The Neil Peart Kit Rebuild

Rush, as you may have noticed, are my fave band. In December 2004, after stripping the drums down for a small scale jam, I decided that I quite liked the feel of a four piece kit. This has led me to rebuild the drums along the lines of the DW Kit that Neil has used since the Test for Echo album..... yes I freely admit to being sad.

The kit ready to go...... one 12" tom is currently redundant but that will be taken care of at a later date..... but you can see the basic bones of the kit here...... 8 10 12 13 Mounted toms, 14 & 15 mounted toms (positioned as floor toms), 22 Bass and snare. the terrifying chrome torture devices at the back are the various bits of Mapex, Yamaha and Dixon hardware to hold it all together.....

The finished article. The lower and closer positioning of the ride cymbal makes for a bit more in the way of sensible ergonomics but the main headache is proving to be the hi-hat stand and the way it cannot be positioned too close due to the legs of the Mapex Janus pedal. This will be sorted and the other 12" tom will be given a home somewhere on the kit....

The climb of the toms illustrated well I think - also the pesky hi-hat stand as well. It takes a little change of style - having to start any fills on the left hand is proving to be a bit of a steep learning curve......

The ingenious hardware solutions that make all of this stuff possible.... Mapex Super Grabber connected to a Tama tom fitting that has been adapted to accept Mapex tom shafts!

Stagg Grabber and Mapex extra boom stand.....

Truly sturdy Yamaha tom post that has been adapted to accept a Tama shaft & ball arrangement by taking it apart and stuffing it with toilet paper.......

The in-use toms (one temporarily redundant 12" is not present) arranged in tower style..... 8 10 12 13 14 15. I am such a big fibber when I describe my kit as being a Mapex; only half of what you see here is Mapex (the redundant 12" tom and the bass are also from that stable). My snare is a Pearl and the remainder of these toms are various cast offs from e-bay, manufactured by Tama, Premier and Remo. Well it says Mapex on the front head (and also on the labels I have kit-bashed from other drums as I refinished them!) and that is what I will continue to describe them as at the moment. At the moment my kit is a bit like that country and western song about the autoworker from Detroit who gradually nicked himself a car from the production line bit by bit!

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