Anika's Drum Setup

[bscsmkr]

The great thing is that Anika will NOT be playing DW and she will be playing the amazing sounding Tama Star drum kits
These are truly tremendous sounding drums
Lorne will help but she knows how she likes her drums to sound and they sound great
Most likely she will have to add a few more drums, cymbals, double pedal, cowbells, pads, etc. but it will still be significantly smaller than Neil 
I don't see a full electronic kit happening 
I am sure the kit will look and sound fantastic 

[Todem]

On 11/27/2025 at 2:29 PM, Timbale said:

Perhaps...although I can't imagine any mixing being able to cure the sound of that 2nd, "old set up" kit from R40.

 

I'm just kind of baffled by the drum sounds Peart presented when he switched to DW.  (I do think the first kit sounded good on the T4E tour...) I don't know if that's the drums, the tuning, the mixing or what (although you can't make something s**ty sound good with good mics, etc).  Lorne seems to get treated as a minor celeb in Rush circles, but I'll take the sound of the kits that Larry Allen was teching any day of the week over Wheaton's.  Like, when I hear the R30 kit and then the R40 kit in an A/B situation, I really don't know what is going on - they are so inconsistent next to each other.  And maybe that's what Peart wanted, but how can the recordings/kits from 80-92 sound SO much better?  And no one in the group or the crew could hear that?  Let alone Peart and Wheaton?!  I've never understood it.  I think to some extent Neil got seduced by the amount of input he could have at DW, which I can sort of understand...but all the stuff about cross plys and 10 000 year old wood and all that....it just rings pretty hollow to me when his off-the-rack Tamas and Ludwigs sounded so much better.

Also....consider how much harder Neil hit 80-92 vs after he relearned to play with Gruber.

 

But I agree.....his drums sounds were absolute money PWaves thru the CP tour (and even on the T4E) tour. I even will say R30 sounded damn good.

 

But I much prefer his pre DW days.....the kits sounded a lot better, tighter and cleaner. His kit from 80-87 was insane. And I know he went from Tama to Ludwig.....that Ludwig on HYF was amazing. 

Edited December 4, 2025 by Todem

[Todem]

On 12/3/2025 at 8:37 AM, bscsmkr said:

The great thing is that Anika will NOT be playing DW and she will be playing the amazing sounding Tama Star drum kits
These are truly tremendous sounding drums
Lorne will help but she knows how she likes her drums to sound and they sound great
Most likely she will have to add a few more drums, cymbals, double pedal, cowbells, pads, etc. but it will still be significantly smaller than Neil 
I don't see a full electronic kit happening 
I am sure the kit will look and sound fantastic 

YES!!!!!!!!

 

Tama is legendary.

[James Bond]

10 minutes ago, Todem said:

Also....consider how much harder Neil hit 80-92 vs after he relearned to play with Gruber.

 

But I agree.....his drums sounds were absolute money PWaves thru the CP tour (and even on the T4E) tour. I even will say R30 sounded damn good.

 

But I much prefer his pre DW days.....the kits sounded a lot better, tighter and cleaner. His kit from 80-87 was insane. And I know he went from Tama to Ludwig.....that Ludwig on HYF was amazing. 

 

What kit would it have been for A Show Of Hands? My memory is failing me. That is, by far, my favourite snare sound ever.

[Todem]

19 minutes ago, James Bond said:

 

What kit would it have been for A Show Of Hands? My memory is failing me. That is, by far, my favourite snare sound ever.

Ludwig kit with his custom made 14X6.5 super sensitive snare. 

[James Bond]

6 minutes ago, Todem said:

Ludwig kit with his custom made 14X6.5 super sensitive snare. 

 

Heaven to my ears.

[Timbale]

1 hour ago, Todem said:

Also....consider how much harder Neil hit 80-92 vs after he relearned to play with Gruber.

 

But I agree.....his drums sounds were absolute money PWaves thru the CP tour (and even on the T4E) tour. I even will say R30 sounded damn good.

 

But I much prefer his pre DW days.....the kits sounded a lot better, tighter and cleaner. His kit from 80-87 was insane. And I know he went from Tama to Ludwig.....that Ludwig on HYF was amazing. 

 

How hard he hit is a big factor, I think.

 

I have always had a hunch that the tuning of the R40 kit, particularly the flabbiness of those concert toms, was due to him wanting them to be more comfortable to play.  Heads that are cranked super tight are harder on the body.  That mixed with him hitting way less hard likely made playing in 2015 (more) bearable for him.  And I have sympathy for that if it was indeed the reasoning...but I don't have to like it from a sonic perspective.  :)

 

[Timbale]

43 minutes ago, Todem said:

Ludwig kit with his custom made 14X6.5 super sensitive snare. 

Hmmm...I don't have any recollection of him having a custom made snare at that time.  I was certain he was still playing the Slingerland "#1" snare at that time.

[Chicken hawk]

Honestly i wont really be noticing what kind of drum kit she is playing. I will be listening to the sound.

[Flame]

Well, I mean. Musicians are gonna obsess about gear, man. 

And minute details about the gear. 
Inquiring minds are gonna want to know a lot more than “what kind of guitar Alex is playing”—it’ll be, “Is Alex still playing .010’s, or did he drop back down to 9’s?”

haha

 

[Todem]

1 hour ago, Timbale said:

Hmmm...I don't have any recollection of him having a custom made snare at that time.  I was certain he was still playing the Slingerland "#1" snare at that time.

Gonna geek up here but here it goes:

 

74-76 - Ludwig 14X5 (used very briefly on his early live shows in 1974)

Slingerland Artist Model 14X5 Chrome kit used on FBN, COS and early tours of 2112

 

77-82

Slingerland 14X6.5 used on AFTK, Hemi and Waves tours

Slingerland 14X6.5 Artist Radio King (Maple) Waves, and Pictures albums and MP tour

 

83-89

Here is where he switched to the Ludwig 14X6.5 (Black Beauty era sound though an aluminum shell)

He used this on the Signals and GUP tours.

Then he went to the 14X6.5 Super Sensitive in the black sparkle finish on the Windows and HYF tours. This was a super tight sound. 

 

90-96

Ludwig Bronze era

Presto, RTB and CP

More precisely 

Ludwig 14X6.5 Supraphonic Presto and RTB

Ludwig 14X5 Bronze Occasionally swapped during the CP tour

 

1997-2002 DW era begins.

 

 

I won't get into those.....but yeah Slingerland and Ludwig was in his arsenal during the golden years of Rush. 

 

[Timbale]

7 hours ago, Todem said:

Gonna geek up here but here it goes:

 

74-76 - Ludwig 14X5 (used very briefly on his early live shows in 1974)

Slingerland Artist Model 14X5 Chrome kit used on FBN, COS and early tours of 2112

 

77-82

Slingerland 14X6.5 used on AFTK, Hemi and Waves tours

Slingerland 14X6.5 Artist Radio King (Maple) Waves, and Pictures albums and MP tour

 

83-89

Here is where he switched to the Ludwig 14X6.5 (Black Beauty era sound though an aluminum shell)

He used this on the Signals and GUP tours.

Then he went to the 14X6.5 Super Sensitive in the black sparkle finish on the Windows and HYF tours. This was a super tight sound. 

 

90-96

Ludwig Bronze era

Presto, RTB and CP

More precisely 

Ludwig 14X6.5 Supraphonic Presto and RTB

Ludwig 14X5 Bronze Occasionally swapped during the CP tour

 

1997-2002 DW era begins.

 

 

I won't get into those.....but yeah Slingerland and Ludwig was in his arsenal during the golden years of Rush. 

 

Totem, where does this info come from?  I had to take a look (virtually, because I don't have the old tour books any more) at his equipment lists from the tour books, because you made me think I was misremembering...but he lists the Slingerland on the GUP, PW and HYF tours.  I'm not looking to argue, I'm just genuinely curious where that info is coming from.

[bscsmkr]

I thought it was a Rogers Dynasonic with internal muffler until he found the Slingerland on the later 2112 tour in 77

[capoetc]

On 12/4/2025 at 8:46 PM, Timbale said:

Totem, where does this info come from?  I had to take a look (virtually, because I don't have the old tour books any more) at his equipment lists from the tour books, because you made me think I was misremembering...but he lists the Slingerland on the GUP, PW and HYF tours.  I'm not looking to argue, I'm just genuinely curious where that info is coming from.

 

You cab see all of the tour programs here (toward the bottom of the page):  https://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/rush/bios.php#B12

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

On 11/30/2025 at 5:05 PM, chemistry1973 said:

Not much upfront, but endless free gear and a piece of the pie when it comes to signature cymbals, sticks and other accessories. 

 

I hated how Neil's Paragon cymbals sounded (and looked). You really noticed it when he did that drum solo on Letterman. Those were the most un-musical and "squishy" sounding cymbals I'd ever heard, and that was after years of him praising Zildjian cymbals for their musicality.

 

Then I heard Gavin Harrison's Letterman solo and his Zildjians sounded beautiful, of course.