason i wanted to play Tamas (which i finally have, after many, many years of playing other people's drums). i'm not a gear nerd either, but the white Artstar II is my dream set. Be well...
I will say this I am a Gretsch drums guy and I knew the rep in New York a bit and is our conversation about Gretsch he said Lars shells are Gretsch with Tama hardware put on them. I mean he did play Gretsch on the black album which you clearly see in the nothing else matters recording session.
I got to do a record with producer Steve Thompson, many years ago. We were all huge Metallica fans and quizzed him all we could about that record. The one thing that really stuck out, was that Lars recorded each drum on an individual take, so they were all isolated perfectly with no bleed from cymbals. I am loving your video on his kits. Lars has always been one of my favs.
I remember when i first heard Kill Em All. I always listen to new music with an ear to where it's coming from geographically; England, NYC, Los Angeles, etc. But listening to that first release of music i thought that they were from Eastern Europe or Russia. East Germany perhaps. I never guessed San Francisco/LA.
This is so much fun to watch, not a big fan of Lars cause I grew up in the millennium but he’s definitely killing back in those days, I can see why people are obsessed with him and everything he did and used, now I’m onto the pt.2, keep up the good work man this is just so awesome and amazing, love from Taiwan 🇹🇼
Great episode Bart. The Ludwig set Lars is using is likely an early 80's classic set as it has B/O badges, six ply maple shells and mufflers over the badges. This is indeed a top of the line Ludwig set for its day. The Rockers were introduced around 1984 but those had a black and white badges on them and the older style lugs that were seen on Standard drums from the late 60's into the early 70's. You can clearly see the B/O badges with the rounded corners in these pictures. Black was probably the most popular color in the early 80's. I am also seeing Slingerland late 70's hardware on the toms, unless of course that live picture I am seeing during the Ludwig discussion is still the borrowed Slingerland set.
HOLY COW!! I grew up playing a Tama King Beat direct drive pedal and was a huge Lars fan but had no idea he used the same until now, almost 30 years later. So cool.
Great stuff! Wow thanks! I've seen other drummers customize their drum riser with small "U" shaped wood blocks or plastic blockers screwed into the deck in front of the bass drum spurs.
Lars' Dad was a pro tennis player, and he was walking in those footsteps. Arguably, he may have made some money playing tennis (??) At least enough to buy that Camco kit?? Cool breakdown, looking forward to part 2! His stick of choice when it was wood, was A Regal Tip 5B. There are ads in the early 90s. Whether or not he used them in '81, I dont know. He may have used Dean Markley sticks when they were making sticks in the 80's and there was most likely a guitar string/drumstick deal.
Ride the Lightning CD cover says Lars Ulrich plays Tama drums exclusively right at the bottom under the “Europe” thanks and the Mexican food etc below. I’m a 50 year old drummer who still has my first and only kit, had it for 29 years and it’s an 8 piece old 70’s model Tama. Setup basically like the white Justice kit. You can learn about drums by the lugs too, the shape and style, size etc. Something for you to help with your drum knowledge 😎
My favorite kit sound was and justice for all. probably the best sounding drums I've ever heard in my life! and from any band period! I wish they would've stayed right there! and I also like the kits around that time as well.. but that album is the thickest heaviest unique sounding albums and drumming I've ever heard of!? It really was a big deal in my life anyway.
Yeah they really should've stopped messing with shit at that point. That was a great kit, as well as the black album. After that, he started messing with it too much, and taking too much away.
I'm sure we could easily research it, but I think the double pedal kinda gained in mild popularity around 1985-ish. That's when I started using a Pearl version, and at that time... they were frowned upon by many "metal purist" guys. I myself played metal, but couldn't afford a second kick for several years after that. Still... early access to this type of drumming really formulated my playing style and helped me appreciate the nuances that you can gain by using a slave pedal as part of your setup in almost any genre.
The Ludwig kit...the pictures shown looks like the badge has the blue/olive tint to it, which would indicate the Classic series. Also, they have the classic lugs on them. Although you could special order Rocker series with the classic lugs. However, the inside of the toms show a clear maple finish which would further indicate the Classic series as all of the Rocker series came with the grey-speckled Granitone coating. The first pic shown with the Ludwig kit shows the right bass drum with a black shell interior and the left one with the clear maple interior. Maybe Lars was working on painting the interior of the bass drums black too?
I know he excuses his lack of knowledge by saying, I'm not a Ludwig guy, but all these things take a quick google search. Great stuff on the other TAMA stuff, but come on, that's a lay up.
I got a regal tip off Lars ( unused) backstage on May 4th 1989 at Festival Hall in Melbourne on their Justice tour. I have it framed along with a signed justice album by all the members, backstage pass and unused ticket. Mint ! 👌
Really cool video guys. I accidentally stumbled on it learning so much about one of my favorite bands. Always loved the look of power Toms. Love the drum knowledge. It makes me wonder what my first drum kit was and I sold it for dirt cheap. It was a grey pearl with serial numbers on every drum. Each Tom had an adjustable muffle pad built in the shell. The inside of the shell was painted a very light green almost resembling a rough particle board wood. Shallow Tom depths and very easy to tune because of that
1:07:15 I own that snare. It's an 8x14 Artwood Heavy Birch AW438. Quite a bit thicker than the standard birch. Also, what is referred to as a "Chrome King Beat" is most likely an Imperialstar 8056 with Mastercraft throw-off rollers. King Beat would signify a parallel action throw-off mechanism, which did exist with the same lugs in a 6.5x14" size. Both drums are chrome over steel, just for pedantic purposes :) If I can find a pic of the throw-off on any of his steel drums, I can confirm which model it is. It looks like his "Granstar Custom" is likely a regular Granstar with custom paint, due to the interior of the shells being natural birch. All Granstar Customs, except for Lipstick Red, had matching interiors. The badges would help tell the tale. Granstar Custom badges were cast, all silver, and the Granstar badges were much flimsier and had black and silver.
In that first picture the Premier tom would have been an 8x12 "Pre International" size, which would make the Pearl tom next to it either another 8x12 or a 9x13. No manufacturers were doing 9x12 and 10x13 back in the 60's.
In the early years he said he played camco chain drive pedals. It was in the 87 modern drummer article. I bought them because of that article. Yep, I still have them!!!!
I don't think the Ludwig kit was an SL/Rocker- the badge looks like a blue/olive, the lugs are full size classic lugs, and the kick drums have 10 lugs per head. The SL/Rockers would have had a badge with black on the left and white on the right, mini classic lugs, and 8 lug kicks.
Never knew the camco kit was such a nice piece....now we know why those toms sounded so friggin good on Kill em All! I'm always gonna favor the Chrome '85 kit, the mid/late 90s silver Tama and the new 72 Seasons kit is dope too..and I love the nod to Tony Williams with it.
I was also told just the other day that the chrome Superstars were re wrapped in London by John Henry’s which is a backline company. Haven’t got any way to validate that though.
I have been listening to this documentary on Laura's drum heads being cut on the bottom of his drums I have played Tama drums all my life. I've been playing professional and semi-professional for close to 38 years there's a reason for cutting the bottom heads because it has to do with the cost and also if you're a very heavy drummer, like I was I cut the bottoms of the heads out because a lot of cases I put my Mike's up through the bottom and I had overhead. That is sometimes the drummers hit the Mike's and break them. I did it thousands of times and then I had to restructure my playing and control my hand so I didn't hit the microphone s microphones. I had one of the song men from Pantera , the band at war & Foghat explain saving cost. I had Paiste symbols I played zildjian symbols I love all of the symbols I've always played on pinstripe heads but I've learned to control my playing so heavy, I'm playing with Ringo Starr sticks now I've had surgery on my hand. And when I play drums I play with a lot of volume on the soundboard, I also use camco pedals because they were faster for playing double bass drums and more comfortable to me. Now I use kamco and I also have a set of iron Cobra double pedals I put on one drum but I keep my double bass kit up to be able to hold out their drums because I do play with the drum is 10 to 12 pieces and I have play Tama ever since 1983 and before that I played Ludwig and Pearl and gretsch drums this is a very interesting take I'm going to subscribe to it because I have had a lot of people that were big in the industry including Chuck Levin's of of the music store in Washington DC. I will say this much in 1983 I started with Tama power times and hardware and they have never failed me as of today it's 2024 and I'm still playing the same kit is never ever failed me when I play I use three different types of snare drums, I'm also playing a piccolo snare drum too for more jazzy sounding music I think it's great that people look in to this with rocking drummers because I saw a large on Master of puppets and quite a few other tours one of my main influences is Scott Travis the Judas Priest he played the same circuit I played is a very great guy I've learned a lot from his instructions and also from Tommy alderson Carmen Appice .
The chrome Imperialstar kit would have been later in the production of that line, and it wouldn't have had re-rings inside those shells. You'll find the thick re-rings on the early standard depth Imperialstars and I can't say I've ever seen one power depth Imperialstar that's had rings as those sizes came out later in production of that series.
That is correct. Only 1976 to 79(?) had the really heavy reinforcement rings. Yes, and Zola coated….Imperialstar and Swingstar both. I have the same 1976 metallic blue kit as Stewart Copeland…close serial # to his. Incredible sounding drums….Imperialstar. I’m almost certain those Imperialstar kits were all 9-ply Luan(Philippine Mahogany).
The Slingerland snare you guys discussed might be a chrome over brass snare. Basically the larger version of the Gene Krupa cob signature snare they made which was a 5x14 and the one lars has looks like 6.5x14. Shout out to @Rogersdrumvideos on the snare info!
Since a while Regal tip sticks are back. The Porcaro sticks are available like regular A5 sticks etc. About others like Ulrich there was no info om the RT site
33:39 Zildjian A's (avedis) regular finish. Platinums did not come out until later. these have a gold tone to them. Platinums were bright silver. Platinums are on the MOP kits
I've been using Yamaha hardware all my life and never had an issue with any of it, especially it falling, over unless it was my fault in how I set it up, but that goes for any hardware. I still have a set of 80's hardware that works just as good as when it was new, of course I now have the new stuff, I'm just saying.
Loved this big time but being a fellow nerd he had gone over to the z customs whilst playing the mirror chrome Tama superstar ...best regards from the UK
The behind the kit shot at 31:26 you can see that there isn't a 3" difference in diameter between the last rack tom (which is known to be a 15") and the first floor tom. Those floors are 16" and 18" which would have been consistent with the XTRAS 50+4B 8934B configuration.
@@brownhooque I work with scale and ratio as a finish carpenter and often have to determine things like this based off of designers renderings and photos. I've gotten pretty good at figuring these things out taking into consideration angles/perspectives of photos.
Hi Chris and Bart, great post that I really enjoyed! @Chris: Great respect for your detailed research. Since I've had Metallica in my heart since around 1988 and play drums myself, I was able to confirm a lot of your comments and also learned a lot of new things - thank you for that! However, I noticed one small thing: the drum throne was never discussed in terms of hardware. Do you have any information on this? Or did I miss that? Anyway: Great job!!! And yes, a post about the drum equipment in the studios would be interesting! (Especially for Zildjian and Tama ;-) ) Cheers from Cologne/Germany \m/
The rack toms had their bottom heads cut out as requested by Metallica's audio engineer. This is discussed in a feature article with Ulrich in a 1987 copy of Modern Drummer. Definitely recommended reading.
Hey Fellows, dope topic & interview. I'm a huge Lars fan also and I still own a 9 Piece Granstar II in white from that era courtesy of "Ulrich Marketing." For clarity, the Tama Granstar II is an All Birch Kit and the Artstar II is an All Maple kit. I stared at the 1992/93 Tama Drums Marketing Catalogue on my wall for years before I bought the Lars endorsed entire 9 piece kit w/ hardware. The STILT system and counter weights on those beefy stands is SO METAL! The greatest Thrash Metal era looking & performing cymbal stands in my opinion. If Lars hears or sees this episode we'd love him to chime in on any specifics. Yo Chris Russio we need to chat Drums bro. Cheers drum fam! 🤘🏼
Please do the part 2 asap. And a studio version,odds n ends would be great. 1 hour...2 hours...3 hours....we all watch. A 3 hour podcast is nothing. Just ask Rick beato, everyone says his hour and a half interviews are way too short, and I always comment saying "make these interviews 6 hours long". Don't be afraid bart, beef these up! They will be a great treasure trove when the ppl finally stumble upon this great channel
With Lars history on drums I fully agree with you
... And Justice for All, Is the "Citizen Kane" of how metal should sound. Lars was a visionary of the time. ~AMEN.
Thank you so much for making this! I've always really wanted someone to finally make a video covering his iconic setup over the years. I even own an Artstar II because of Lars, but nobody seems to talk about just how kickass his whole look was
Yup I totally heard you in regard to nobody seems to be talking about how f'in fire that kit w/ stilt stands look was. I started thinking I was the only person appreciating that classic time.
This is a video I've wanted for easily 12 years ! When I was getting started with drums I tried to find out everything I could about these kits! So hard to find info on these! Bravo!
Thanks for the kind words, Rock on Marvin!
Same here 100% . So glad it happened and hope everyone enjoys it
The One video with the kit he has in the background, black reso heads and mirror batter heads where you could see his reflection is what made me want to play drums. That grey kit and the black and white kit from the Black Album tour went so hard
So glad this episode is out. I have been looking for information on his kits and have been listening to them a lot.
This is a really fun one - thanks for watching and enjoying the show!
Really well done and detailed. I’ve always been interested in Lars’s kits and how they’ve evolved. Good work
I’d love to watch a video of Lars watching this video and giving commentary! Lol. Great work, really fascinating. Thanks
Now thats a great idea. I'd love that too
I always loved the sound of his Kill ‘Em All era kit and I never realized it’s a Camco kit. No wonder it sounded so good!
I’m 51 years old now I started playing the drums back in 1978 at the age of six. I know being a big Neil Peart fan I notice he changed from a double bass drum to a double pedal on the roll the bones album which was in 1991 and that was pretty new back then.
Neil and Lars are the two drummers that have influenced me the most, really glad to see both get covered on this channel! I was able to fulfill a dream a couple years ago and acquire one of the 25 Artstar II replicas 😁
dude - that is awesome! I would love to hear the story man, how'd it happen?
@@DrumHistoryPodcast I wish it was a more exciting story, I just had a chance encounter with the original owner on Facebook. We got in touch July 2020 and I made the drive from Cincinnati to central PA to pick the kit up a few weeks later. He said it spent about 10 years stored away until he decided it was time to pass it on. He had all the period correct cymbals and hardware too which I unfortunately couldn't swing at the time, a fact which still kills me to this day, but I am stoked beyond words to own the kit itself complete with Lars' signature inside of all 9 shells!
Same here. Neils Red Tama and Lar's White Tama kits are my 2 favorites of all time.
That is great, congrats brother! @@drummerdan95
Thank you guys, I have been literally waiting for a discussion and history on this for 20+ years. Love the content
Speaking of the medium thin crashes, when I saw them in '86 on their Damage Inc Tour in Providence, RI, I could swear his drum tech replaced at least two crash cymbals during the concert while Lars was playing. The details are a bit fuzzy now, but that left a lasting impression on me. Blew my mind, really.
Zildjian Medium Thins were always the best of their crashes IMO, but when I was a hard-hitter (aka an adolescent idiot with bad crash technique), I just went right through them. I do still own an 18" Medium which still survives from that time. It sounds okay for either light riding or a huge fff crash accent, but I suffer the occasional urge to throw it up on the lathe for some shaving, as there's no usable middle ground.
This is great.
That looked like a Slingerland Sound King snare in the pic you discussed.
As for the Zolacoat … Tama Swingstar also had it.
Back to the episode… awesome !
FYI- Taken from Rei on November 25, 2006, DRUMMER CAFE
"Chances are that they are birch. Granstar, Granstar Custom, and Granstar II.
All of them were birch, the Granstar had 45 degree edges and 8 plys of birch with a wrap. Granstar Custom had 8 plys of birch 90 degree (butter) edges and a lacquer finish. Granstar II had 7 plys of birch 45 degree edges and a wrap.
Superstars in the 80s where either birch, or birch/mahogany (also known as the "SuperMahogany" series). Artstars were Cordia or Cordia/Birch (Artstar I), or Maple (Artstar II, Artstar ES).
Now, where it gets confusing is that the Granstar/Artstar/Starclassic series is handmade, and available for custom order. Tama released a short series of Granstar II's that were maple because of the demand created by lars and his Artstar II set with Granstar lugs. This eventually became the Artstar ES (Artstar shells/Granstar hardware.) Also, people could special order this Granstar configuration.
The good news is that most of the granstars were wrapped, and all the maple granstar II (outside of one-off special orders) were lacquer finish. So, if it is a lacquer finish with granstar II on the badge, there is a slim chance of it being maple. Otherwise, assume it is birch.
Realise too, that the birch in the 80s superstars is (according to the Tama catalog) 'select grade' birch, and the birch in the granstars is 'finish grade' birch.
-----------
I thought this was good info for the wood NERDS in us drummers - DM
Stick handler is the brand is the brand he always used. They made for hockey players. The white tape stick on the edges of green tape are by Band-Aid Co, which he also taped his fingers.
It would be awesome if you could do a follow up show with the artist themselves and go over what you got right and what was missed. Love the channel 👍
I'd love a Charlie Benante episode. I always tried to figure out his kits as a kid
Great idea! I wonder if Charlie would be interested in doing it - he seems like a gear guy
@@DrumHistoryPodcast also try to do Dave Lombardo and Paul Bostaph, both from Slayer...they both had huge kits with lots of drums and cymbals over the years, so those would be interesting and fun talks and discussions.
THEY'RE TAMA
YOUR WELCOME
I’m interested to hear about Charlie’s drums. He’s a beast of a drummer
@@drumtwo4seven well that settles it
Love all of these old photos of Lars and these kits over the years.
In like '90, I scored a Tama catalog...and obsessed over Lars' Granstar kit... For months, I'd look through that catalog...obsessing! Went a lot of different directions since...but still love that Granstar kit! Like the one behind Chris in this video! Props!
Love this! Dude, the folded up duct tape is known as the "accordion" fold, a classic pre moongel muffler.
Thanks Gregory! Good to know about the accordion fold. I have used it many times but didn't know about the name.
Awesome documentary thanks for this hard work finding out so much metal history behind Lars drum kits.
Gotta love anybody who looks like Dimebag.. Chris seems like a real cool guy, we’d definitely jam together. 🤘🏼✌🏼
As a bass player who loved the Neil Peart series you did - this is another outstanding job. The attention to detail is an A++, the host has an awesome personality & asks the right questions & the expert, as in the Neil Peart series, explains things very concise & clear.
Camco.... 1960's originally from Illinois, then moved to California in the 70's. was purchased by both DW and Tama in the late 70's. DW keep their machines and inventory, Tama got the name and their patents.
The Ludwig kit in question appears to be an early 80's Ludwig Classic. The badges are blue & olive w/the rounded corners instead of pointy which was indicative of the early 80's. It wouldn't have been an SL/Rocker because of the Classic lugs on the drums and the fact that the kicks have 10 lugs instead of the 8 lug layout found on the SL/Rocker kicks.
The hardware is still Yamaha.
I agree. The lug counts make it clearly early 80s classics. And as for the badges, yes, stage lighting can throw things off - but those badges look blue/olive, not black/white.
And why would management buy him the entry level kit? Especially with the heavy punishment and volume required.
Also you can see the interior of the set is clear maple and has those heavy clear Rockers bottom heads. So I think you are onto something for sure.
With the stuffed orangutan, i recall Lars saying in an interview that it was Flemming Larsen (RIP) who gave it to him; and (may have) put it on the kit, so it stayed there for a long time.
Thanks for the detailed episodes, and for giving so much respect to Lars! He is my biggest musical inspiration. Lars, Dave Lombardo and Billy Cobham are the reason i wanted to play Tamas (which i finally have, after many, many years of playing other people's drums). i'm not a gear nerd either, but the white Artstar II is my dream set.
Be well...
The "T" shape tape on the bottom of the drum heads is likely a reference to the Danish flag.
That seems right to me - very cool!
Excellent conversation!
Thanks Rob!
I will say this I am a Gretsch drums guy and I knew the rep in New York a bit and is our conversation about Gretsch he said Lars shells are Gretsch with Tama hardware put on them. I mean he did play Gretsch on the black album which you clearly see in the nothing else matters recording session.
That is very interesting. A Lars conspiracy theory. Thanks for listening and dropping that information!
I got to do a record with producer Steve Thompson, many years ago. We were all huge Metallica fans and quizzed him all we could about that record. The one thing that really stuck out, was that Lars recorded each drum on an individual take, so they were all isolated perfectly with no bleed from cymbals. I am loving your video on his kits. Lars has always been one of my favs.
That makes no sense at all.
I’m a guitarist and closet drummer and massive Metallica gear head. Thoroughly enjoyed this and looking forward to the rest of this series. Subbed
Thanks man - I just subbed to you, you are a monster player
Very kind. Cheers buddy
I remember when i first heard Kill Em All. I always listen to new music with an ear to where it's coming from geographically; England, NYC, Los Angeles, etc. But listening to that first release of music i thought that they were from Eastern Europe or Russia. East Germany perhaps. I never guessed San Francisco/LA.
Awesome Chris. Represent !!!
This is so much fun to watch, not a big fan of Lars cause I grew up in the millennium but he’s definitely killing back in those days, I can see why people are obsessed with him and everything he did and used, now I’m onto the pt.2, keep up the good work man this is just so awesome and amazing, love from Taiwan 🇹🇼
Lars said he didn’t like the ride cymbals because he liked the more of a fat sound from the hats
Great episode Bart. The Ludwig set Lars is using is likely an early 80's classic set as it has B/O badges, six ply maple shells and mufflers over the badges. This is indeed a top of the line Ludwig set for its day. The Rockers were introduced around 1984 but those had a black and white badges on them and the older style lugs that were seen on Standard drums from the late 60's into the early 70's. You can clearly see the B/O badges with the rounded corners in these pictures. Black was probably the most popular color in the early 80's. I am also seeing Slingerland late 70's hardware on the toms, unless of course that live picture I am seeing during the Ludwig discussion is still the borrowed Slingerland set.
HOLY COW!! I grew up playing a Tama King Beat direct drive pedal and was a huge Lars fan but had no idea he used the same until now, almost 30 years later. So cool.
Thats awesome, you were in good company :)
You gotta do one on Vinny Paul, Pantera
This has to be the ULTIMATE gear geek out!
The front bass heads on the chrome kit are Ebony PinStripes.
That kit is also when he started using PinStripes on his toms and bass drum batters.
Great stuff! Wow thanks! I've seen other drummers customize their drum riser with small "U" shaped wood blocks or plastic blockers screwed into the deck in front of the bass drum spurs.
Thank you this was interesting to listen to.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Lars' Dad was a pro tennis player, and he was walking in those footsteps. Arguably, he may have made some money playing tennis (??) At least enough to buy that Camco kit?? Cool breakdown, looking forward to part 2!
His stick of choice when it was wood, was A Regal Tip 5B. There are ads in the early 90s. Whether or not he used them in '81, I dont know. He may have used Dean Markley sticks when they were making sticks in the 80's and there was most likely a guitar string/drumstick deal.
Ride the Lightning CD cover says Lars Ulrich plays Tama drums exclusively right at the bottom under the “Europe” thanks and the Mexican food etc below.
I’m a 50 year old drummer who still has my first and only kit, had it for 29 years and it’s an 8 piece old 70’s model Tama. Setup basically like the white Justice kit. You can learn about drums by the lugs too, the shape and style, size etc. Something for you to help with your drum knowledge 😎
My favorite kit sound was and justice for all. probably the best sounding drums I've ever heard in my life! and from any band period! I wish they would've stayed right there! and I also like the kits around that time as well.. but that album is the thickest heaviest unique sounding albums and drumming I've ever heard of!? It really was a big deal in my life anyway.
Same here. Those musical discovery times are certainly stuck without a chance of loss in my mind.
Yeah they really should've stopped messing with shit at that point. That was a great kit, as well as the black album. After that, he started messing with it too much, and taking too much away.
Nice video guys......lots of questions have been answered about this guy back in the day.....
I'm sure we could easily research it, but I think the double pedal kinda gained in mild popularity around 1985-ish. That's when I started using a Pearl version, and at that time... they were frowned upon by many "metal purist" guys. I myself played metal, but couldn't afford a second kick for several years after that. Still... early access to this type of drumming really formulated my playing style and helped me appreciate the nuances that you can gain by using a slave pedal as part of your setup in almost any genre.
Please do a video of Tommy Lee, Tommy Aldridge, Deen Castronovo, Mikkey Dee, Pat Torpey, Jimmy D’Anda, Franki Banali
The Ludwig kit...the pictures shown looks like the badge has the blue/olive tint to it, which would indicate the Classic series. Also, they have the classic lugs on them. Although you could special order Rocker series with the classic lugs. However, the inside of the toms show a clear maple finish which would further indicate the Classic series as all of the Rocker series came with the grey-speckled Granitone coating. The first pic shown with the Ludwig kit shows the right bass drum with a black shell interior and the left one with the clear maple interior. Maybe Lars was working on painting the interior of the bass drums black too?
I know he excuses his lack of knowledge by saying, I'm not a Ludwig guy, but all these things take a quick google search. Great stuff on the other TAMA stuff, but come on, that's a lay up.
what kind of drum throne does lars use, and would you give it a sniff?
Haha thats a good question. I think Chris does mention the model number of the throne in part 2. We unfortunately did not discuss sniffing it :)
Another wonderful episode with yet another fantastic guest.
Thank you Terry! Chris did a great job
I got a regal tip off Lars ( unused) backstage on May 4th 1989 at Festival Hall in Melbourne on their Justice tour. I have it framed along with a signed justice album by all the members, backstage pass and unused ticket. Mint ! 👌
Awesome pod! Can't wait for part 2!
Really cool video guys. I accidentally stumbled on it learning so much about one of my favorite bands. Always loved the look of power Toms. Love the drum knowledge. It makes me wonder what my first drum kit was and I sold it for dirt cheap. It was a grey pearl with serial numbers on every drum. Each Tom had an adjustable muffle pad built in the shell. The inside of the shell was painted a very light green almost resembling a rough particle board wood. Shallow Tom depths and very easy to tune because of that
1:07:15 I own that snare. It's an 8x14 Artwood Heavy Birch AW438. Quite a bit thicker than the standard birch. Also, what is referred to as a "Chrome King Beat" is most likely an Imperialstar 8056 with Mastercraft throw-off rollers. King Beat would signify a parallel action throw-off mechanism, which did exist with the same lugs in a 6.5x14" size. Both drums are chrome over steel, just for pedantic purposes :) If I can find a pic of the throw-off on any of his steel drums, I can confirm which model it is.
It looks like his "Granstar Custom" is likely a regular Granstar with custom paint, due to the interior of the shells being natural birch. All Granstar Customs, except for Lipstick Red, had matching interiors. The badges would help tell the tale. Granstar Custom badges were cast, all silver, and the Granstar badges were much flimsier and had black and silver.
The picture show around the 17:41 mark clearly shows a pair of Tama King Beat bass drum pedals while the hi hat stand is definitely a Yamaha.
In that first picture the Premier tom would have been an 8x12 "Pre International" size, which would make the Pearl tom next to it either another 8x12 or a 9x13. No manufacturers were doing 9x12 and 10x13 back in the 60's.
In the early years he said he played camco chain drive pedals. It was in the 87 modern drummer article. I bought them because of that article. Yep, I still have them!!!!
Awesome Chris ! Good job. Represent !!
I think that spray in the Ludwig Rocker 2 was called "granitone".
I think you are right!
I don't think the Ludwig kit was an SL/Rocker- the badge looks like a blue/olive, the lugs are full size classic lugs, and the kick drums have 10 lugs per head. The SL/Rockers would have had a badge with black on the left and white on the right, mini classic lugs, and 8 lug kicks.
He never used a Ludwig black beauty on Ride the lightning- only master of puppets and they did 4 shows in Japan in 1986- not just one
He also used a Black Beauty on the Justice album
Never knew the camco kit was such a nice piece....now we know why those toms sounded so friggin good on Kill em All! I'm always gonna favor the Chrome '85 kit, the mid/late 90s silver Tama and the new 72 Seasons kit is dope too..and I love the nod to Tony Williams with it.
Next - Nicko McBrain!
Great video! As a Lars fanboy, i love anything to do with the gear he used. Look forward to the next video with a kit thats very familiar 🤟😉
You could've done both parts in 20 minutes total.
I was also told just the other day that the chrome Superstars were re wrapped in London by John Henry’s which is a backline company. Haven’t got any way to validate that though.
Very interesting
Lars may have been influenced by Kim Ruzz of Mercyful Fate for using Rototoms.
Same chrome snares. Look awesome. Got two.
Is that tape on his comco kit done that way for the Danish flag?
I used to Draw his kits in the mid 80's in Hi Sckool I actually found one a few years ago. I've always enjoyed his playing 🤘
I had the Cherry Wine Xtras from '84 up until last year. Great drums.
I agree, love to angle the upper toms & lower floor tom toms.
I have been listening to this documentary on Laura's drum heads being cut on the bottom of his drums I have played Tama drums all my life. I've been playing professional and semi-professional for close to 38 years there's a reason for cutting the bottom heads because it has to do with the cost and also if you're a very heavy drummer, like I was I cut the bottoms of the heads out because a lot of cases I put my Mike's up through the bottom and I had overhead. That is sometimes the drummers hit the Mike's and break them. I did it thousands of times and then I had to restructure my playing and control my hand so I didn't hit the microphone s microphones. I had one of the song men from Pantera , the band at war & Foghat explain saving cost. I had Paiste symbols I played zildjian symbols I love all of the symbols I've always played on pinstripe heads but I've learned to control my playing so heavy, I'm playing with Ringo Starr sticks now I've had surgery on my hand. And when I play drums I play with a lot of volume on the soundboard, I also use camco pedals because they were faster for playing double bass drums and more comfortable to me. Now I use kamco and I also have a set of iron Cobra double pedals I put on one drum but I keep my double bass kit up to be able to hold out their drums because I do play with the drum is 10 to 12 pieces and I have play Tama ever since 1983 and before that I played Ludwig and Pearl and gretsch drums this is a very interesting take I'm going to subscribe to it because I have had a lot of people that were big in the industry including Chuck Levin's of of the music store in Washington DC. I will say this much in 1983 I started with Tama power times and hardware and they have never failed me as of today it's 2024 and I'm still playing the same kit is never ever failed me when I play I use three different types of snare drums, I'm also playing a piccolo snare drum too for more jazzy sounding music I think it's great that people look in to this with rocking drummers because I saw a large on Master of puppets and quite a few other tours one of my main influences is Scott Travis the Judas Priest he played the same circuit I played is a very great guy I've learned a lot from his instructions and also from Tommy alderson Carmen Appice .
Awesome! Drum history making history!
Love the 70's,80's dtum kits. awesome sounds. & cymbals.
I'm not a Metallica or Lars Fan, heck even metal in general, but this was well done. Great job guys!
Thanks Brent!
meanwhile me waiting for the part 2 👹🫶🏻
Thanks for watching! Part 2 is coming soon, I am exporting it now :)
Yes!!! 🙏 Thank You!!!
The chrome Imperialstar kit would have been later in the production of that line, and it wouldn't have had re-rings inside those shells. You'll find the thick re-rings on the early standard depth Imperialstars and I can't say I've ever seen one power depth Imperialstar that's had rings as those sizes came out later in production of that series.
That is correct. Only 1976 to 79(?) had the really heavy reinforcement rings. Yes, and Zola coated….Imperialstar and Swingstar both. I have the same 1976 metallic blue kit as Stewart Copeland…close serial # to his. Incredible sounding drums….Imperialstar. I’m almost certain those Imperialstar kits were all 9-ply Luan(Philippine Mahogany).
In 1980 the reinforcement rings got thinner
The Slingerland snare you guys discussed might be a chrome over brass snare. Basically the larger version of the Gene Krupa cob signature snare they made which was a 5x14 and the one lars has looks like 6.5x14. Shout out to @Rogersdrumvideos on the snare info!
I agree. It was also called the Soundking snare I believe...I have had both the 5x14 and 6,5x14 version of that and what great snares they are!
The tape pattern on the bottom of his toms are probably the Danish Flag.
Since a while Regal tip sticks are back. The Porcaro sticks are available like regular A5 sticks etc. About others like Ulrich there was no info om the RT site
Could prices of the 86 Artstar be parts of the kit he used in 95?
Not likely. Completely different lug design between the 2 stage used kits
33:39 Zildjian A's (avedis) regular finish. Platinums did not come out until later. these have a gold tone to them. Platinums were bright silver. Platinums are on the MOP kits
I've been using Yamaha hardware all my life and never had an issue with any of it, especially it falling, over unless it was my fault in how I set it up, but that goes for any hardware. I still have a set of 80's hardware that works just as good as when it was new, of course I now have the new stuff, I'm just saying.
Camber cymbals. Cheever em out. Probably Lars' first cymbals. My buddy had them. They're like Cannon grin Struthers Ohio. My home town drum shop.
Loved this big time but being a fellow nerd he had gone over to the z customs whilst playing the mirror chrome Tama superstar ...best regards from the UK
The behind the kit shot at 31:26 you can see that there isn't a 3" difference in diameter between the last rack tom (which is known to be a 15") and the first floor tom. Those floors are 16" and 18" which would have been consistent with the XTRAS 50+4B 8934B configuration.
Thanks for all the great info Mike - I appreciate you watching and adding to the conversation
Not necessarily. That angle could be a tad deceiving.
@@brownhooque I work with scale and ratio as a finish carpenter and often have to determine things like this based off of designers renderings and photos. I've gotten pretty good at figuring these things out taking into consideration angles/perspectives of photos.
I remember in the 80s him saying he used the 5B in his right hand and a 2B in his left.
Hi Chris and Bart, great post that I really enjoyed! @Chris: Great respect for your detailed research. Since I've had Metallica in my heart since around 1988 and play drums myself, I was able to confirm a lot of your comments and also learned a lot of new things - thank you for that! However, I noticed one small thing: the drum throne was never discussed in terms of hardware. Do you have any information on this? Or did I miss that? Anyway: Great job!!! And yes, a post about the drum equipment in the studios would be interesting! (Especially for Zildjian and Tama ;-) ) Cheers from Cologne/Germany \m/
The snare you're asking about is a Slingerland (20:25)
8:10 I'm seeing 4 crashes and a ride
Chris you got the last Lars monkey on the planet! I would love to find one!
Regal Tip is back in business.
So stoked to listen/watch to this 🤘
Thanks man!
I'm sure it's been mentioned by now, but the Slingerland snare is a TDR/Buddy Rich model.