A Look At Neil Peart's Gear with Paul Wells (Part 2: 1982 to 1994) - EP 197 

Thanks to everyone for watching! Check out Part 3 here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iRhASmUGQSY.html

Ludwig era is my favorite. The drums cut through and had such a great sound. DW era all his Tom’s sound like timbales

For me, Neil's drum sound on "Power Windows" is just beautiful. I know "Power Windows" is a maligned album, and it is compressed. But, that snare sound cracks loud, and the bass drums are booming! It has been my go to album for a while now. As a lifelong RUSH fan, I realize I'm in the minority here.

Little trivia, Peart sent the CAP kit to Tama's custom shop in 1984 to be refinished just ahead of filming the video for " Distant Early Warning". Brian Whalen who ran the custom shop at Hoshino in Bensalem Pa only had 2 weeks to refinish the kit. After it was finished it was packed in cases and sent to the video shoot. When it was pulled out of the cases, the paint which didn't have a chance to cure gased off and the paint " orange peeled". They shot the video and the kit was sent back to Tama and had to be refinished again before the tour. I spoke with Brian Whalen about it and he said it was the most stressful situation he was ever in. This is verified by an interview with Neil's drum tech in an old MD magazine.

I spent more than 15 years trying to replicate the tom sound of the Ludwig kit with different heads/tuning etc. That was until I finally found a 1990 superclassic on e bay and I was home. the sweetest , most expressive and melodic drums I have ever had.

The Ludwigs on "A Show of Hands" sounded the best. The later concerts with the DW's couldn't compare. (I also play DW's)

You can have 4 hour episodes on each kit and most of us would watch lol. Great podcast as usual. (First time caller, long time listener) lol Keep up the great videos!!

I have long wondered what happened to Larry allen and why neil got rid of him after so many years. Anybody know why?

Regarding the Counterparts bass drum. Most in concert pictures show the bass drum with the standard Ludwig diamond mount plate. The pictures from the Canadian museum have the Modular plate mounted in the same spot. I believe they are the same drum, a 22", but for one reason or another, the mount plate was changed. This is not that surprising. Neil was a heavy hitter and those Ludwig mount plates were pretty solid, but probably not solid enough for Neil. The modular mount would have fit the downtube and most likely covered all of the original mounting holes. So my theory is that this was a mid tour repair/upgrade. This kit was also apparently given away in pieces to many people by Larry Allen during their hiatus after Neil's personal tragedy. Lorne had to track down all of the pieces to be able to put it together to put the kit on display. I believe it was the Hard Rock, or Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum. After this, the kit was given to the Canadian museum. This sorted history probably explains why there are some Test for Echo parts on the kit as it sits now.

Paul, crotale rhymes with timbale.

What about the Zildjian mics he used at this time?

Remember in the rush documentary when Freddie Gruber said Neil was easy because he wasn't crazy and that they didn't have to go to some strange place. I always wondered what and who he DID have to do that with.

So grateful to both of you. Any Neil fan has had these questions and thoughts over the years.

I'm a huge Neil/Rush fan and fellow drum-nerdlinger. This is amazing guys thanks so much!!!

The White Ludwig kit with the 6" 8" & 10" power toms (seen in the Time Stands Still video) was afterwards augmented with a regular 6" concert tom for the Hold Your Fire/Presto Tours and subsequent videos, which is not mentioned in this rundown. The 'A Show Of Hands' video clearly has the 6" concert tom as the 1st tom, a few inches lower than the 6" power tom. It's mic'd underneath/internally, while the others are mic'd above (of course). The 6" concert tom uniquely had a Black Dot head also. The 'Lock And Key' video on RU-vid, you can clearly see it at 1:36-37 if you pause it. You can also see it on the 'Show Don't Tell' video. Sorry to nit-pick, but that neglected little guy needs some recognition! EDIT: When I hit SEND on this comment, I was stopped by RU-vid and informed that this comment was deemed "inappropriate" and was against their community guidelines!?!?!?!? I hit the "Post Anyway" option...Hope I don't get cancelled/in trouble for mentioning a small Concert Tom! 😂

It seems like his double bass drum kit had a more symmetrical look to it. The new kit has weird angles in it. 24 inch bass drums look amazing. Also, Neil’s snare, ride, and hi hat sound always kicked ass. Vinnie, Lang, Cobham, Bruford, are all amazing, but their catalog of music is endless. Rush, that is.

As a non drummer Rush devotee, these videos about Neil’s kits are fantastic. Thanks guys.

Amazing discussion. Thanks guys. I thought I knew a lot about Neill‘s gear, but holy crap. What’s really incredible is the amount of information that’s available at our fingertips. I remember scouring music stores and magazines in the late 70’s and early 80’s for any little tidbits of information about Rush. What a different world we live in now.

crow - tall - lays

I have a question for Paul: On Neil Work in Progress DVD recording, The Hi-Hat doesn’t look a 13 New Beat Hat’s, the hammering style looks like a K Hi-Hats. Do you agree or I’m wrong?

Hey guys, don´t mind about how long your podcasts are lasting: Both Episodes were great so far and I´m really looking forward to part 3! I have not counted the minutes and time was just flying. You´re doing an amazing job. Thank you so much so far!

Thanks for taking the time to do this you guys. As a lowly drummer and a long time RUSH fan this information is fantastic. The heart ache of Neil's loss is still with us. Talking about him and his Drums eases the pain.

The comment about the 16” floor tom on the first Ludwig kit finally makes sense! Neil rearranged that kit to record Roll the Bones, moving the floor tom over to the left side. I could never figure out how he didn’t have a HUGE tonal separation on songs like Bravado between the 18” and the 15”. That’s because it was a 16”….which is what he had the RTB kit made with for the tour. Great stuff!

Crotale is pronounced CROW-tahl-ee

np said when he turned the concert toms into dbl headed "they just came alive."

One piece of equipment not mentioned ( his practice kits too ) only due to it not being a part of his kits was his BMW GS 1100 and 1200. After reading Neil's memoirs, it's clear the motorcycle became a form non playing, playing if you will. He said a lot of riding is a rhythm which required focus, in turn helped him while playing. It was also a day long warm up for him in more ways than one, as well as being relaxing and enjoyable. Neil went from his bike to concert practice kit to main kit for each show. I believe the BMW is one reason Neil could play so long as it built his stamina. If you haven't seen it, here is a video of Neil back during the Snakes and Arrows tour trying to keep his composure. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QuL_euRslTc.html . Rush was very good to the road crew and like you said, had some people from the start. I know Ray Daniels started first, then Howard Ungerleider, then came the techs etc.. The proof of their goodness, is like you said, the same techs and crew keep coming back even after a 7 year sabbatical. Amazing ! Neil's DW Time Machine kit has to be an Absolute DW Masterpiece ! A kit that changed color with lighting angles. Brilliant ! It was also Copper enhanced with cymbals and head rings. Neil's white Ludwig was actually a white pearl with light metallic sparkles. Out of Ghost Rider, Vapor Trails was created ! Neil's first Buddy Rich Tribute, Neil's monitor went out while playing Cotton Tail and had to keep turning his ear to the band in order to stay in step. Check it out here on RU-vid, Neil Peart - Cotton Tail/with drum solo. Another great video guys ! Thank you for the time !

Neil was my first major, long term drumming idol. I grew up in the 1970s, so I remember the premiere of MTV very well. I was around ten years old and very much interested in music, so a whole channel dedicated to it was a big deal! I was also becoming intrigued by the drums at that time, but Rush was still a few years away for me. That interest grew and grew, and by 14 was irretrievably dedicated to learning about drums and drummers and drumming. I grew up in a big family with little extra money, so it was MTV that allowed me to actually see the people I had heard so many times on the radio. My hometown of Dubuque, Iowa was located on HWY 20 and many big name artists would book shows at our local civic center or local colleges as they traveled east or west on their nationwide tours. Rush actually played here a few times! However, we didn’t have a lot of money for concert tickets, and traveling was not a realistic expectation, so MTV was a critical element as I progressed along my new journey. I first saw Neil play on MTV, and he became the only drummer I cared about for a several years! I was fascinated by watching him play, especially those overhead camera angles which were completely dominated by his amazing drum set. I was hooked, big time. The summer before I entered my sophomore year in high school I spent countless hours playing along with my cassette tape of Moving Pictures, trying my best to learn those priceless drum orchestrations. By the time I entered my junior year I could play the entire album reasonably well from front to back. No formal lessons, no vcr tapes, certainly no internet in 1987-88, it was all done using my ears and my imagination, which had been trained and honed a few years earlier by air drumming like a man obsessed in my sister’s room. I practically wore out her stereo’s turntable and vinyl records! I have to thank groups like Journey, Culture Club, Loverboy, Michael Jackson, Don Henley and Dan Fogelberg for their unwitting contributions to my burgeoning drumming abilities. Had there been a television show back then that was anything like this podcast, I would have been completely blown away and obsessed, haha! Thank you for sharing this captivating discussion and for prompting me to take some time to revisit those early memories of my first steps along this lifelong path of musical exploration and of my relationship with drumming. I’ll make it a point to visit there more often.

The S900 was 12 bits, but there was a 16 bit upgrade board designed by Tom Oberheim. I still have one, with an 8 input trigger board installed.

While Weckl did have the left/hi-hat side floor tom around 1986, Larry Mullen Jr (U2) was doing that in 1984.

I'm glad Paul mentioned the head change whiich happened when Neil swtiched to Ludwig. I thought I'd remembered that he had started using clear Emperors (which Paul confirmed), but I didn't know that the resonants were actually Diplomats. That would definitely explain the degree of richness and openness of the sound on Hold Your Fire and especially on A Show of Hands. The toms were undampened and tuned quite tightly right down the line. My favorite sound of Neil's by a longshot. Those Ludwigs were a very wise choice. Had forgotten about Neil's yellow Gretschs. I think Alphonse Mouzon had some (in addition to everyone mentioned previously), as did Alex Acuna.

I have been waiting for part II Thank you guys !

I remember the issue of Modern Drummer where Neil introduced his Ludwigs. I was disappointed seeing as I had just been playing drums for 2 years and was a Tama guy.

Hold your fire is my favorite Rush album.

Very insightful videos, thank you. A little info on his Legato extra snare in the 90’s if I may. Legato were an Australian company that made very fine snare drums for predominantly Scottish style Pipe Bands. They became popular in the mid 80’s then Remo bought the rights. Super high pitched, plastic shells, Kevlar heads, two sets of snares, upside down lugs pulling the rim down tuned with Allen-keys. Difficult to maintain and tune unless you took the shells off and were left with the top and bottom rims. The original tone and quality of Legato were amazing and unfortunately weren’t then as good when Remo took over, they became very problematic and the quality in material, craftsmanship and strength just wasn’t as good anymore. I played both drums in pipe bands in Dublin, Ireland. The first set was purchased by the Dublin Fire Brigade Pipe band who were just starting out and played basic rudimental stuff. The high end competition bands bought sets in larger numbers but by then Remo had taken them over and the magic was gone. Premier had the market share and when they brought out the High Tension floating pipe band snare drum around 1986, anyone playing Legato made the switch. Now we have Andante, Pearl, Axial and Premier making pipe band drums, legato seem to be long gone.

The hand speed (for eg. Tom Sawyer) the impact of every nuanced note, the length of all their shows and yet he'd hardly break a sweat or showed any tension in his presentation. 95% of drummers would be gassed after 3 songs. Incredible feel and time

I still own my Akai S900 and S1000 samplers. 👍

These videos are fantastic!! Love talking about Neil and his drums! I'm a fan of any of his kits before DWs. Partially I think I'm not a fan of the DW time period because of how they engineered Rush in general during that time. This was the loudness wars timeframe so everything is compressed. DW's are fuller sounding drums but then you compress the heck out of it and now they sound even boomier. The recordings made everything sound muddier as the engineers were trying to give them that hard rock in your face sound. Counterparts was the best sounding "in your face" album and maybe the Ludwigs helped tame the boominess. I can't listen to Different Stages because of how compressed that recording is. I can barely make it through Vapor Trails (even the remixed version).

A couple of years before Neil started using Simmons drums , Steve Negus ...drummer for saga , I believe he was the Distributer of Simmons drums in Canada , he contacted Neil to see if he wanted to use Simmons , and Neil was NOT interested at all , but eventually changed his mind , I was recording drum tracks at Phase one studios at the time , and heard that from Steve . Thought I would share that with you . By the way Great job guys .

My only comment to add is that cocobolo wood is from South America, not Africa. This series is so incredible, I will have to watch this numerous times to obtain all the knowledge. Thank you so much for uploading

Great series guys! The Candy Apple Red Tama and Ludwig is the era of Rush that I grew up obsessing with Neil in. The "Pink" Ludwig kit was painted with a pearl paint. Pearls are a mica added to a clear paint sprayed over the white colour. The pearl works like a prism and refract light of different wave lengths which cause the colour to change depending on the angle it is viewed and the type of light hitting it.

Have been listening to these first few parts driving around and at work. Just glorious. One of the greatest series of all time. I had read and heard a lot about this stuff growing up in the Modern Drummer era and all that but the fact you guys are talking about it in such detail, taking your time, and sharing hopefully with a whole new generation of people is just beautiful. Thanks. Bravo.

IMO for this time range MP and PW by far had the best sound or at least the best recorded sound. Tama and Ludwig were the best. DW sucked.

1:43:30 He mentions Neil’s first lesson with Freddie Gruber. Is anyone able to find even a single audio or video recording of Gruber actually playing the drums? Every video I and others can find are only of him talking, and it’s kind of puzzling.

The CAR Tama kit was the best by far, super crisp. DW's were my least favorite.

"Time Stand Still" video, at the end you can see hiw he gets in and out of the (drum) configuration.

Great interview. My dad and Neil were pals. Got to meet all of them in ‘86 the 90’s. I can pass the first letter my dad got from Neil. Scan of it and the envelope.

This is an amazing channel/podcast. I can’t believe that I only discovered it a few days ago.

Next series, Metallica Lars drumsticks 8 parts.

I'm surprised that it wasn't mentioned that Neil said the Slingerland snare had modified bottom bearing edges that were very sharp. It really could be a whole separate discussion or set of discussions about his cymbals.

I owned a early 80’s Superstar kit and was almost positive they were 9 ply birch shells. Here they refer to them as 6 ply. Not exactly sure which is correct 🤔

Gretsch- Phil Collins and Charlie Watts also I believe.

Well that 1hr 47mins flew by. Love it… but a question. In the early set ups Neil mounts his 18” crash on the same stand a the 22” ride. How is he piggy backing them? I always assumed it was some custom work by his tech and I’m amazed the hole in the ride didn’t get worn over time.

Because the pang with rivets becomes a swish … otherwise same cymbal

Neil did not consider a Pearl kit I guess?

This was really cool but you didn't talk about his cymbal setup :(

Great episode. Having bought a new Yamaha Recording Standard 12-13-16-22 kit in 1986, it was cool finding out about the multi-brand drum shoot out to replace Tama. I just recently finished enlarging my core kit into an accurate "phantom kit" .. a "what if" Neil had gone Yamaha, what it would look like (complete with Starman heads, wood timbales, D# crotale, 'gong' bass, and speed king pedals). A video of "Limelight" (the first RUSH tune I learned) is on my channel if anyone wants to see the kit.

1:29:36 they are 5.5x6 and 5.5x8 just like Neil had them cut. I have the same kit and had them cut they same by Ludwig as they normally offered them in 6x9 an 8x9. 1:31:30 I have the same kit and mine does not appear to be quite as dark of a blue shadow but it could be the lighting.

The Legato snare is only the top portion of a Legato pipe band snare drum. Pipe band snare drums are super high tension. The design of a pipe drum snare drum is a secondary snare assembly in the underside of the top head. This era of the Legato, the top assembly attached to the top of the shell. One could have a spare assembly and quickly change them out, should a snare head break. So Neil was only using the top assembly, not the entire Legato snare drum.

Don’t skimp on the details for part three. This podcast has been nerd city for me thank you so much

Cool. I never cared for Peart's Drum Workshop drum concert sound. I thought maybe it was a concert miking issue or a tech setup issue. The DW drums sounded very muddy, and was a step backwards from the precise drum 'rock' sound of the 97 Molson Amphitheatre show. I saw Rush 11 times all the way back from when they opened for Arrowsmith to Snakes and Arrows. One thing I've always wondered about, how much practice time Peart needed to relearn the songs as his kit changed so much.

I was at the first Radio City show in 1983! A brand new band from England called Marillion opened. It was prog-bliss.

Is it true the clap on YYZ is two 2×4's slapped together?

I'm surprised this wasn't mentioned in either episode... wasn't the hole in ride cymbal made bigger so it get mounted below his 8" splash? Also, what stand/hardware was used for the ride/cowbell/splash combo?

I just love this series. I'm a Rush fanatic since Permanent Waves, and just never get sick of talking about Rush, listening to Rush, performing Rush...my point is made. I'm not even a good drummer, my primary instruments are keys, guitar & bass, but I've listened to their catalog so much, I can hear virtually every example in my head in real time, and that's fun as hell. I'm watching these out of order, first pt 1 , pt 3, now pt 2 but I don't care, because I'm sure in six months I'll be watching them all over again. Thanks to both of you for doing this!

I seem to remember Neil talking about a 23” base drum in some interview. I could be wrong but your discussion about it brought back that memory. Obviously it would be a custom thing for both drum and heads because I don’t think those exist. But I want to say I heard him mentioning a 23” inch that would have been about that time frame. I’m totally nerding out on these discussions. So much fun. Would make for an excellent book with pictures. I haven’t seen some of those you showed here.

Wish the photos were onscreen longer. I know what the host and guest look like.

Love these videos and thanks for making them. Even though I've always loved DW hardware and the sound of their drums, I have to agree. The DWs were my least favorite drum sound from Neil. My fav was the Tama's, 2nd the Ludwig's, 3rd the Slingerland's and last, the DWs.... I don't know if it was the drums themselves or the tuning, but they seemed to be tuned WAY too high pitched and didn't really ring like DWs are know for. The first of the DWs were prob the best, and also the lowest and best tone, IMO.

This is fantastic! Thank you!

My favourite Niel Peart sounds are from his Tama "era" , thanks for the videos :)

The knowledge Paul Wells has about drums, drummers, and drumming is insanely mind boggling!

The Ludwig floor tom was indeed a 16". Not 18".

I have a signed drum head from Neil that says “Happy Drumming” so I knew his cd was genuine🥂

I know mics are not covered here but it’s interesting to note that around the era of the white Ludwig kits Neil used the Zildjian under cymbal mics that would pick up each cymbal. It’s the little black boxes you see on the cymbal stands under the cymbals in several photos.

After hearing about, and agreeing with the comments about Peart's Ludwig sound, I'm very interested to hear about the transition to DW. I find DW to have this generic sound, so I really want to hear what Peart saw in their drums.

Brilliant job guys. Neil was truly a "Work in progress". Such a continual innovator at improving his drumming capabilities, tones and techniques....not to even mention his writing career. Such a tragic loss.

I wonder if the smaller bass drums ( presto and CP) we’re from Neil’s tour warm up kits? Makes sense that the warm up kits got painted the same finishes.

At almost the young at heart age of 60, I am a neophyte drummer and a long time Rush fan, Peart fanatic. I am learning so much from this series, so happy I discovered it! Thank you soooooo much for this deep dive!

fascinating. I had the RTB Neil poster. Now I will have to disconnect the image of that set with how I listen to RTB, since he actually used the Presto dark plum double-kick for that one. I always have the image of the kit in my mind connected to each album across their eras. I'm sure you know what mean, lol.

Solid snares was Johnny Craviotto and Bill Gibson's ( Huey Lewis) company. It was originally Solid then changed names to Select!! The company was sold in about 91.

These videos are great!!! You guys were chatting about how he gets in in out of the drums... How Neil got out of his drumkit :) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dMSFqXGZ5TQ.html

Thank you! Great job, great podcast!

Final 2cents...Neil was the most personally involved during the DW period. All of those sets were visually stunning, but did not sound good - especially Live. The DW drums and Sabian cymbals were aurally disappointing. Strange.

so his ludwigs were maple poplar maple?

I wonder why Neil didn't audition some Pearl drums when he was looking for a new kit?

There is at least one short shot of Neil's kit from the floor tom side where you get a good look at it on A Show of Hands. I measured the width of the shell and measured the height of the drum and they are the same so it is definitely a 16" x 16". 18" floor toms are 18" x 16" so I would concur with your observation.

When he mentions how he can tell the size of a drum just by looking at a picture and the lug, spacing, etc. I totally get it… I can do that as well… Especially with Rogers

Oh yay! Part II is here already! 😍👍 😁

Super cool guys thx for the info !!

1:28... As soon as the thought came up in my mind, Paul said the name, "Bravado" when talking about the left side floor tom. I immediately made the same change when Neil talked about this at the time, and he later mentions Live drummer, Chad Gracey as up and coming drummers who he had admired ('93, I believe), who also uses a left floor tom. This simple shift gave opened up such a new world of possibilities, and even led me back to Ringo. As Neil would give credit a few times during his career, he liked the way Ringo would often start off with the left hand, rather than with the right, on crashes and fills. This shift also inspired me to use that left tom in lieu of crash cymbals to punctuate or change time signatures. Brilliant, subtle moves can have such a huge overall impact. I love out of the box thinkers. I would also add that moving to the single bass drum was probably a logistical adjustment (economy of space, etc.), but it also coincided with the back to basics shift in heavy rock from the time of 80's metal.

Great podcast. Two things I would mention on his Ludwig’s. The gong bass drum was kept and is a Tama. Also I think for presto he added a concert Tom or two again. I think I have that correct.

How about that 23 inch bassdrum👏

The Remo Legato snare was a 12" x 14" snare with a Quadura shell in the middle and aluminum top half with tension brackets and internal snare wires. The bottom had a similar aluminum bottom half with external snares. Neil was using just the top aluminum part with the internal snares.

This is one of the podcasts I’ve always wanted to hear. I agree about the Ludwig being his best sound. The TAMA at the time sounded very 70s and Neil also mentioned that the kits he sampled were “polite studio kits” except for the TAMA and Ludwig, choosing Ludwig based upon the sound of the 13, which he considered the supreme tom. Danny Carey next? Designer heavy maple to SQ2?

Can you discuss the Tom mount on his left bass drum. And where did he get those ?

I remember Cesar Zuiderwijk from Golden Earring wearing a *coat* with triggers in its pockets and playing a drum solo on himself, before jumping behind quite a substantial Pearl kit with circular neon lights inside the two bass drums 😄 This was in '83, when their song 'Twilight Zone' was popular 😊 And Neil had possibly gotten the Clap Trap idea from Stewart Copeland; There's a clip of Jools Holland interviewing him during the 'Goats In The Machine' sessions in which he demoes his kit and also the Clap Trap. Copeland's kick pedal also was a Camco 🙂 And another drummer who also had a second floor tom on his left side *and* not much later (in '87) was U2's Larry Mullen Jr. 🙂

Thanks for this historical moment podcast! From Brasil 🇧🇷!

Awesome loved every sec of it do ten parts if you want to iii watch em all ❤🤟🏼🤟🏼🇨🇦

Papa Jo Jones had a floor tom placed on the left; Louie Bellson too

Such a diverse body of drums to go with the diverse body of work. Makes complete sense.

I read in one of the drummer forums that the reason why Gretsch “passed” on delivering a kit for Neil to try before Neil made the decision to go with Ludwig, was due to a decision made by the lady in charge of running Gretsch drums at the time and was completely out of touch with ‘Rock’ drummers and quoted to have said she’s never heard of Neil or Rush for that matter..Huge mistake!!