These shots track the development of my Drumkits - from 1986 to 2006

Very early days - old silver premier - I used to dampen the toms by shoving an old towel behind them. It seems impossible now, but I considered that shirt the height of coolness back in 1986 - also note Worthy picking up a guitar to get some muso credibility...

The Trusty Supreme kit purchased used (using the Premier as a part-ex) from an old Drum Shop in Liverpool - pictured in its raw form before I made any of the alterations and additions you can see below. The kit was stamped as being made by Supreme Drums of London and were all Power Sizes (such was the fashion of the 1980's) Note the ridiculous depth of the shells on the 2 rack toms and the primitive hardware left over from my old silver Premier! You can also see where I have cut the centre of old heads on the bottom head - I found the sound projected a little bit more if I did this - and they were much easier to tune - double headed tuning remains a form of alchemy to me!

Here it is from the side - you can see my attempts to dampen the floor tom by sellotaping a big clump of old corduroy to the head (I thought I was just about ready to be Nicko McBrain's drum tech). Check out the snappy dresser - Judge Dredd T Shirt and jeans.

In the garden after adding an extra tom, a Meinl Raker Crash and the PAISTE Coloursound ride and the Rude Crash....

The trusty Supreme Kit laid out after a few more alterations and additions; 12", 13", 14" Rack Toms, 16" and 18" Floor Toms, 22" Bass, 14" Ludwig Vistalite Snare, Paiste 101 Hats, Paiste RUDE 18" Crash Ride, Paiste 2002 16" Crash, Meinl 16" Crash, Paiste Coloursound 20" Ride (black). These were Premiers that I had bought from John Rose Drums. I topped the whole kit off with a Premier 252 Pedal (a damn fine pedal). My pride and joy.

The final incarnation of the Supreme Kit - looking massive and downright impressive when set up in my folk's garage in the early 1990's - An airframe mechanic bought this from me whilst I was in the RAF - wonder what happened to the supreme after that?    

My first flirt with the electronic age - and the only way I could drum during my time in the RAF - this was a fun item that I eventually swapped for a sound card for my computer! Looking back, the xylophone sounds on this kit would really make a good addition to a Rush Covers Band! The amp belonged to Steve Smith.

A slight return to acoustic drums; the Pearl Traveller Kit - Summer 2000. So called due to its ability to be moved around in the boot of a Nissan Micra, the old Pearl never really fulfilled its potential. It was useful as a practice kit, however, and even came with a set of "real" drum heads in case you decided to take the plunge into the real thing. It was kicked into touch when the Roland arrived (I had a grand design of linking the acoustic kit and the electronic one - much like Neil Peart - but it never came to fruition). I eventually sold it to replace my bass pedal.

Summer 2002 - Roland TD6 - a quite superb item - and my new pride and joy. There are better electronic kits available - but to quote the United States Marines - there are many like it but this one is mine! The Button Moon poster is not mine, however......

December 2003 and the electronic has a nice new neighbour...... Mapex V Series with Sabian Cymbals...12" 13" Mounted 16" floor 22" Bass 14" Snare, 14" and 16" crashes 20" Ride and hats. The original un-modified kit.

March 2004 - now it's just getting silly! 8" & 10" Concert Toms, 12" 12" 13" Mapex V Series mounted toms (yes I have two of the same size - but ebay bidders can't always be choosers), 15" REMO hanging floor tom 16" Mapex V Series  traditional floor tom.... if it wasn't for e-bay I would be rich!

April 2004 - Like a sleeping dragon, the kit awaits some DIY and hard-to-find hardware (see Diary April 2004) before it can achieve some more growth... old beaten up Premier APK tom (the mahogany covered one) nestled in and awaiting work....

May 2004 - The DW stand converted to accept regular tom-shafts, the kit steps up a few sizes. The 15" Remo tom has now been raised from a floor tom into the mounted position and been joined by the afore mentioned APK tom - it's all looking a bit like a monster! You can also see this incarnation of the kit (as viewed from the front) by looking in the May - August 2004 Diary.

October 2004 - the mk 4 incarnation of the kit - the floor tom has already been dropped - I was going to mount it as a gong drum but decided against it (the hardware would be just too complicated). Here I have added a 19" Paragon China, a 10" Paragon Splash and an 18" Zildjian K Dry Crash - the Sabian ride has been replaced with a 22" 2002 PAISTE. The bass pedal is still a Mapex but now a Janus double model.

As viewed from the front, the toms gradually turning blue, also evident is the classic Peart shape to the drums (obviously with only one bass drum). This was the last time the kit was set up prior to further downsizing.....

The toms sporting their completely finished lineup.....

Further downsizing - the two concert toms are no more - replaced by a single 8 inch tom, the floor tom has gone forever and the horrible wooden snare has now been replaced by a Pearl Chad Smith model. The mish mash of heads has been replaced by a set of coated Remo Emperors and a Pinstripe on the snare.....

From the side - still big but a bit more manageable....

From the front - formerly the pic that opened the site.....

Things shifting a little to my left.... and a little in the Neil Peart direction. Sorry, Neil - if you can never forgive me I will understand....... this is how the kit looked in December 2004.

The above shows the kit after the addition of several items of percussion..... this is how the kit looked at the opening of 2005.

The above shows the kit August 2005 - this time I am mounting nothing on the bass drum - this allows me to have the toms that little bit lower.....

The same as seen from the rear...... complete with percussion and electronics galore.....

Same principal but different arrangement - the high end positioned above the 12" & 13" - similar the Keith Moon kit - see this better in Gallery Set 02 - this is how the kit looked in mid September 2005....

It was over a year before I got to try this out in reality. This is the kit set up in Alsager when I played with Rubicon. This was photographed barely seconds after I finished setting it up. Playing forced me to lower the two crashes on the right of the kit and add the Sabian bell chime to the ride cymbal (using a cymbal stacker). Also, the 20" crash seems more useful on my right - it can be used here as a nice supplement to the ride. The kit looks well mean from this angle - a fact I had not appreciated in the cramped living room.

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