My first drum set was a three piece no-name Japanese stencil kit made by Pearl: 22x14, 9x13, 5.5x14 with one ride cymbal on the bass drum and a hihat. It seems I have come full circle now.
Read moreFrom Editor George Lawrence
Model Numbers in Vintage Gretsch Drums
Tags from a 1963 Gretsch Round Badge set
Gretsch began placing paper labels inside their drums in about 1962. The paper labels possessed both model numbers and serial numbers. The focus of this article is on how model numbers were presented on the paper labels.[i] Knowledge of how Gretsch expressed model number is another useful dating tool.[ii]
Read moreHomage to Charlie
I never met Charlie or any other of the Rolling Stones but I feel fortunate as I was able to indirectly help put a rare WFL drum Charlie owned back to original shape. Charlie acquired a late 30’s WFL twin snare drum that had off-set lugs and the type of strainers that often broke at the tip. Charlie’s drum had one broken strainer and his tech, Don McAulay was looking to find a replacement strainer
Read moreRich Russo: Drum Tech Stories and Insights
I had no experience as a drum tech or even what my duties would be other than setting up a drum kit. So, our touring began late January 2002 and ran the entire year with only a few days off in between tours. We toured the world, performing in Japan, Australia, US, Canada, UK and Europe also doing TV shows which included The Carson Daly Show, Conan O’Brien Show and Saturday Night Live and festivals such as Ozzfest and the Vans Warped Tour (Ozzfest was the first time I had to fill in for Donald on a show, due to unforeseen circumstances).
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