Bonzo’s Beginner Basics 101Newbie Help For Aspiring Young Drummers
Section One: Equipment I started to write just a letter to a friend’s son, Seth Cryer, after his parents asked my advice on how to get him started down the road of being a drummer. Their basic question was:
“What's the best drum set to buy for his first kit without breaking the bank or buying useless junk?” That sounded like a pretty simple, cut and dry question coming from two parents that knew very little about drums who were looking for a This or That type answer such as, “Buy Brand X – Model 1A!” BUT… They asked an eccentric drum nut who maintains a website that is devoted to just one AMAZING Drummer like JOHN BONHAM and got way more answer than they anticipated I’m sure… But they did get their money’s worth!! LOL… After checking back to see how they did and I found that they were still looking... I started to write a personal note to Seth to give him some more to think about before making his big purchase!! But then I decided to post a detailed “Newbie Guide” here instead - since this isn't the first time that I've answered this type of question!! So my first topic for debate is… DRUMS: Acoustic or Electric Even though my hero, John Bonham, played acoustic drums on everything that I’m aware of… For a beginner who is just starting out, my personal advice is to try and get the best quality of electronic drums that your budget will allow for several reasons: Practice Time!
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the more you practice – the better you will become! But since drums are known to be both loud and somewhat annoying to the many people who live either with or around us drummers, trying to schedule any sort of regular practice routine can be quite a challenge to say the least! Unlike guitarists, drummers don’t have the luxury of sitting on the couch and quietly playing without an amp anytime they have spare time 24/7… You can pound on a sofa cushion or magazine somewhat quietly – but even that can get to be really annoying to those around you pretty quickly... And you’re still not playing on your "kit"!! (I still have the bad habit of slapping my legs, table top, steering wheel, back of my wife's head, etc... as I drum along to the radio or the voices in my head or...?? And I occasionally catch that annoyed look from someone who wishes that I would knock that sh*t off already!! Hahaha... But on the other hand - I ALWAYS have my instrument with me, so to speak!!) But with an electronic kit, you can hear yourself using either Headphones, a Home Stereo or a Drum Amp/P.A. System which pretty much allows you to practice any time that you can find the time 24 / 7!! The Perfect Mix! You can adjust the volume of your playing and the volume of what – if anything – you are playing to / with to get the perfect balance "For Your Own Taste" so that one isn’t over powering the other! With acoustic drums – you can pretty much count on maxing out your stereo and trying to hear the drums on the CD as best as you can - for as long as you can - until the COPS ARRIVE!! (And trust me – it’s only a matter of time until they do arrive unless you're practicing in a bomb shelter 10 miles away from anyone!) Timing! Whether you are drumming along to your favorite CD, to a preset drum pattern in the drum module or just to a click track… (A click track is just as you might imagine - a soft clicking that you listen to in a set of headphones to keep the song from getting faster or slower while recording) It will be easier to develop good timing on an electronic kit because of the fact that you can hear what you want in the mix rather than trying to hear a CD or metronome (another device used to help you keep the timing or tempo of the song at a steady, even pace and works like the second hand of a grandfather clock in a way) over acoustic drums. I recently asked a good friend of mine who has played with a number of World Class bands from Black Sabbath to the Scorpions, Bobby Rondinelli: "Your meter and sense of timing on real slow, heavy grooves is awesome! That's an area that I have struggled with for 35 years! Do you have any tips / advise on keeping the tempo right while doing some of the really cool, quicker runs and fills that you do so well? I find myself rushing into them and having to stop and catch up on quicker, off-beat fills a lot..." His response was: "On the groove / timing thing... I practiced for years with a metronome so that I can be comfortable in the studio and now I can play very freely with a click (track). It's a shame there are guys with 50 snares (drums) and no metronome! If you want to compete today (as a professional studio drummer), I think being comfortable with a click (track) is a must!!" More Drum Sets In One Package! With an acoustic drum set, you get one sound per drum. But with an electronic drum kit, you can have several different sounding drum kits at your disposal at the touch of a dial! Many even have foot switches that you can program to change drum kits in any order that you choose by simply tapping on the foot switch! (For example: A song starts with special orchestra instruments, then changes to an acoustic Maple drum set, then adds some techno sounds on one or two pads for the middle of a solo bridge, goes back to the Maple set and ends the song with the orchestra instruments again such as a tympani or a huge gong!) Space Availability! Depending on your living arrangements, the amount of room that you have to leave your drums set up all of the time without becoming an issue is also something to consider. Drums take up a lot of room – especially acoustic drums! And if space is an issue, then there is also the “Ease of Access” scenario to keep in mind, too! Clanging and banging to move around them without alerting the whole house can be a difficult task in itself – and without a doubt - it will be the noisiest when you would prefer it to be the quietest!! Mobility! Since electronic drums are almost always mounted on a rack type mounting system and are smaller in both depth and diameter than their acoustic equals, they are quicker and easier to set up / tear down as a general rule and won’t require a small moving van to move from one location to another. Overall Cost! With their growing popularity in today’s ever changing music styles and the huge number of drum sounds that can be produced at the touch of a dial, more and more companies are getting into making quality electronic drums. They can start as low as $80 for a name brand starter set or run as much as $8,000… Acoustic drum sets are also in those price ranges with a Junior sized set starting at under $100 (for small children ages 2 to 6) or a basic beginner set starting at around $150 to $300… DRUMS: Type & Prices
There are several reputable brand names to choose from out there. With the leaders constantly improving their quality, the competition is forced to do likewise to stay in business. So in other words, the quality of some of the cheaper drum sets found today is a lot better than it was 20 years ago on some of the better kits. Sturdier, more heavier duty hardware that is easier to position and keep in position is pretty much standard issue with all of the drum builders these days! In Acoustic Drums, some of the manufacturers to look for are: Ludwig, Drum Workshop (DW), Gretsch, Pearl, Tama, Rogers, Mapex, Pacific Drums (by DW), Sonor, Yamaha and ddrum. And in Electronic Drums, these are some of the better brands to look for: Roland, Alesis, Hart Dynamics, Pintech, Simmons, Yamaha and Pearl.     Ludwig Amber Vistalite Bonham Reissue Kit The sizes of the Bonham Reissue Kits are the same as Bonham used as well:
Just like John Bonham played, I am also using Vintage Paiste 2002 Black Label Cymbals in Bonham’s sizes:        Favorite Drum GearFavorite Drum Gear
by Tom Meadows Hey! Fellow Bonham fans! With the economy the the way it is today, we’re all having to do whatever we can to save money and try to generate a few extra bucks on the side, if at all possible… And Carl & I here at Bonzo Bros. Drums are no exception to that!! As you may have noticed, Carl has been refurbishing Ludwig Speed King Pedals here at Bonzo Bros. Drums and what you are reading here is my FIRST ATTEMPT to “Blog For Bucks”… So bear with me and hopefully it will get better as I go along… In order to get established as a Blogger, I need to have an active Blog going already so I’m going to start out by listing some of my favorite drum equipment and then break it all down individually in other posts and describe it in more detail… With any luck, I will get the hang of this “BLOGGING” scenario quickly – get a few assignments to write about here instead of just Carl & I’s equipment - and this develops into a regular review of new music products here at Bonzo Bros. Drums!! I’m going to start with all of my key pieces of equipment! For my acoustic drum kits I use:  Ludwig Amber Vistalite Drums  Paiste Cymbals  2002s Signature Series Drum Workshop Pedals   5000 Series 9000 Series Gibraltar Custom Rack Systems Pro-Mark Japanese White Oak PW5BN 5B Nylon Tip Sticks And for rockin’ out anytime at the house 24/7 – day or nite… I have a custom set of  Roland TD-20SX Electronic V-Drums and use AHEAD Rock Drum Sticks Now if only I could play these babies, I’d be in business!! Got a few pieces you want to talk about…?? Drop me a line – I’d love to hear about your favorire gear, too… 
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