John Bonham

John Bonham was given three Ludwig Green Sparkle drumkits in the spring of 1970. In addition to using this drumkit on stage from 1970 until the end of the 1973 European tour, it was his favorite kit to use in the studio, recording Led Zeppelin III, Houses Of The Holy and Physical Graffiti.

An image of Bonham playing the Ludwig Green Sparkle kit in the background here.

This drumkit was delivered from Ludwig in March 1973 containing various-sized toms plus an additional bass drum. On the three nights that The Song Remains The Same was filmed, the 16" x 20" and 16" x 22" floor toms were rotated in use. Bonham was one of the first to play this new line from Ludwig and was the only amber-tinted kit of the first run.

A shot of Bonham on the Ludwig Amber Vistalite kit.

John Bonham used the Ludwig Stainless Steel drumkit beginning on the 1977 US Tour until Led Zeppelin's last show on July 07, 1980. It was also used in the recording of Led Zeppelin's last studio album In Through The Out Door.

John Bonham received the Ludwig Thermo Gloss Natural Maple drumkit after getting his official endorsement from Ludwig. Carmine Appice, drummer for Vanilla Fudge, personally rang up the Ludwig factory after John Bonham had expressed an interest in getting a drumkit like Appice's. The original kit that Ludwig sent to Bonham was had a double kick drum. Jimmy Page told him to take one kick drum out because his drumming was so loud with the extra kicker that he would need more amplifiers and monitors to hear himself play. Bonham played the maple kit at the beginning of Led Zeppelin's first US Tour in December 1968. This was the drumkit used to to record Led Zeppelin II and was used until the end of the Spring 1970 US Tour.

As can be seen in the source video of John Bonham's drumkit, the Ludwig Speed King pedal is also a part of Bonhams setup.

John Bonham playing his Ludwig Vistalite Black & White Candy Stripe swirl drum kit used during his time with Led Zeppelin was originally given to music critic Chris Welch by Bonzo himself. It is one of the only kits outside of the Bonham estate.

This page of Bonham's website states that John Bonham used Paiste 2002 Sound Edge Hi-Hats.

John Bonham was also an endorsee for Paiste Cymbals for most of his career. At first he used the 'Giant Beats' range before being replaced with the 2002 series. He also used a couple of cymbals from the lighter 602 range. Above is his Paiste agreement from 1971 as well as the cymbal list from Paiste in the order that he got them:

Bonham used Paiste Giant Beat Hi Hats and other cymbals until 1971. After 1971, he switched to Paiste 2002 cymbals (Paiste 2002 were not made until 1971). This page details the cymbals used recording When The Levee Breaks, and for his drumming around that time.

Bonham used a Paiste Giant Beat Ride and other Giant Beat cymbals until 1971. After 1971, he switched to Paiste 2002 cymbals (Paiste 2002 were not made until 1971). This page details the cymbals used recording When The Levee Breaks, and for his drumming around that time. He also used Giant Beat 16" and 18" Medium crash cymbals.

16 inch or 18 inch 2002 series crash on his left

16 inch or 18 inch 2002 series crash on his left

18 inch 2002 series medium ride for crashing on his right

There is no evidence John Bonham ever used a 20" Paiste 2002 Crash. Zero...none.

Bonham often sat with a 36inch or 38inch Paiste symphonic gong placed behind him on stage.

Since at least 1975, Bonham often used a Paiste 18" 2002 Ride as both a ride and a crash and it was located to the right of his main bass drum mounted ride.

John Bonham used a variety of drum sticks throughout his drumming career. When roadie Glen Colsen set his gear up early on, he remembers them being very big sticks. "A huge box full of stick was delivered - the thickest I'd ever seen. John would break two or three drumsticks a night, and I'd have to hand him a new stick while standing at the side of the stage." Glen Colson -

In the source YouTube video, the complete Bonham section and the Ludwig LM402 can be seen. Its a chromed aluminium Ludwig supraphonic 14x6.5".

Used for the bass drum on "When the Levee Breaks", as mentioned by sound engineer George Chkiantz in this excerpt from Anatomy of a Song: The Oral History of 45 Iconic Hits That Changed Rock, R&B, and Pop.

There were two studios at Olympic – one large and one small. Management had installed our sixteen-track recorder in the small one with hopes of luring rock bands in there and away from the larger sixty-by-forty-foot space with twenty-eight-foot ceilings, where we recorded mostly classical works and film scores. But Jimmy chose the larger one – even though it had only an eight-track recorder. He wanted the extra space so the drums could be miked properly for stereo.

I was a relative novice then, and what Jimmy wanted was a stretch, given Olympic’s traditional way of miking drums. So I invented a new way. I didn’t mike the snare, since that would have reduced the size and space of the drum sound. Instead, I used a stereo mike on an eight-foot boom above the drums, along with two distant side mikes to give the tom-toms edge, and a huge AKG D30 mike positioned about two feet from the bass drum. Jimmy knew that high-end mikes didn’t have to be up against an instrument to maximize the sound.

Used for "When the Levee Breaks", as mentioned by sound engineer Andy Johns in this MusicRadar interview published October 31, 2013.

"I used two Beyerdynamic M160 microphones and I put a couple of limiters over the two mics and used a Binson Echorec echo device that Jimmy Page had bought. They were Italian-made and instead of tape they used a very thin steel drum.

"Tape would wear out and you'd have to keep replacing it. But this wafer-thin drum worked on the same principle as a wire recorder. It was magnetised and had various heads on it and there were different settings. They were very cool things!

"And so playing at that particular tempo on 'Levee the limiters had time to breathe and that's how Bonzo got that 'Ga Gack' sound because of the Binson. He wasn't playing that. It was the Binson that made him sound like that. I remember playing it back in the Stones' mobile truck and thinking, 'Bonzo's gotta f**king like this!' I had never heard anything like it and the drum sound was quite spectacular."

Featured in this page from the fansite JohnBonham.co.uk.

According to Jeff Ocheltree (Bonham's drum tech in 1977 & 1979), the Showco concert-sound company used Shure Professional Series SM57 microphones to mic up everything from the timpani, to the bass drum (one mic at the front side, and another placed near the beater on the back). The Vistalite and stainless steel drum kits were also miked-up using this mic.

Many more details can be found in Welch & Nicholls' amazing book - 'John Bonham: A Thunder Of Drums' Which you really ought to own!

This was an effect used on the alot of cymbals especially in Cashmere

Used for "When the Levee Breaks", as mentioned by sound engineer Andy Johns in this MusicRadar interview published October 31, 2013.

"I used two Beyerdynamic M160 microphones and I put a couple of limiters over the two mics and used a Binson Echorec echo device that Jimmy Page had bought. They were Italian-made and instead of tape they used a very thin steel drum.

"Tape would wear out and you'd have to keep replacing it. But this wafer-thin drum worked on the same principle as a wire recorder. It was magnetised and had various heads on it and there were different settings. They were very cool things!

"And so playing at that particular tempo on 'Levee the limiters had time to breathe and that's how Bonzo got that 'Ga Gack' sound because of the Binson. He wasn't playing that. It was the Binson that made him sound like that. I remember playing it back in the Stones' mobile truck and thinking, 'Bonzo's gotta f**king like this!' I had never heard anything like it and the drum sound was quite spectacular."

Used for "When the Levee Breaks", as mentioned in this January 12, 2018 Vintage King article.

Back in the truck, [sound engineer Andy] Johns compressed those two room mics with a pair of Helios F760s. The compressed drum tone was then sent through Page’s Binson echo unit to help give that ambience and slapback effect.

This page discusses how John Bonham's drumheads for recording were always Remo Emperor for batter tom heads and bass drum. This video shows John Bonham's drum technician discussing how felt strips were used on the bass drum to control its sound. Note that when playing live, Bonham used clear drumheads: Coated heads were used only for recording.