A Look at Lars Ulrich's Gear (Part 2) with Chris Russio 

I watched both of these episodes & I wanna give mad props to Chris Russio for doing a phenomenal job. You’re a regular dude who loves drums & Metallica. You’re not a podcaster (to my knowledge) or a dude that works in media & you knocked this out of the park man. Can’t be easy to film this much content & not say “umm” & “like” & run off topic etc. I know Id sound like a complete moron after awhile with all of that. But you were great man. You might wanna get into this type of thing brother. You got the knack & the knowledge. 🍻 cheers bro!

I worked at the kick-off gig of the Wherever We May Roam European leg tour on October 22 1992 in Ghent (Belgium). Lars had two identical kits on stage. Two drum kits were typically setup on opposite sides of the stage, with the ability to lower the kits down below the stage or raise it to the stage itself, as well as move the kits around to different positions on the stage. After the show we just had to wheel the risers with the kits fully mounted into the truck. They stayed fully set-up and miked during transport.

This was an awesome interview. The other thing worth mentioning is that in the 2001 alongside the diamond plated signature snare, they also came out with a Lars signature snare that was a scorched earth bell brass.

The 89 kit from the shows in Brazil is not a pearl, its a Luthier, custom made here in São Paulo by Tibério Correa. Great episode!

Zildjian actually offered a cymbal microphone system!

Wow.......all this love for the Black hardware kit. Personally,I never really cared for it. Just didn't do it for me.

The snare drum used in the studio was Tama’s bell brass, not Gretsch. The the rest was Gretsch. The snare drums on the white Artstar kits were bell brass as well. I had the privilege to see his drum tec set up his kit back in 1993.

1986 Metallica Play the capital tyesterday in pasaic new jersey. I was a Stage hand. Also help the drum tech set up lars kit. My first Tama kit was the Imperial star. In 1974 or 75. Powder blue

Did he ever used his brass signature snare drum?

Nice, I only found your channel yesterday because of Part 1 and now Part 2 is out. Brilliant work guys.

You didn’t mention what I most expected, the studio drum sets :-(

Just found your channel. Big Lars fan, super entertaining, heavy hitter. Great listening to you guys geek out!

Please ask Chris if he cares that I broke my elbow!

Love the Lars episode its the best! Hoping to get a Lars Ulrich replica Artstar 2 kit!

Love all these gear vids. For YEARS I thought Lars' Chrome finish was like a shiny black. Didn't realize it was chrome until watching the previous vid. That shell supporter is interesting but actually pretty unnecessary. Just needed to keep the front reso rim on and if you wanted an open front just cut out the head and have the ring.

Awesome couple of videos guys! As a Lars fanboy/nerd myself I'd like to point out a few things: - Black Album tour Cymbals, the 19" tended to be an A Rock Crash - when he downsized the Artstar II in 94, he also used a standard Tama Brass 14x6.5 snare - the silver sparkle Granstar was infact a Starclassic prototype with Granstar lugs - the kick drum heads for Load were still initially Pinstripes, he eventually changed to Powerstroke 3. The splash Cymbal was a 12" Z Custom splash. - St Anger, he still used A Medium Crashes, Z Dyno Beats ALSO, very very briefly, a 10" A Splash mounted on his left side crash. 2nd China was a 20" Z Custom China. - Tama also released a Lars Signature Bell Brass: 350 were made, he never used one live. - Death Magnetic is when he switched to A Custom Projection Crashes, he still used his Z Custom Dyno Beats despite the range being discontinued and 2nd China changed to a 20" Oriental China Trash. Marigold Sparkle was Darker than the LU Magnetic Orange finish: 2 different finishes. A 20" A Ping Ride has made sporadic appearances on his setup since then to this day for certain songs eg Bleeding Me. Also changed kick heads to Remo Powersonic depending on the venue which he still does to this day. - when Hardwired came out, the 1st Black edition of his steel snare was released which he also played; 300 were released. He changed from the Danmar Kick Pads (which were the plastic ones, used since Load) to the Gibraltar Kick Pads, still uses today. Not meant to come across like I'm picking holes in anything, just offering info haha. I'm also an owner of one of the 25 Signature Artstar II kits, the only one in the UK - head over to my page if you wanna hear what it sounds like 🤟

Dude He had the grey kit then the fuckin white kit lmfao he’s the best. Love Chris.

I paused Some Kind of Monster during the recording of St Anger part, and Lars was clearly playing a blue Ludwig Vistalite snare on his kit.

Encino Man: Infectious Grooves (Mike Muir is the singer)

I always wondered if the sparkle kit with the Granstar lugs was a prototype for Starclassic. Also the St. Anger snare sound is first kinda heard on “I Disappear” and nobody complained…

DW drop lock had a large lever just like Lars’. It could be a DW?

Appreciate the time and passion. Tremendous guys. 🤘🏻

I was waiting for part 2, thanks guys!! Didn't disappoint.

1:04:00 Actually the very last thing they did together was the Metallica Classic Albums Documentary. That's the day Jason left. And it was the exact same day of Cliff's death, September 27th

Just watched both episodes of the Lars Ulrich kits. Very very cool. Ty. Dave in northwest Indiana. 😅

Back in the early 2000s, I thought I knew everything about Lars' drum kits. And then somewhere around 2020 what used to be a Granstar II kit became am Artstar II. It's so weird to think you know something and then you dont. Now, for years there was a debate that Lars had a gray kit, some people swore he had light blue kit. If you look at the Metallica museum they had for the Orion festival, it shows a Black and White kit and it's labelled Damaged Justice Tour 1988-1989. But at the end of a Year & A Half video, Lars has a gray kit with chrome hardware. So, is it possible the black & white kit sometimes looked gray or light blue due to shade or lighting? As for the drop clutch, I've been told DW also by others online. When I contacted Tama in the early 2000s, they said Tama doesn't make a drop clutch and the contact wasn't sure who made his clutch. Now Gibraltar had a drop clutch that looked exactly like Lars' clutch from Seattle '89. However, Gibraltar didn't start until 1993. But that arm matches exactly. Somewhere I have an old catalog with the clutch shown. Also some more interesting notes, Zildjian had different types of Chinas. They had chinas that are just chinas, then china low boys and china high boys and also swish knockers.

Maracanãzinho = Little Maracanã stadium Rio de Janeiro 1989! 🤘🤘🤘

In 1997, Bob Kasha purchased Ahead Drumsticks from Easton Sports...been a long time. I had no idea until I searched. AHEAD is an acronym for Advanced High Efficiency Alloy Drumstick. Who knew?!

specs on that Load era kit splash is a 12” Z Custom Splash - always struck me as wild that of all sizes of splashes the dude could have, he chose 12” LOL

AAAAHHH! Now it's white kit! My two favorites: the grey one from the damaged justice tour and the white one from the black album tours. Congratulations!! AMAZING WORK!

I can’t believe Lars switched from the Bell Brass snare to a steel snare. That Bell Brass is legendary and highly sought after. I’d love to have one but I can’t cough up 5K for a snare.

Nobody every brings up when Lars had the Zildjian K's during the st anger era. He had that big (probably 21,22') like crash ride that was indeed a Zildjian k, with the kinda trashy non brilliant finish

You guy should do the same for Dave Lombardo🤟☠️🤟

It was so cool to see the black album kit ('94 7 piece variation) make a comeback for the 72 seasons music video sessions!

Jason Last concert was VH1 MYMUSIC AWARDS 30 November, 2000

Oh fuk yea. I wasnt sure if yoy where gunna wait 7 weeos until.posting the next episode or what

For whatever it's worth I saw a handful of shows from 1988-1992 including the first Seattle 1989. The drum sound at the May 1992 Seattle Coliseum shows with what I guess was the white Artstar II - one of the biggest, cleanest live drum sounds I ever witnessed. A couple of others that come to mind AVH from that same year on what I remember was chrome finished Ludwig and Simon Philiips with the Who in 1989 - he had some red Tamas. I'm a Yamaha guy but hats off a high respect for Tama particularly from that era. My bandmate/friend had a Tama Granstar and that thing was (and probably still is) great. Real punchy, tons of attack.

Ahead Drumstick info to share for more clarity… it started with Easton who made sports equipment but that partnership ended long ago, so its just Ahead which is distributed by Big Bang Dist. Ahead sticks have shock absorption built in so they are better for your hands and arms. They outlast at least 6 pairs of wood sticks which could cost $50, so one pair of Ahead sticks at about $32 is more cost effective, saving us money.

I also remember that during the Freddie Mercury tribute he had another mismatch set and was using bass drums and floor toms that had chrome lugs and the stands were chrome.

I heard his snare was carved out of oscar the grouchs can

Actually! The load-kit was used all the way up to 2003 doin the parking loot gig and it also made an appearence im 2013 doin the kill em all thingy.

Between this and the Neil Peart series, I'm in drum nerd heaven. Thank you! Now let's spare a thought for the poor soul who's currently researching Mike Portnoy's many, many, many [Two hours later...] many, many drumkits for the inevitable 27-hour podcast. :)

watched the entire series of videos, imho power toms are a little too much 😂 although I love tuning my floor toms very low for the same effect, hopefully we see a retail drumkit of the 72s tour kit! 🎉👹🫶🏻

I just found your channel very cool.

The silver sparkle kit with the Grandstar lugs is the first Starclassic prototype kits. Starclassic maple shells with Grandstar lugs.

Very cool gear rundown!!! I did some sleuthing a while ago because I had a set of SC Bubingas in Scorched Copper Burst that I wanted to get more drums for, even though that finish was discontinued over 10 years now. Tama still makes Starclassic Maple in Japan but only for the Japan drum market, they moved SC to China about 12 years ago for current production for the rest of the world. Until a year or two ago, you could order Starclassic Maple made in Japan in those discontinued finishes, but it is priced as Star Maple drums, but you don't get the newer hardware perks that are offered on Star currently. Lars' current kit is Starclassic Maple made in Japan in Sunny Yellow Lacquer. Also worth mentioning: at the time they release the first iteration of his signature snare, two snares were actually released: the diamond plate steel snare, and the BELL BRASS 14x6.5 snare! They discontinued the bell brass snare not because of the price, but also because many who did play and review the snare said it didn't sound any different than the steel snare for 2/3rd the price. Cheers!

Easton and Ahead. I had is a bicycle equipment. That also make headlamps. And as you explained Easton make baseball and softball and other sports equipment. To my knowledge both companies were adjoined to create the drumsticks. Then Easton sold most of their share to a different company leaving Ahead as as the majority share owner. Hence Easton dropping their name from the product

If I remember correctly, The Ramones also used the flame drums in Brazil. And I heard it was stolen in the 90s.

I was hoping it wouldn't take long to get part 2 on. Thanx guys.

Awesome content! The ’96 live kit’s ride was probably there for Load’s first single Until It Sleeps. Cheers!

Made it through both episodes. I’ll probably watch again haha. Have absolutely adored Lars gear since I was a kid. Thanks for all the details Chris and for you guys caring enough to make these episodes. So many drummers around the world love these kits and can appreciate this hard work you’ve done. Cheers

Joey Cramer had all white powder coating on his tama kit during the 90’s

Last time I saw em live was Monsters of Rock in Philly and they played Harvester as a tease cuz justice wasn't out yet. P. S. Awesome F-IN show.

In the 94’ kit, he took the base Tom mount off. He didn’t get new virgin basses from tama. The toms are 12” and 14”

awesome mini series

I used ahead sticks for 5 years and no, they do not last A BIT longer. They lasted minimum 10 - 20 times longer. Even the plastic sleeves would last 2 or 3 times as long as wood sticks and they were cheap to replace I had pairs of ahead sticks that lasted 2 years, or 1 years at rhe absolute least The problem is they don't bounce as well which is why I now use oak sticks, but I also play electric kits so they almost never break anyways

Something I may add up about Lars keeping his old drum kits… you can clearly see the old white kit on Liz eterna and other videos of the 72 seasons videos

Greetings from South Bend, WA. Thank you so much for the very entertaining and informative production covering the topic of Lars. I loved it from the beginning to present. I’m not a real Metallica fan, but I am a drum set fan, and you did a marvelous job here.

I went to MetLife show too! 🤘🤙

Yeah Tama can get expensive.....My kit is worth a little over 18G. Its not cheap😊

🤔 "everything black" EXCEPT the tuning rods.

Splash cymbal was used in the song "Hero of the Day"

I do know that one of those retail kits was sold in Birmingham, Al at Nuncie's Music by Gary Asher. He's still around. Nuncie's is not.

Awesome stuff guys! Love all the details. I was really bummed when episode 2 was done, because it was so much fun to listen/watch to. Would love to see a Lars Ulrich Studio-gear episode. Hats off to you guys!

Sending a hige thank to you... i'm Fan of lars since 1988.... and ita awesome to get this fact's about his drum Kits after so many years..... thanks for all the work your put in .... and like you said - i love to play on my bigger set since 1991 till today Grettings from 🇩🇪🤘

I've always dug Tama hardware, just very good simple heavy duty n fair price

This was awesome, Thankyou both for taking the time to do this. We all Love anything Metallica. And Lars inspired me to want to learn drums.but until recently I was never able to start. and even though it's not Tama i have bought my first Drum kit At age 45yrs (me not the kit) and slowly finding the time to have a go at learning from ear and video.

I agree The White Artstar From Black Album era i wanted that kit so bad , I called sam ash when it was released it was 6,000$ in 1993 , for a 16 year old Not happening , but the Nostalgia of it would have me get it in a heart beat now. i thought Jason last performance was when they played the MTV awards live fade to black performance. in like 2001 ?..... and yes because the bad rep the st anger snare sounds gets , his Signature snare a lot of people put it down but the truth it's one of the best Snare drums out there

Did you say his Japan kit was a Birch and Cordia mixture? I'm not up on Tama shell combos, but is Cordia typically mixed with Birch? I ask, because I can't get away from thinking it'd be Mahogany with it, not Birch. Given the sonic differences, I wonder how they sounded. Like I say, I'm woefully ignorant of a fair bit of Tama knowledge. I know a lot, but more on thee various lines, sizes, and oddball drums. I had an 12pc 80's imperialstar set. Had 6,8,10 concerts, 12,13,14,15 racks, 16,18 floors a 24×14 and a black "to match" Ludwig 22×16 kick. Had a double pedal on the 24, with a single on the 22. I can't figure out why no one else does their off sized kicks that way, or hell even off tuned from each other, but matching kicks. I could choose to have that chugging gallop, or the machine gun effect. Anyways. That kit, a Rockstar Pro, let's see... Ooh! I had a 5pc Grandstar II as well. I, along with Lars, don't like the single piece lugs. Fun fact, the ones on my Rockstar kits, were 3 piece. Remove the lug casing, and theres just a u shaped bar running between them, I just took it off, boom, short lugs. Not on the Grandstar kit though, and my big kit had shortys.

I watched the whole thing. So good! A couple of things. Chris said Lars used a Gretsch bell brass to record the black album it was actually a Tama bell brass with Grestch drums. Also the kit that Lars uses “in front of the V stage in the DM tour appears to be electronic. For the St Anger album he used a Ludwig accrolyte. As far as triggers go, i thought he did but the raw phone recordings in the M72 tour show the sound to be accurate. Lastly you both failed to mention the changes in Lars’ hairline over the years he he. Just kidding. I love Lars, he is the reason I play drums…

Metallica. Is the only heavy metal band that has withstood the test of time to the fullest

I thought Jason's last performance was the VH1 Music Awards 2000? It was Fade To Black as mentioned, but not S&M.

3 Points: 1. Nothing will ever beat Lars' justice kit that Chris has in the background. When I first watched the video for "One" that connected me to the drums forever. 2. I really love the kit from '96 - '99. In particular the 1 used on the first S&M - It just had everything you needed in a drum kit. A Ride! 3. Load - Lars went for more of a groove approach. 2 X 4 as an example. Like Bleeding Me, Outlaw Torn also had splashes. The drumming on Outlaw Torn is much different than we are use to with Lars. Check out the middle part of the track starting at 5:11 for reference. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-w7DrZ2plOVo.html Really enjoy the commentary!

Robert Trujillo was in Infectious Grooves in Encino Man. Do some research, man. That was when he actually used his talent.

I had a DW clutch I bought from Thoroughbred in Tampa in like 95 so they were around. I was like12 so it was the only thing I had money for. It was like $ 45

Didn't he use the splash on Unforgiven 2? Right toward the beginning? And I think I remember it being a 12", could be wrong, but pretty sure.

The microphones on the toms (and symbols) were ATM350D’s but changed to DPA4099 after S&M2 because the frequency response was better for the recordings of the show. A lot of Audio Technica mics we’re used since the St. Anger period up until S&M2. Kick was AE2500 mounted on a Kelly Shu shock mount, ATM230 I believe on snare top, bottom was a condensor (not sure which type, I have to look it up), also a ATM450 side condenser on hi-hat. Later during the hardwired tour some Roland RT-30 triggers were also mounted on the toms and kicks.

i hope ypu can do an episode about the drum that he used for RECORDING which was pretty different compared to his live kit. Like when he recorded load, he was still using 24" bass drum with a smaller Starclassic reck toms and in St Anger he was actually used Power Tom again.

Watched both. Love Lars! Love all his drums! I'm a Ludwig guy ,especially the supraphonic, but his signature snare does sound great. I don't like or understand the load of crap he gets ,but everyone has an opinion right thanks for the great videos. Gonna be watching the Peart series now

Yeah, that is clearly a wood snare, and for a fact they are Artstar II's. BUT, didn't he use a z dynobeat bottom on top, and an A series rock bottom on bottom of his hats? I've also heard he used 2 dyno bottoms. So, I'm not 100% on anything but the dyno bottom once lol. Now I'm not really sure of the timeframe of this, I'm thinking justice and black? Not sure exactly.

they were 3500 a kit , a friend of mine bought one in williamstown MA from dromesound in NY

The DW black and gold kits were the order of the day for a while there, I wish I could have one in my home just to oggle at, and I don't play drums! 🤣 Also I love the Gretsch Catalina maple kits for sheer classic beauty, and even more unobtainium - The Who's Keith Moon Pictures of Lily kit, did they ever remake these? please let us know if you have further info

Noticing his cymbal setup.. How many years has it been that hes replaced his ride cymbal with a china? There's a lot of messages in this post it might be there. I was just too lazy to look around...😬👌 tx!

Hey guys! Great content! Love the indepth work you guys have done🤘 Would love to have more info//stories on the use of the famous Tama Bell Brass Snare. These snares have just grown in popularity and price😅 Cool the hear you guys mention it and that he started using it in 96" on the cunning stuns. However on the pic from Donnington in 95" you guys show, it seems like he is using a BB snare? Also would be cool the hear the reason why he choose to not use the Bell Brass Hoops, I dont know if anyone has an idea about that? Also cool that you guys mention his signature snares, but you left out his Scorched Earth Bell Brass signature snare? Also I had no idea he was using a Gretsch Bell Brass in the studio on the recording of The Black Album, I always though it was Tama. Cool information, keep up the great work! Cheers, from Norway🤘

This was awesome! Thank you so much for putting it together! Something that I thought would be interesting that was overlooked was the signature bell brass snare drum that was released along with the diamond plate. I feel as though it’s one of the most under appreciated and unknown bell brass snare drums out there. It’s also one of the coolest ones that the Tama pallet has ever offered.I believe Lars used it during S&M, but then obviously it went away.

Love this! I have a Lars purple kit. Thought I was the only one that was so into and obsessed with Lars’ drum set up and gear..good to know I’m in good company 😂

It was a 12” Z Custom splash during the Load era when he brought the ride back which I think was an A Custom Ping Ride.

This is great! Thanks so much! Anyone know whats the deal with Lars drop clutch? I am curious if there is a trick to getting that nice sizzle he gets when the top cymbal is dropped. I can see that the top cymbal is pretty slack, letting it breath, but I have only been able to get close to the sound by using a small spring that helps the cymbals get a bit more slosh. THANKS!!

The drumkit HR used in Brasil isn’t a Pearl. This drumkit is a legend here um Brazil, it is a Luthier Custom made by Tiberio Luthier!

As far a thinner cymbals go, engineers generally prefer them over heavy ones. Heavier cymbals actually don’t respond as well and can sound really harsh to microphones. We hit drums but it’s better to swipe cymbals.

The Motherload contest only had one winner. I live about 50 miles from Aberdeen so my friend and me drove out there and got to meet them. They must've signed autographs for a thousand people. That is where i first learned that Lars smoked. He was smoking like a chimney. I couldn't believe it. I've never seen him smoking on TV or in interviews. It was great to see. Smoking rocks!

Thank you guys for doing this....

You should do a show about Tim Alexander’s kit from the band Primus.

Talking about triggers - you guys completely missed, when he used pearl e-pre “heads”.

They could have been a great band if they only had kept Newsted and replaced Lars with Rick Allen.

I bet they were well expensive to buy, the big drum kits& cymbals, etc.

I'm sure he played some dark crashes in st anger? I vaguely remember reading in rhythm magazine he did.

Interesting note? On the yellow kit at 1:15:00, there are triggers on the bottom heads of the rack toms.!‽ (edit) And a few minutes later they are mentioned!

Did I miss the change of the sticks? When did He go to the Ahead aluminum sticks?

Funny how lars kit keeps shrinking and shrinking. Pretty soon his kit will be nothing but a single bass drum, high hat, snare, and one tom