Drum Kit
Snare
Throughout Bonham's career it seems he consistently played on the
Ludwig
Supraphonic
14inch x 6½
402 snare drum on stage. This drum is usually found chrome plated over a 'Ludalloy' shell. He decided against using the more expensive brass-shelled drums. Ocheltree tells us: "He said they were too dark. Bonzo's were zinc - we used to scratch the inside to check. Bonzo said the brass ones were too 'muddy'. He said "I can't get the clarity, however high I tune them.""
Interestingly, according to Ocheltree during the final Led Zeppelin tour Bonham instead of using the commonly used 20 coil snare wires, (under the drum) he instead used a 42 strand coil to achieve "a little wider sound".
More pictures of the
Ludwig Supraphonic snare drum
Drum Heads
Bonham typically played on white coated Remo or Ludwig drum heads.
According to Jeff Ocheltree, Bonzo would only change the drum heads when it was absolutely necessary as he liked the sound of the heads played in. "A couple of times I changed them without telling him. John was so against it I would take sandpaper or whatever and get them a little dirty. I worked really hard to get the stress out of the [head] collars and get the kit to sound so great that when he sat down it almost blew his mind."
When using the transparent Vistalite drum kit, Bonham used Remo Controlled Sound drum heads (AKA 'CS' or 'black dot') which are single-ply but have a reinforced circle in the middle. He would also use the Ludwig equivalent 'silver dot' heads. These were used because like the rest of the kit, they were see-through.
Ocheltree says: "We went from black dots to Emperor-coated [double-ply heads] and that was a different sound. On the Vistalite he used the black dots because you could see through them."
More pictures of the
Drum Heads
Bass Drum Pedal
Throughout Bonhams career, he used Ludwig's SpeedKing bass drum pedal with tight spring tension. This pedal has been nicknamed the "Squeak King" because of the large amounts of squeaking it produces!
The squeak of the pedal is audible in the following Led Zeppelin recordings:
'Since I've Been Loving You', 'The Ocean', 'The Rain Song', 'Houses of the Holy', 'Ten Years Gone', 'Bonzo's Montreux' and the live version of 'I Can't Quit You Baby' on Coda and 'All My Love' on In Through The Out Door.
Jimmy Page has commented on the squeaking:
"The only real problem I can remember encountering was when we were putting the first boxed set together. There was an awfully squeaky bass drum pedal on 'Since I've Been Loving You'. It sounds louder and louder every time I hear it! [laughs]. That was something that was obviously sadly overlooked at the time."
From an interview with Jimmy Page in Guitar World magazine -1993
More pictures of the
Ludwig SpeedKing
Cymbals
Percussion
Hardware
Sticks
According to Glen Colson, in Bonzo's early days he would play using heavy sticks and would smash his way through 3 pairs a night!
Jeff Ocheltree who worked with Led Zeppelin during their later tours remembers Bonham using medium-weight sticks made from hickory. He says: "He didn't play heavy sticks, he didn't play butt-ends out, and he didn't smash the drums. He had incredible technique. He knew it wasn't about how hard you hit them, but
how
you hit them." - Sounds like bonzo's technique had moved on a long way from his early days!
More pictures of Bonham's Promuco
Drum Sticks
Microphones
Gongs
Bonham often sat with a 36inch or 38inch Paiste symphonic gong placed behind him on stage.
Jeff Ocheltree remembers: "There were three gongs I definitely know about. The first Paiste gongs had Chinese caricature letters on them. Later on they had 'Paiste' on them. John knew how to 'warm up' the gong with a mallet - and he used it for definite dynamic effect in a couple of tunes, not just for bashing. I also have a picture from Mick Bonham around 1973/75 where John has a smaller gong, maybe 22inch."
More pictures of
Paiste Symphonic Gong
Timpani
Many more details can be found in Welch & Nicholls' amazing book - '
John Bonham A Thunder Of Drums
' Which you really ought to own!
If you have any other info on the equipment Bonham used, or have noticed mistakes - please
contact me