I play Vistalites and Zickos drums, among others, and I have to say
that the 6 vs. 8 lug tom issue is a total non-issue. In either
configuration they sound fantastic, and nobody except for die-hard
Bonham worshipers would probably be able to tell the difference in how
they look. I do agree that putting together a vintage kit is way
cooler, however, as there is something special about playing 30 year
old drums that sound better than anything made today. But for gigging
I'd take the new kit any day because when it fell apart after 5 years
of banging around, who cares? Kill a vintage kit and you are doomed to
eternal damnation (playing Tama Rockstars in hell for all eternity I
guess).

I saw recently a set of Bonham copies from Spaun - they are making
acrylics now just like everybody is. I bet those sound great - they
have the double 45 bearing edges and solid brass hardware. I also saw a
vintage Bonham kit that had the bearing edges redone, and a nice
consolette holder added, and it made me think, 'why would anyone prefer
that dinky little holder to a nice solid snare stand?'. Yea, I know how
Bonzo had it setup, but I have played kits in both configurations and I
much prefer the snare stand: no mount attached to the drum, no stress
on the bass drum, more readily positioned... My Ludwig maples have the
rack tom on a snare stand and it is solid as can be. And there is
nothing extra on the bass drum, just pure clean BOOM!

I guess there is the 'gotta be as close to JB as possible' mentality,
and then there is the 'gotta get that killer JB sound' mentality - I
fall closer to the latter; it is all about that huge booming sound, not
the details of how many lugs or what kind of tom holder or how thick
the spurs are.

So, what heads did Bonham use, anyone know? I'm using Evans G2 clears
on my Vistalites now.

Cheers!
- marc

On Nov 28, 2004, at 1:55 PM, oidrummer wrote:

>
> Well, I already made the mistake of buying them.  I got a great deal
> on them thogh, I will just sell the tom shell and rebuild that part
> of it, I will pull the badge and make a tom like Bonzo's.  I mean
> honestly, I have looked for Bonham kits and it is very very hard to
> find one with no scratches, the mount's placed correctly and with the
> right hardwarre.  I have even made mistakes in buying the correct
> Cymbal stands before.  John used the 1st generation "Atlas" stands
> with the "Crimped" legs.  I think they were only in production for a
> year or two.
>
> I know I can always come here for parts to!  There is a place called
> RCI that builds a replica but there are no seams and no Ludwig
> badges, that is really one reason I went with Ludwig.  Does anyone
> here know if there are any other things about this damn kit that I
> need to know other than the rack tom is an 8 lug?  So far the other
> drums seem to be in the corect configuration with the same amount of
> lugs.
>
> Why the hell did they use 8 lugs on that tom!?  What's the point?
>
> Kurt~~
> --- In ludwigvistalites@yahoogroups.com, dlgarlock@a... wrote:
> > Kurt:
> >
> > Don't buy the new Ludwig 'bonham' Drums. Hold out for the real
> ones. If you
> > watch they will come along. Check the Vintage Drum sites. Or buy
> them piece at
> > a time on ebay. It may take a longer but you will be spreading your
> $$ among
> > fellow Drummers instead of a big greedy conglomerate out to take
> advantage of
> > our past.
> >
> > D
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
>
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