Ringo Starr

Ringo used this Ludwig Hollywood Maple Kit since 1969 and it was used for the "Let it Be" and "Abbey Road" recording. It can also be seen at the classic Beatles' rooftop concert.

''The first song that Ringo recorded with this drum set was Matchbox, on June 1, 1964. This was Ringo's workhorse from May 31, 1964 thru September 11, 1968 when he began using his Ludwig Hollywood maple kit.''

Before the famous Ludwig drum kit Ringo used a Premier one till 1963, it can be heard in the album "please please me" and the december 1962 live recordings at the "star club" in Hamburg.

Ringo acquired this kit in 1968, used it for the recording of The BEATLES, Abbey Road and Let It Be LPs, in addition to the singles that came out with those LPs. This kit featured a 14 "x22" bass drum, an 8 "x12" Tom Holder and a 9 "x13" Tom Holder, and a 16 "x16" Floor Tom. This kit was also used with a 5 "x14" Ludwig Jazz Festival drummer, and on some occasions also used a 5 "x14" Ludwig Supraphonic. This is the famous drummer seen at the terrace concert of the film Let It Be.

Ringo Starr’s custom Ludwig silver sparkle drum kit used in the 1967 “Hello, Goodbye” video made for and played on The Ed Sullivan Show to help Sullivan celebrate the re-naming of CBS-Studio 50 to The Ed Sullivan Theater. The drums were built in October 1967 for the video and sent to London for the Paul McCartney directed video shoot that took place on November 10, 1967 at the Saville Theatre in London. The drum kit is featured for 24 seconds of the video beginning at 1m 07s and ending at 1m 31s.

In his book Beatles Gear: All the Fab Four's Instruments from State to Studio Andy Babiuk interviewed Starr about the kit who recalled "It was giant! I ordered it with these big sizes to see how it would sound in the studio. But when we got it, I couldn't play it: I couldn't get my legs around the snare! We used some of the drums later for overdubs on a few songs."

The kit includes:

20” x 6 1/2" Snare Drum; 3-ply shell; 8-lug chrome over steel rims; Keystone badge # 459674; stamp date October 4, 1967; Original Ludwig Weather Master heads; the batter head is signed by Starr and additionally marked with the name “Zack”; Original snare side head; P-83 Strainer; Snare wires: 10 snare wires/cat gut. The wire is wrapped around the organic string to hold them together. 12 cat gut lengths fastened to the butt plate; Two dial up tone control mufflers

16” x 10 1/2" Tom; 8-lugs chrome over steel rims; Keystone badge # 362693; No stamp date; Original top Ludwig Master head; Ludwig calfskin bottom head; baseball bat muffler with white felt

20” x 18” Floor Tom; 3-ply shell; 8-lug chrome over steel rims; Keystone badge # 482494; Stamp date March 13, 1967; original top and bottom Ludwig Weather Master heads; baseball bat muffler with white felt.

28” x 14” Bass Drum; 3-ply shell; 10-lugs; Keystone badge #458513; Stamp date October 4, 1967; Original front and back heads

Accompanied by a vintage snare drum stand with modified snare basket that was not original to this kit.

*The original kit, Lot 17 of 1367, was auctioned at Julien's Auctions, Los Angeles, California on December 3, 2015. The winning bid was listed as $115,200.

In this photo from Allpostersimages, Ringo Starr is seen playing a tambourine. He also frequently plays the tambourine in various Beatles videos.

Ringo Starr acquired the Premier Duroplastic Mahogany drum set in the mid-1960s from Hessy's Music Store in Liverpool. This custom kit featured a 17"x20" bass drum, an 8"x12" tom holder, and a 16"x16" floor tom. It was used with a 4"x14" Premier Royal Ace snare drum. A photo on BlogSpot shows Ringo's kit with the iconic Beatles bug logo.

At the end of April 1963, Ringo acquired his first kit Ludwig Downbeat color Oyster Black Pearl (on the first tour of the band in the US he acquired another identical kit). This kit contained a 14 "x20" bass drum, an 8 "x12" Tom Holder and a 14 "x14" Floor Tom. With this kit you also purchased a 5 "x14" Ludwig Jazz Festival snare drum. With the Downbeat kits he recorded the singles She Loves You / I´ll Get You, I Want To Hold Your Hand / This Boy and the German single Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand / Sie Liebt Dich, he also recorded part of the EP Long Tall Sally and part of the LP A Hard Day´s Night.

Ringo purchased his first Super Classic kit on May 31, 1964 (he purchased his second kit in 1965 on a US tour). The color of the Super Classic was similar to that of the Downbeat, the differences between them were the measurements of the bodies, the Super Classic kits contained a 14 "x22" bass drum, a 9 "x13" Tom Holder and a Floor Tom 16 "x16". These kits were also used with a 5 "x14" Ludwig Jazz Festival snare drum. This model was used until 1969. Fun fact: In the first show this kit was used, it wasn't Ringo who played, but Jimmie Nicol on the tour of Denmark, Holland, Hong Kong and Australia in 1964.

Ringo Starr used the Yamaha Recording Custom Drum Kit in the film "Give My Regards to Broad Street" (1984) and in the music video for "Take It Away." This is evidenced by a user-uploaded photo.

He's playing bongo in this video.

In this page, it's said what Ringo Starr played Ludwig Expando Bongo in the recording studio and the film of A hard day's night.

He's playing ASBA congas in the photo. (1967 / the recording of Sgt pepper)

"Ludwig tambourines were used during the recording of Hey Bulldog."

"Here is the hi hat tambourine bar (aka Tamba Ching) used during the Get Back/Let It Be sessions."

"Here's a set of Premier bongos that Ringo purchased with his Premier kit in September 1960."