Dale's drums

[lord of heaviness]

Does anyone know where to get drums as big as Dale's? They've got to be custom sized, because the standard kits are much smaller. If someone can post a place you can get some that size, it would be greatly appreciated.

[CausesUnknown]

I'm sure they are custom made, so you probubly have to custom order them from the manufacture or your dealer. Whatever is more convient for you.

[Anonymous]

how much are you planning to spend on them?

[lord of heaviness]

If I had the money, as much as I need to. Right now I'm just looking for a general price range for 'em.

[anaconda]

His oversized bass drum is actually a standard sized
marching band bass drum, and I think he just had
a mount fitted onto a floor tom and moved it up
to be his top-tom, and went up to the next widest size
available for the floor tom. as far as the snare, oversized
'deepdish' snares are pretty common nowadays.

[Sydspunk]

i believe they are (or were) Tama Artstars. i dont know what he plays anymore. the artstars are custom special orders through Tama now, as i dont think they make them anymore in mass production. Dave grohl played the same set, and yes, they are way huge. i too thought that the rack tom was a converted floor tom, but its not.

8"x14" Snare Drum
14"x15" Tom Tom
16"x18" Floor Tom
16"x24" Bass Drum

[Dave]

I really like the DW set he has in the Correggio video that's on the FTP...

...about time he switched to DW, who we all know make the best drum sets today.

[lord of heaviness]

8"x14" Snare Drum
14"x15" Tom Tom
16"x18" Floor Tom
16"x24" Bass Drum

I had thought Dale's toms were a little bigger and he had a 26 inch bass drum. At least that's what I've read.

[anaconda]

It is 26" and I've read that it's a refitted marching band bass drum.
I don't just make this shit up, I did my homework on this before.

[lord of heaviness]

I'm sure you did. And I think it's a 26" bass drum as well. And if I'm not mistaken he uses an 8x14 snare, a 16x18 mount tom, and an 18x20 floor tom. All I'm trying to figure out is how do you order drums that big. I'm headed to my local retail dealer and seeing if I can get hooked up.If you'd like to add some info, that would be helpful.

[anaconda]

John Bonham and Keith Moon used the oversized kits too!
It's no coincidence that Dale has minimal pieces but makes
a maximum amount of sound! It's the scale of the drums, the larger
heads etc resonate more powerfully. It's why Dale is so huge
sounding live and on CD.  Are you the drummer, lordheaviness?
you must be, youll get big bass drum presence, it will actually push air
as long as you can play to begin with haha!

[Anonymous]

Yes, i'm the drummer, been playin' since I was a little one. Funny you should mention Moon and Bonham. They are 2 reasons I'm a drummer. Phisical Graffitti has a huge sound, and when I found out Dale had a big kit i automatically thought one word: Bonham. I really like Dale's drum sound on Lysol. It's so huge and resonant!

[lord of heaviness]

Last post was me. Forgot to sign in. And I've actually looked in to getting a Maple Ludwig kit with the Bonham measurements.

[anaconda]

Ludwig will forever rule! Nice choice! We have a
5 pc Ludwig Silver Tortoiseshell kit in our space.

[nickyallenk]

i'm a drummer, i can help! ...and i've seen dale's kit several times up close and personal. that kit and i have had many encounters.


the last i saw of dale endorsing tama drums in a magazine ad, he was using an 8"x14" snare, 16"x18" tom, and 18 x 20" floor tom. his kick drum was something like 16" x 26" and a 22" gong drum which is sort of a cross between a floor tom / tympani / bass drum. these really are not custom drum sizes. for tama, who premakes drumkits, they may be. but for a drum company that specializes in made to order drums, such as dw, these sizes are available. it's not really the sizes that's custom but the way they are mounted. for the 20" floor tom, try ordering a 20" kick drum with floor tom mounting hardware. or when all else fails, order drum shells in there sizes and make your own drum kit. i've done it this way before by making my own acrylic (see through) drums in sizes similar to dale's.

other additional stuff about dale's kit and what he uses:

he uses all tama hardware including an iron cobra double pedal.
rhythm tech lens drum, hat trick, ufo crasher, and ribbon crashers.
he also uses what i think is the lp black beauty sr. cowbell (but i could be wrong on the exact model of this. i am going by sight and sound of the bell. it definatley sounds like it's in the black beauty line).
dale uses aquarian heads on his drums and regal tip sticks.  
his cymbals are paiste 20" 24"? 22"? china, and ?" china / crash mounted like a hi-hat. he also has a paiste gong and a 9" zildjian zil bel. don't forget the gardening gloves which was an idea taken from bob bert (pussy galore and sonic youth)


seems like when dale is in europe, it varies because i think he uses rental kits. so whatever the venue provides in similar sizes go's.