I guess you could use the same heads, try to tune in the same way, etc...what people seem to overlook is that his "sound" was mainly how he tuned, hit, and more importantly how he was recorded... the rooms he was recorded in, mics,mic pres, and the best rock engineers of the day...

A lot of big band guys tuned in the same way long before JB...

Good luck.

SC

I agree with trout that a lot of Bonham's sound came from his hand technique. he used a lot of wrist action which was common with the guys that influenced him (Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich etc.) his tuning was also influenced by the big band guys.

But the thing i loved about Bonham was that he took what he liked from his influences and never gave up HIS originality or HIS personal style. for example he used the largest sticks he could find at that time which gave him more volume and power, he always stuck with the supraphonic snare, once it was available to him he always used a larger bass drum (26"), he prefered larger cymbals, he was a fan of hand drumming which he incorporated into his solos.

I came to the realization that to try to perfect that Bonham sound was actually......well...... unBonham like.

but to be honest i try to get it as close as i can while maintaining my own drumming identity as well.

his fluid chops were his strength, with his stick control he was ahead of most drummers, his attack was not syncopated

it was more of fusion than traditional rock style ( every one was trying to do that style but not many could understand its off beats ) he was just at the top of the small group of rock fusion players that attained it),,,,

i agree! his aproach was very different than the drummers of that time. it's almost like he got bored with the standard 4/4 beat so he would do off time stuff just to make it interesting, or add a little tripplet here and there. but he always used restraint and never went overboard with it. he would even reverse the fill at times. for example in "out on the tiles" he does this tripplet with the snare and bass and on the last hit before the crash he does with the bass drum what he was doing with the snare. its so quick and precise its easy to miss. i love finding those little gems of creativity in zep songs.

It's good that you have 22,13,16 as this is probably the configuration recorded. 3-ply Slingerland kit with Ludwig LM400 used on scandinavian tour:

[IMG]http://www.ledzeppelin.com/sites/default/files/images/ZepB_06_20x30.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.ledzeppelin.com/sites/default/files/images/liseberg_9-15-68.jpg[/IMG]

He was always a hard hitter so I doubt if he ever used single ply heads on batter side.

And he played Zildjians then, by the way :)

I saw Led Zappelin live in 73 just after stairway To Heaven was a big FM hit. Bonham rocked his amber vistalites. They opened with Black Dog and Plant blew the first couple of lines or forgot and Page played fills. Was a great concert though. Bonham's kit thundered.

you lucky dog!!!!

ide loved to have seen them in their hayday!! i recently acquired a set of amber vistas, 24" bass drum, 14" tom, 16" floor tom and 20" floor tom along with a 1970 ludwig supra. i put remo power dot heads on it and gave em my best Bonham tuning.

i'm looking for a 26" bass drum to replace the 24" eventually.

This is the kit that was acquired from the yardbirds.

unreal what a wow moment !

Green Sparkle?? I have also heard the shredded newspaper thing as well. How motown of him... Maybe that ride in the first slangy poster is a Zildjian after all.