cdrums21
Gold Member
For quite some time now, I’ve wanted to have a vintage Bonham kit. I’ve seen some beautiful pictures of Bonham kits on here that were the new re-issues and some that people had redone themselves. I became obsessed with having the same kit that Bonham used from the same early 70’s era, outfitted with the same heads and hardware….right down to the last bolt. I just wanted to see, hear and feel the same thing that he did when he sat down to play behind his legendary studio kit. The problem was, where was I going to find a green sparkle, 1971, 3 ply maple Ludwig kit in the same sizes and outfitted with the same hardware as Bonham’s kit?
Well, I was looking at a local website for musicians when I saw that a local guitar player was selling a Ludwig kit. I clicked on the link and here is the picture that came up:
What you see is a 1974, 3 ply maple Ludwig kit with a 26x14 kick drum (virgin) a 16x18 floor tom and 13/14/15/16 concert toms covered in the black panther finish, which is like the covering on a guitar amp. I went to look at the drums in person and the shells were almost pristine…in very, very nice condition. I bought the entire kit, which included stands and cases, for $600. I was only interested in the bass drum and floor tom, since they were the only drums authentic to the Bonham kit. I sold the rest of the kit piece by piece for about $750, so in essence, I got the bass drum and the floor tom for free. I then went looking for the two other drums and found these two on ebay a few days later:
What you see are a 1970, 14x10, 12 lug tom (identical to Bonham’s) and a 16x16 floor tom…again, with the shells in pristine condition. Now I had all the pieces to the puzzle, including the 6.5x14 supraphonic snare drum, which is my main snare drum that I use anyway. I just had to remove the covering, refinish the drums and decide what hardware to use. I debated about drilling holes in the virgin bass drum, but I wanted the kit to be as close to the actual Bonham kit as possible, so I went with the vintage hardware. I bought the drum wrap, contacted Jack Lawton, vintage drum restorer and Ludwig expert for some tips on hardware placement and parts, and began the task about 2 months ago. The following is the finished product based on the 1971 Bonham kit that is found here on Drummerworld on the Bonham site. Here are the specs:
Ludwig 3 ply maple (clear interior) Bonham kit in green sparkle finish
• 26x14 bass drum (1974) outfitted with a vintage 70’s rail consolette and cymbal mount.
• 14x10 mounted tom (1970) complete with tone control muffler.
• 16x16 floor tom (1970) complete with tone control muffler.
• 16x18 floor tom (1974) complete with tone control muffler
Well, I was looking at a local website for musicians when I saw that a local guitar player was selling a Ludwig kit. I clicked on the link and here is the picture that came up:
What you see is a 1974, 3 ply maple Ludwig kit with a 26x14 kick drum (virgin) a 16x18 floor tom and 13/14/15/16 concert toms covered in the black panther finish, which is like the covering on a guitar amp. I went to look at the drums in person and the shells were almost pristine…in very, very nice condition. I bought the entire kit, which included stands and cases, for $600. I was only interested in the bass drum and floor tom, since they were the only drums authentic to the Bonham kit. I sold the rest of the kit piece by piece for about $750, so in essence, I got the bass drum and the floor tom for free. I then went looking for the two other drums and found these two on ebay a few days later:
What you see are a 1970, 14x10, 12 lug tom (identical to Bonham’s) and a 16x16 floor tom…again, with the shells in pristine condition. Now I had all the pieces to the puzzle, including the 6.5x14 supraphonic snare drum, which is my main snare drum that I use anyway. I just had to remove the covering, refinish the drums and decide what hardware to use. I debated about drilling holes in the virgin bass drum, but I wanted the kit to be as close to the actual Bonham kit as possible, so I went with the vintage hardware. I bought the drum wrap, contacted Jack Lawton, vintage drum restorer and Ludwig expert for some tips on hardware placement and parts, and began the task about 2 months ago. The following is the finished product based on the 1971 Bonham kit that is found here on Drummerworld on the Bonham site. Here are the specs:
Ludwig 3 ply maple (clear interior) Bonham kit in green sparkle finish
• 26x14 bass drum (1974) outfitted with a vintage 70’s rail consolette and cymbal mount.
• 14x10 mounted tom (1970) complete with tone control muffler.
• 16x16 floor tom (1970) complete with tone control muffler.
• 16x18 floor tom (1974) complete with tone control muffler
