I’ve met Nicko on two occasions, both while working with Modern Drummer. There’s a video on MD’s TH-cam channel of an interview with him behind the kit. This was back during their 2019 Legacy of the Beast tour. I filmed that interview and had a chat with Nicko afterwards. He told me a story about how he saw Buddy Rich play in I think the mid-80s and they had a conversation after the show. Buddy said he admired Nicko’s playing (what a freaking compliment) and that he was distracted during the show by Nicko’s beautiful wife. He’s got thousands of stories and he’s such an entertaining guy. I hope he still has a few years left in him especially after his recent stroke. The world needs more drummers (and just people in general) with his personality. Up the irons! Edit: On the day of writing this edit, Nicko has officially announced his retirement from performing live with Iron Maiden. I think I can speak for most of us when I say we wish him the best and his decision to leave the band was both difficult and admirable. We must remember to look after ourselves and do what’s best for us, which Nicko certainly recognizes. His legacy will not be forgotten and his contributions to the band, music, and drumming will be immortal.
Great Video,thanks! As a Maiden Fan since 1982/83 (visiting 208 shows in 30 countries) i had the pleasure meeting Nicko several times (in 2011 he had breakfast with me and some friends on tour somewhere in the UK: Legendary!) and he was always very nice to me! I always wanted to play drums....and now all those (wasted) years later (i'm 53 now) i just bought a drumkit last week (Sonor of course! ^^) and i'm very excited to play it!!!! Looking forward for part 2! Greetings from Stuttgart,Germany!!!
Thanks a lot for this... enjoyed every nerdy second of it. Nicko was the reason I picked up sticks. I really enjoyed your insights and share your enthusiasm for Maiden's history. What a band.
What a great and fun video, thanks a lot for putting it together! Somee geeky remarks: - The Somewhere In Time Phonic Hi-Tech was either a prototype or pre-production set as mentioned. In contrast to the regular Hi-Tech it features white gaskets. Also the hardware is black coated Signature series stands, as you can see from the gold badges and levers instead of wing nuts. The regular black hardware was not available when he got the kit. On the studio shot from the album you can also see that the 6" tom still has chrome hoops as the black ones were not finished yet at Sonor. This kit was used again for the Be Quick Or Be Dead music video. - The rental Force 3000 kit in New Zealand wasn't provided my a music store but by a fan, as no store had a big enough set available. Nicko wasn't aware of this though, otherwise he would have never thrown the floor tom around. After he found out he appologised to the owner. -The 14x6,5 bell brass snare wasn't only unique in it's size but also by having a regular throw-off instead of the parallel throw off the Signature snares had.
Shane Kinney is incredible and he really has the best drum shop on the planet. I had the opportunity to meet Shane when visiting his shop and he's been that guy that always remembers his costumers. Once again Drum History Podcast never disappoints the drum community .
@@christiancea6 man this podcast is just the greatest - we can quibble about this and that as fans after the episodes but in the big picture just absolutely beautiful !!
This is the ultimate video on Mr. Nicko McBrain’s drum kits! I definitely need to visit Shane and hear more stories from the Somewhere in Time era... ;)
John Becker of Resurection Drums arranged a clinic with Nicko in like 1986. Nicko brought the ENTIRE concert tom Sonor touring kit to a tiny room in a local High School, and blasted our faces off with the intro to Where Eagles Dare. Classic moment.
@@astrozombie138 Yeah I was in touch him not too too long ago via facebook (well, 15 years or so) I Used to run into him at Namm when he was with Premier, also.
Somewhere in Time is Nicko's finest hour. it is my favorite album of all time along King Diamond Abigail, Rush Moving Pictures and Genesis trick of the tail.. these 4 albums are the foundation of the drummer i am.
Cool episode man. Shane really did his homework for providing some great info. Much appreciated man. See ya'll for part 2. Everyone should check out Drum Center of Portsmouth. I bought my Carl Palmer Venus snare drum from them several years back and they were really helpful with questions that I had and delivered fast and safe to my door. Great bunch of humans👍
Wow! Terrific episode. DCP sold me a ruby red 13" prolite snare and Shane's demo of the 14× 6 bronze (" crunchy like bacon") convinced me to order one. Thanks Shane! BTW Im an illustrator and did the inking and coloring on the Iron Maiden comic put out by Acme Ink comics :)
This is such an awesome episode! I never knew Shane liked Iron Maiden and Nicko so much. It's great to see how so many of us love such similar artists and music! Thank you 🤘🏽🥁🤘🏽...Up the Irons
Nice to see Nicko getting some loves :) The sound of his drums on Piece of Mind, Powerslave and Somewhere in Time were so acoustic you could almost hear the air being pushed around. I miss that these days where even acoustic kits sound electronic. Looking forward to Part Two. Shane knows his stuff.
I guess this explains why Shane’s drum shop was the only place you could find the repro 13" formula 602 heavy bells a few years back. Thank you guys for the great content on Nicko. Total nerd here and I learned a ton watching this video. I have a premier give em ed til your dead tour replica kit with all the fixins. I even have a 15" paiste heavy full reflector prototype made for Nicko. Try and find one of them with the blue label font if you can find one at all. I haven’t followed Paiste lately so who knows, maybe they are making one now. Looking forward to the Premier years!
Oh neat, new episode! When ever I see Nicko's ride cymbal I want to tilt it because it looks like it's touching the Toms. Which maybe it is, and that's one of my favourite things about music and being a Drummer. We all have our own preferences
@@meanmetalmike666 I would love Ward. Would like to know what happened to the huge white Slingerland set. Did he record with it as well? And how he got into the Tama after that. And what did he use on Born Again? His cymbal sound in the mid 70s was so good.
Drove 14 hours round trip one day to buy a kit from Drum Center of Portsmouth because I didn’t want to wait for them to be shipped to me. 3 of my 4 gigging kits were bought there. The staff is phenomenal
Finally! A deep dive into Nicko! Thank you guys! I’ve been chasing the ‘No Prayer’ snare sound for years. No Prayer studio snare was rumored to be a Sonor pheromagnese. Remo is producing the Silver Dot to Ludwig standard. Close enough to the early heads.
Thank you Bart and Shane! My 2 all time favorite recorded ride cymbals (which are complete opposites and from live albums) are Nicko's on Live After Death and Tony Williams' on Four & More with Miles Davis.
Stellar job on this one guys. I’m sure others have said it, but two drummers who would be really entertaining to look at their gear history would be Tre Cool and Travis Barker. Looking forward to more content!
Hey guys! As a former Sonor user and a great Nicko fan, I have to say many many thanks for that! Great! Looking forward to part 2! By the way, I had a white Phonic Plus too in the mid 80´s, and I also wanted one of these 6" Toms, which was not listed in the catalogue at the time, think it was 1988, but it could be ordered optional, so I ordered it and my dealer let me phone with a lady from Sonor, and she told me, I have to wait until the 6" shells are beeing produced that year. I remember having ordered that in spring ´88 and received it in late autumn! And I paid quite a lot for it.... But, as we all know... musthaves... :-). Maybe that´s the reason too, why Nicko´s 6 on the black kit had chrome hoops? - And indeed, it was 8" deep and the massive tom mount took nearly the whole space inside the tom! 🙂
I always wanted to order a 6” back then. I never got to the point of speaking to Sonor. I had no idea it was an option for orders from the states. Now I know. Ha. It’s great you got one. Treasure that one for sure of course among your other sonors.
Just starting this episode today at home on tv & will likely finish up on way to band rehearsal tonight but since you asked up front for comments;)...my biggest influential memory was seeing Maiden as really my 1st ever concert as a young teen on the Peace of Mind tour in Seattle. It was not only my 1st concert experience but also day or so before 4th of July so as those days go...Tons of Fireworks snuck in which obviously added to memorabilia! Ha ya looking back seemed like anything goes still in those days and not only was the band amazing, the concert experiences were the Best!:)
There’s a novelty song called Nice One Cyril by the Cockerel Chorus that was around when I was a kid. I believe it was Nicko’s first professional session and his drumming really shines through.
Great episode! FYI:Shaw sticks as referred to in the show. I used a pair in the mid 80’s in London. I think they made heavier sticks. They were certainly popular in the U.K. but disappeared from the market by the 90’s. They were well made and the ones I came across were certainly quite heavy, like 2B’s. I think Modern Drummer magazine carried some of their ads for a while but I can’t be certain on that. Hope this anecdotal experience helps. Cheers.😀
I'd love to see a video on clive burr as well, even though I think you can find more information on his stuff online. Doing a video on the drummers of Judas Priest could be fun too. Im a huge fan on Dave Holland, even though he was disgraced with his conviction. His drumming with all his subtleties is just so artistic. I read or saw an interview with Stan Lynch where he said he was a big fan of Dave Holland in his band before Priest, Trapeze with Glen Hughes on vocals.
Great informative interview...I used to play the silver dots back in the 80's I mean, who didn't ? Anyway, my favorite Ludwig drumhead was the Snare side Extra Thin, really miss it...🥁
Since I was a huge Nicko fan as a teen, and a bit of a Sonor buff, let me add and correct a thing or two. Shane has his shell construction on the first Phonic confused: 9 ply, 9mm thick beech. Except for the smaller (6" and 8" ) toms which had no less than 4 different types of constuction over the years: Rolled up birch, 6 ply beech, 6 ply birch and 9 ply beech. Sonor really struggled with these smaller drums. There is no record of which construction the smaller drums on Nicko's kits had. The colorsounds where added during or just before the Powerslave tour. I have seen zero pictures of Nicko using colorsounds as early as '83- the Colorsounds were not introduced until 1984. Shaw was a small family run stick manufacturer that had been around since the '60s. Basically every drummer in the UK used them and they also did a lot of OEM for drumshops and other brands. The company changed hands about 15 years ago, but it's still around. To confirm the 6" Phonic plus concert tom was also 8" deep. The Hi-tec hardware is powdercoated, not black chrome. Powdercoat was a very new process on drums back in '85-'86 I met Nicko on numerous times and did several interviews with him (I work for a Dutch Drummers magazine) and he indeed is a bit unclear on some of the earlier stuff. The Seventh Son kit - there is a lot of evidence that it might actually have been a Signature lite - 12 ply birch. Nicko just doesn't quite remember and the only guy that knew for sure - his drumtech Steve Gadd - is no longer with us. There where seveeral white kits and around No Prayer/ Fear of the dark he used another white kit and that was definitely a 9 ply beech kit - with signature badges. As seen in the picture. And that was definitely his favourite of the bunch. Nicko said to me he has 'several' white kits, but only one single set of signature hardware. Fun fact: when Nicko got the signature bell bronze, it was indeed the only one at the time. Purdie managed to get Horst Link to make another one, but that was later. On the rhythm of the Beast video Nicko was still using the Ludwig Silver Dots. I did a video with Nicko on his newer Sonor kit when he just returned. - The book of souls tour. That's out there on youtube.
I had the Rhythms of the Beast BOOK. In it, he writes about an upcoming signature snare drum. As far as i know, it was never released.. Maybe it was that painted D506? Could be my memory as well.
I'm not sure what that was going to be, we did discuss a possible signature snare drum when he returned on 2016, but that didn't happen. You may be on to something with the painted D506. What else would it be?
So many great Sonor nuggets in this video Good discussion over on DFO about this video When you do get around to Sonor Get Shane, Karl hienz and buzz king I would also suggest breaking into 2 episodes; the Link era and the post Link or HSS and then KHS era
Somewhere in Time kit has special specs : white vulcanised fibre gaskets, of course, but the basss drum claws are from the lite / signature series. The square shape design is completely different from the normal rounded shape Hi-tech serie. The bass drum spurs brackets are from Signature models (bigger ones) not the rectangular ones who are also floor tom brackets. The tom holder for the 6 & 8 is custom made from an old Phonic holder with an additional articulation. The tom holder for the 10 & 12 is custom made from a "current" Phonic / Signature, with an additional articulation. All the hardware is black powder coated signature. It is rumored he used Black powder coated Sonor D506. Later a white one for Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
I absolutely love Nicko McBrain but I always preferred Clive Burr and his era of Iron Maiden. The drum work on Killers is just incredible to say the least! Also Shane is a great drummer and the Drum Center of Portsmouth are awesome! I've ordered from them many times up here in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada... One more thing here. It is so nice to hear someone mention Clive Burr and give him some credit. I feel like Clive Burr's name isn't mentioned enough and he never gets the credit that he deserves... R.I.P. Clive Burr \m/\m/
If I remember correctly, Maiden are one of the very few bands in which the bassist is the only constant band member. Or something to that degree 🙂 And I'd had that Sonor brochure with Nicko's first kit in it in 1981, when I was 11 😊 Also, there's a 'RockPop in Concert' Maiden show from late '83 on YT, and Bruce Dickinson trashes that beautiful gloss-white Sonor Phonic kit at the end 🙈 And to me, NZ is not a whole World away anymore, since moving here from Germany 22 years ago! 😁😉
I’ve always wondered if Nicko still has the late ‘30’s 7x14 Slingerland Student Radio King snare drum in BDP that I sold him back in the late ‘80’s, when Gaddsy was still his tech.
I saw Iron Maiden on the Piece of Mind Tour on May 16th 1983 , I'm sure the kit that was used was a Yellowed Concert Tom Sonor Kit , I had seen Clive play the year before on NOTB with his Tama Kit. I was astounded by the sight and sound of that Sonor Kit and when Nicko thundered into Where Eagles Dare my jaw hit the floor , what an experience as a 16 year old kid drummer , I'm positive about the colour and the concert toms on that show
Great video / podcast. I'm pretty sure the Grand Hotel where Purple recorded Machine Head (or at least that corridor area) is now private apartments. Speaking of which, how about a Gear of Ian Paice episode? 😁😁
Paiste had discontinued the 2002 line and the 3000 were supposed to be an improvement on the 2002. I believe the 3000 had more hammering and they might have been somewhat thicker. The outcry was so great that they brought back the 2002 then they fazed out the 3000, 2000, and 1000.
On the 3 white kits in late 80s/Early 90s. There were only TWO, one was a power size Phonic & I can confirm that one was a Square Signature white with the copper snare drum. Square sizes, beech shells with a Bubinga interior ply. The Bell brass/copper plated snare was available for retail in 4” & 8”, in both 10 & 12 lug options. There is a Nico clinic online from that period which he used the signature kit. “Rhythms of the Beast”.
That's what I thought. But what is the square sized white kit with beech interiors that I've found several pics of online? The No prayer kit has bubinga interiors and heavy shells.
The snare was bell brass not copper, only the hardware was copper plated and extremely prone to corroding. The deeper HLD590 is 8" not 7" btw. There were definitely three white kits with Signature badges: - One with power toms (one inch less deep than diameter), those sizes were standard for the Signature Lite shells with 12ply 7mm Birch shells. - One Signature Heavy with square sizes and inner Bubinga veneer -One with square sizes but not inner veneer. It is very well possible that this kit actually has Phonic shells with Signature badges.
@@drumcenternh Yeah the White Square kit is a Signature Heavy in White, the famous kit that he lost! I set that kit up in Dublin with his then tech Steve (Gadd 🙂) who is now working production with Maiden.
Was the concert tom (Powerslave Tour) kit also used to record Powerslave? I'd assume so, but I don't recall hearing that as confimration? Thanks guys, great episode! Wasn't aware Shane was an Iron Maiden fan! COOL!
I would be interesting to ask why he went from a speedking to a DW5000 pedal, Sonor made many technically advanced pedals and even the odd player model, from all the phonic models through to the signature models I wonder if he never liked any of them or never even tried them. I wonder if the speedking got worn out broken at some point at a 5000 was the replacement or it was on one of the house kits? So many drummer seem to use DW pedals over the endorsed bands pedal even to this day when the brand they endorce make amazing pedals. (try to get shanes audio not so echoey cave for part 2 please)
Would have been cool to hear more about Sonor and the various options - they had these options with these specs, and Nicko choose this one, etc. For someone who is not an expert (me) saying this is the Phonic kit doesn’t mean anything to me. Just some constructive feedback there.
Great episode, I am bracing myself for the American pronunciation of Premier on the next episode & doing all that I can not to correct it every time it's pronounced incorrectly.
I’ve met Nicko on two occasions, both while working with Modern Drummer. There’s a video on MD’s TH-cam channel of an interview with him behind the kit. This was back during their 2019 Legacy of the Beast tour. I filmed that interview and had a chat with Nicko afterwards. He told me a story about how he saw Buddy Rich play in I think the mid-80s and they had a conversation after the show. Buddy said he admired Nicko’s playing (what a freaking compliment) and that he was distracted during the show by Nicko’s beautiful wife. He’s got thousands of stories and he’s such an entertaining guy. I hope he still has a few years left in him especially after his recent stroke. The world needs more drummers (and just people in general) with his personality. Up the irons!
Edit: On the day of writing this edit, Nicko has officially announced his retirement from performing live with Iron Maiden. I think I can speak for most of us when I say we wish him the best and his decision to leave the band was both difficult and admirable. We must remember to look after ourselves and do what’s best for us, which Nicko certainly recognizes. His legacy will not be forgotten and his contributions to the band, music, and drumming will be immortal.
He’s only announced his retirement from touring the statement confirms he will still be very much part of Iron maiden and the maiden family !
@ my bad :P I know that it wasn’t a complete split from the band but I phrased it poorly still. Fixing that right now!
once again one of the greatest drummers covered by two of the smarter people on the subject thanks again..cant wait for part 2
Thanks!
Shane is a true treasure to us who live in the New England region. It's great to see the BEST drum store owner on the BEST drum podcast ever.
Thank you! You are too kind.
Great Video,thanks! As a Maiden Fan since 1982/83 (visiting 208 shows in 30 countries) i had the pleasure meeting Nicko several times (in 2011 he had breakfast with me and some friends on tour somewhere in the UK: Legendary!) and he was always very nice to me! I always wanted to play drums....and now all those (wasted) years later (i'm 53 now) i just bought a drumkit last week (Sonor of course! ^^) and i'm very excited to play it!!!! Looking forward for part 2! Greetings from Stuttgart,Germany!!!
I’ve know Shane for many years & so nice to see how successful he is in the drum business..
Thank you Bob!
Thanks a lot for this... enjoyed every nerdy second of it. Nicko was the reason I picked up sticks. I really enjoyed your insights and share your enthusiasm for Maiden's history. What a band.
What a great and fun video, thanks a lot for putting it together!
Somee geeky remarks:
- The Somewhere In Time Phonic Hi-Tech was either a prototype or pre-production set as mentioned. In contrast to the regular Hi-Tech it features white gaskets. Also the hardware is black coated Signature series stands, as you can see from the gold badges and levers instead of wing nuts. The regular black hardware was not available when he got the kit. On the studio shot from the album you can also see that the 6" tom still has chrome hoops as the black ones were not finished yet at Sonor.
This kit was used again for the Be Quick Or Be Dead music video.
- The rental Force 3000 kit in New Zealand wasn't provided my a music store but by a fan, as no store had a big enough set available. Nicko wasn't aware of this though, otherwise he would have never thrown the floor tom around. After he found out he appologised to the owner.
-The 14x6,5 bell brass snare wasn't only unique in it's size but also by having a regular throw-off instead of the parallel throw off the Signature snares had.
Shane Kinney is incredible and he really has the best drum shop on the planet. I had the opportunity to meet Shane when visiting his shop and he's been that guy that always remembers his costumers. Once again Drum History Podcast never disappoints the drum community .
Thank you so much Christian!
@@drumcenternh You’re welcome!!
@@christiancea6 man this podcast is just the greatest - we can quibble about this and that as fans after the episodes but in the big picture just absolutely beautiful !!
@@Twotontessie Agreed haha
Hi Bart, from one Power Tom player to Nicko...I can't wait to hear this episode!
HeY kyle love your reference kit bro.
@@vandavis000 thank you!
I wanna go to drum center of Portsmouth one day
This is AWESOME!! And with Shane from DCP!!! Cant wait!!!
This is the ultimate video on Mr. Nicko McBrain’s drum kits! I definitely need to visit Shane and hear more stories from the Somewhere in Time era... ;)
Thank you Aquiles! See you in Boston in November!
John Becker of Resurection Drums arranged a clinic with Nicko in like 1986. Nicko brought the ENTIRE concert tom Sonor touring kit to a tiny room in a local High School, and blasted our faces off with the intro to Where Eagles Dare. Classic moment.
John was awesome. sold the shop and does real estate in western NC
@@astrozombie138 Yeah I was in touch him not too too long ago via facebook (well, 15 years or so) I Used to run into him at Namm when he was with Premier, also.
Wow! Of all the drummers I’ve been hoping to see an episode of, Nicko was not on my bingo card. Can’t wait to check this one out!
Finally, long overdue! Thank you for this!
Somewhere in Time is Nicko's finest hour. it is my favorite album of all time along King Diamond Abigail, Rush Moving Pictures and Genesis trick of the tail.. these 4 albums are the foundation of the drummer i am.
Cool episode man. Shane really did his homework for providing some great info. Much appreciated man. See ya'll for part 2.
Everyone should check out Drum Center of Portsmouth. I bought my Carl Palmer Venus snare drum from them several years back and they were really helpful with questions that I had and delivered fast and safe to my door. Great bunch of humans👍
Yes Shane is the man! Thanks for watching
Thanks so much!
Both of you are such an important part of our community! Thank you!
Thank you!
I love Sonor drums, Paiste cymbals,Nicko and all the info talked about,thank you.
I bought my Tama kit this year from DCP. The store is amazing. I buy as much gear as possible from them. Great people.
Thank you!
A great episode! I’m sure Shane was just as excited as I was back in 1985 waiting for the Modern Drummer issue with Nicko’s interview.
Thanks for this. It's so nice to see drummers covered aside from the usual suspects. I'd love to see Bill Ward!
Love the two part gear episodes lately! And this one was another winner!
Thanks man! Hopefully we can squeeze it all in one more episode, we have like 14 more kits to cover :)
Wow! Terrific episode. DCP sold me a ruby red 13" prolite snare and Shane's demo of the 14× 6 bronze (" crunchy like bacon") convinced me to order one. Thanks Shane!
BTW
Im an illustrator and did the inking and coloring on the Iron Maiden comic put out by Acme Ink comics :)
Very well researched Shane! Yes, there were definitely three different white kits 🤟🙂
This is such an awesome episode! I never knew Shane liked Iron Maiden and Nicko so much. It's great to see how so many of us love such similar artists and music! Thank you 🤘🏽🥁🤘🏽...Up the Irons
Thanks!
Great information! It was presented well, also. THANKS
Wow this is one of the best episodes! Thank you Bart thank you Shane!
Thanks man!
Thank you Bobby!
I’ve been watching this video in three parts, but yes, we are still here 😅very interesting 👍
Can’t wait for part 2 👏
Nice to see Nicko getting some loves :) The sound of his drums on Piece of Mind, Powerslave and Somewhere in Time were so acoustic you could almost hear the air being pushed around. I miss that these days where even acoustic kits sound electronic. Looking forward to Part Two. Shane knows his stuff.
Thanks for watching!
Moving air - for sure. Great way to explain it!
Thanks!
Spot on Shane! I was catching those little "oddities" you were pointing out throughout the video. Drum nerds unite!
Thanks!
one of your better episodes. Can't wait for part 2!
Thanks man! I really appreciate that
I guess this explains why Shane’s drum shop was the only place you could find the repro 13" formula 602 heavy bells a few years back. Thank you guys for the great content on Nicko. Total nerd here and I learned a ton watching this video. I have a premier give em ed til your dead tour replica kit with all the fixins. I even have a 15" paiste heavy full reflector prototype made for Nicko. Try and find one of them with the blue label font if you can find one at all. I haven’t followed Paiste lately so who knows, maybe they are making one now. Looking forward to the Premier years!
Oh neat, new episode! When ever I see Nicko's ride cymbal I want to tilt it because it looks like it's touching the Toms. Which maybe it is, and that's one of my favourite things about music and being a Drummer. We all have our own preferences
Yes 100% true, I feel the same way but it certainly works for Nicko!
Phil Rudd and Bill Ward would be Great drum Gear videos for the future!
@@meanmetalmike666 I would love Ward. Would like to know what happened to the huge white Slingerland set. Did he record with it as well? And how he got into the Tama after that. And what did he use on Born Again? His cymbal sound in the mid 70s was so good.
@@Twotontessie what about Phil Rudd
Drove 14 hours round trip one day to buy a kit from Drum Center of Portsmouth because I didn’t want to wait for them to be shipped to me. 3 of my 4 gigging kits were bought there. The staff is phenomenal
100% -LIve After Death video was THE Holy Grail for Iron Maiden and especially seeing what Nicko was using.
Finally! A deep dive into Nicko! Thank you guys! I’ve been chasing the ‘No Prayer’ snare sound for years. No Prayer studio snare was rumored to be a Sonor pheromagnese. Remo is producing the Silver Dot to Ludwig standard. Close enough to the early heads.
premier are nice and intelligent drums. always thought it was weird they werent more popular.
Thank you Bart and Shane!
My 2 all time favorite recorded ride cymbals (which are complete opposites and from live albums) are Nicko's on Live After Death and Tony Williams' on Four & More with Miles Davis.
A man of excellent taste!
another marvellous episode. Thank you!!!
Oh cool! 😀 I'm very much looking forward to this!
🤩👍
Stellar job on this one guys. I’m sure others have said it, but two drummers who would be really entertaining to look at their gear history would be Tre Cool and Travis Barker. Looking forward to more content!
Hey guys! As a former Sonor user and a great Nicko fan, I have to say many many thanks for that! Great! Looking forward to part 2!
By the way, I had a white Phonic Plus too in the mid 80´s, and I also wanted one of these 6" Toms, which was not listed in the catalogue at the time, think it was 1988, but it could be ordered optional, so I ordered it and my dealer let me phone with a lady from Sonor, and she told me, I have to wait until the 6" shells are beeing produced that year. I remember having ordered that in spring ´88 and received it in late autumn! And I paid quite a lot for it.... But, as we all know... musthaves... :-).
Maybe that´s the reason too, why Nicko´s 6 on the black kit had chrome hoops? - And indeed, it was 8" deep and the massive tom mount took nearly the whole space inside the tom! 🙂
I always wanted to order a 6” back then. I never got to the point of speaking to Sonor. I had no idea it was an option for orders from the states. Now I know. Ha. It’s great you got one. Treasure that one for sure of course among your other sonors.
The Somewhere In Time kit was the one for me. Just beautiful. I actually spray painted one of my first kits that colour 🤣
Live after Death changed my life in '85. I would trade a kidney for that kit!
🤘
Somewhere in Time kit is my favorite!
Just starting this episode today at home on tv & will likely finish up on way to band rehearsal tonight but since you asked up front for comments;)...my biggest influential memory was seeing Maiden as really my 1st ever concert as a young teen on the Peace of Mind tour in Seattle. It was not only my 1st concert experience but also day or so before 4th of July so as those days go...Tons of Fireworks snuck in which obviously added to memorabilia! Ha ya looking back seemed like anything goes still in those days and not only was the band amazing, the concert experiences were the Best!:)
Well done, thank you!! Nicko is awesome, Shane is awesome, Drum History Podcast is awesome. Drum nerds are awesome!! 🤘😝
🥁
Thanks!
Great info here guys, thanks!
There’s a novelty song called Nice One Cyril by the Cockerel Chorus that was around when I was a kid. I believe it was Nicko’s first professional session and his drumming really shines through.
nicko is the reason I love colorsounds
Great episode! FYI:Shaw sticks as referred to in the show. I used a pair in the mid 80’s in London. I think they made heavier sticks. They were certainly popular in the U.K. but disappeared from the market by the 90’s. They were well made and the ones I came across were certainly quite heavy, like 2B’s. I think Modern Drummer magazine carried some of their ads for a while but I can’t be certain on that. Hope this anecdotal experience helps. Cheers.😀
Thanks Terry. I really dug around and couldn't find much about them.
The good looking one in the band!
The Pearl floating snare was on the Aces high video
Never knew the drummer of Styx was so into Iron Maiden.
Very cool!!
Guys,thank you so much for this episode. When is part 2? And nice to see you Shane. I'll come to the shop soon.
Hopefully out in two weeks!
Thanks!
I'd love to see a video on clive burr as well, even though I think you can find more information on his stuff online.
Doing a video on the drummers of Judas Priest could be fun too. Im a huge fan on Dave Holland, even though he was disgraced with his conviction. His drumming with all his subtleties is just so artistic. I read or saw an interview with Stan Lynch where he said he was a big fan of Dave Holland in his band before Priest, Trapeze with Glen Hughes on vocals.
Great informative interview...I used to play the silver dots back in the 80's I mean, who didn't ? Anyway, my favorite Ludwig drumhead was the Snare side Extra Thin, really miss it...🥁
Since I was a huge Nicko fan as a teen, and a bit of a Sonor buff, let me add and correct a thing or two. Shane has his shell construction on the first Phonic confused: 9 ply, 9mm thick beech. Except for the smaller (6" and 8" ) toms which had no less than 4 different types of constuction over the years: Rolled up birch, 6 ply beech, 6 ply birch and 9 ply beech. Sonor really struggled with these smaller drums. There is no record of which construction the smaller drums on Nicko's kits had.
The colorsounds where added during or just before the Powerslave tour. I have seen zero pictures of Nicko using colorsounds as early as '83- the Colorsounds were not introduced until 1984.
Shaw was a small family run stick manufacturer that had been around since the '60s. Basically every drummer in the UK used them and they also did a lot of OEM for drumshops and other brands. The company changed hands about 15 years ago, but it's still around.
To confirm the 6" Phonic plus concert tom was also 8" deep.
The Hi-tec hardware is powdercoated, not black chrome. Powdercoat was a very new process on drums back in '85-'86
I met Nicko on numerous times and did several interviews with him (I work for a Dutch Drummers magazine) and he indeed is a bit unclear on some of the earlier stuff.
The Seventh Son kit - there is a lot of evidence that it might actually have been a Signature lite - 12 ply birch. Nicko just doesn't quite remember and the only guy that knew for sure - his drumtech Steve Gadd - is no longer with us. There where seveeral white kits and around No Prayer/ Fear of the dark he used another white kit and that was definitely a 9 ply beech kit - with signature badges. As seen in the picture. And that was definitely his favourite of the bunch. Nicko said to me he has 'several' white kits, but only one single set of signature hardware.
Fun fact: when Nicko got the signature bell bronze, it was indeed the only one at the time. Purdie managed to get Horst Link to make another one, but that was later.
On the rhythm of the Beast video Nicko was still using the Ludwig Silver Dots.
I did a video with Nicko on his newer Sonor kit when he just returned. - The book of souls tour. That's out there on youtube.
Thanks for doing this guys!
I had the Rhythms of the Beast BOOK. In it, he writes about an upcoming signature snare drum. As far as i know, it was never released.. Maybe it was that painted D506? Could be my memory as well.
Very interesting
I'm not sure what that was going to be, we did discuss a possible signature snare drum when he returned on 2016, but that didn't happen. You may be on to something with the painted D506. What else would it be?
So many great Sonor nuggets in this video
Good discussion over on DFO about this video
When you do get around to Sonor
Get Shane, Karl hienz and buzz king
I would also suggest breaking into 2 episodes; the Link era and the post Link or HSS and then KHS era
Thanks!
Somewhere in Time kit has special specs : white vulcanised fibre gaskets, of course, but the basss drum claws are from the lite / signature series. The square shape design is completely different from the normal rounded shape Hi-tech serie.
The bass drum spurs brackets are from Signature models (bigger ones) not the rectangular ones who are also floor tom brackets.
The tom holder for the 6 & 8 is custom made from an old Phonic holder with an additional articulation.
The tom holder for the 10 & 12 is custom made from a "current" Phonic / Signature, with an additional articulation.
All the hardware is black powder coated signature.
It is rumored he used Black powder coated Sonor D506. Later a white one for Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
I absolutely love Nicko McBrain but I always preferred Clive Burr and his era of Iron Maiden. The drum work on Killers is just incredible to say the least!
Also Shane is a great drummer and the Drum Center of Portsmouth are awesome! I've ordered from them many times up here in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada...
One more thing here. It is so nice to hear someone mention Clive Burr and give him some credit. I feel like Clive Burr's name isn't mentioned enough and he never gets the credit that he deserves... R.I.P. Clive Burr
\m/\m/
Another epic series. Love it.
...Been waiting for THIS one! 👍
Hope you enjoyed it!
If I remember correctly, Maiden are one of the very few bands in which the bassist is the only constant band member. Or something to that degree 🙂
And I'd had that Sonor brochure with Nicko's first kit in it in 1981, when I was 11 😊
Also, there's a 'RockPop in Concert' Maiden show from late '83 on YT, and Bruce Dickinson trashes that beautiful gloss-white Sonor Phonic kit at the end 🙈
And to me, NZ is not a whole World away anymore, since moving here from Germany 22 years ago! 😁😉
YESSSSSSSS FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!+!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve always wondered if Nicko still has the late ‘30’s 7x14 Slingerland Student Radio King snare drum in BDP that I sold him back in the late ‘80’s, when Gaddsy was still his tech.
I saw Iron Maiden on the Piece of Mind Tour on May 16th 1983 , I'm sure the kit that was used was a Yellowed Concert Tom Sonor Kit , I had seen Clive play the year before on NOTB with his Tama Kit. I was astounded by the sight and sound of that Sonor Kit and when Nicko thundered into Where Eagles Dare my jaw hit the floor , what an experience as a 16 year old kid drummer , I'm positive about the colour and the concert toms on that show
“Full Of Beans” is my new favorite saying.
great episode
Excellent episode. When is part 2??
Awesome loved everysec of it❤❤
Hi Bart great episode and if you’re looking for ideas on the next one, Roger Taylor hint hint 😉
The white drums with white cymbals makes me think of star wars storm troomers.
Honestly…. YES!!!!!
Great video / podcast. I'm pretty sure the Grand Hotel where Purple recorded Machine Head (or at least that corridor area) is now private apartments. Speaking of which, how about a Gear of Ian Paice episode? 😁😁
Paiste had discontinued the 2002 line and the 3000 were supposed to be an improvement on the 2002. I believe the 3000 had more hammering and they might have been somewhat thicker. The outcry was so great that they brought back the 2002 then they fazed out the 3000, 2000, and 1000.
They were not the last four shows of the tour on the live album. Not sure what he is talking about. It went on for several more months.
I knew I'd mess something up.
@@drumcenternhyou made the point
Interesting about the heads. I remember the Silver Dots.
They came on my Ludwigs and highly resistant to 13 year old with Vic Firth Thunder Rocks ! 😂
On the 3 white kits in late 80s/Early 90s. There were only TWO, one was a power size Phonic & I can confirm that one was a Square Signature white with the copper snare drum. Square sizes, beech shells with a Bubinga interior ply. The Bell brass/copper plated snare was available for retail in 4” & 8”, in both 10 & 12 lug options. There is a Nico clinic online from that period which he used the signature kit. “Rhythms of the Beast”.
That's what I thought. But what is the square sized white kit with beech interiors that I've found several pics of online? The No prayer kit has bubinga interiors and heavy shells.
The snare was bell brass not copper, only the hardware was copper plated and extremely prone to corroding. The deeper HLD590 is 8" not 7" btw.
There were definitely three white kits with Signature badges:
- One with power toms (one inch less deep than diameter), those sizes were standard for the Signature Lite shells with 12ply 7mm Birch shells.
- One Signature Heavy with square sizes and inner Bubinga veneer
-One with square sizes but not inner veneer. It is very well possible that this kit actually has Phonic shells with Signature badges.
@@andiprosch5024 I never said it was copper shell. I have one of each. The 7 was a Typo for 8.
2 or 3 kits, I only saw two. Thanks
@@drumcenternh Yeah the White Square kit is a Signature Heavy in White, the famous kit that he lost! I set that kit up in Dublin with his then tech Steve (Gadd 🙂) who is now working production with Maiden.
Shane sold me my Sonor kit. Picked up the phone.
Thanks! Hope you're enjoying it.
Was the concert tom (Powerslave Tour) kit also used to record Powerslave? I'd assume so, but I don't recall hearing that as confimration? Thanks guys, great episode! Wasn't aware Shane was an Iron Maiden fan! COOL!
No it was the XK-9212 kit used on POM, Powerslave, and FOTD.
did he ever play the toms under the rides?
LET'S GET MY FAVORITE GUY VINNY APPICE !
Me too!!!
I would be interesting to ask why he went from a speedking to a DW5000 pedal, Sonor made many technically advanced pedals and even the odd player model, from all the phonic models through to the signature models I wonder if he never liked any of them or never even tried them. I wonder if the speedking got worn out broken at some point at a 5000 was the replacement or it was on one of the house kits? So many drummer seem to use DW pedals over the endorsed bands pedal even to this day when the brand they endorce make amazing pedals. (try to get shanes audio not so echoey cave for part 2 please)
I believe the piece of mind Album Nicko recorded with the Hayman. Nicko mentioned this in a long interview recently
Love Nicko
What a fantastic episode! Any chance of a Clive Burr gear run down?
Would have been cool to hear more about Sonor and the various options - they had these options with these specs, and Nicko choose this one, etc. For someone who is not an expert (me) saying this is the Phonic kit doesn’t mean anything to me. Just some constructive feedback there.
Good feedback - I think we will dive more into that type of info in a Sonor specific history episode about the company.
Apologies for confusing you. I just watched this myself and I'm amazed at how woefully inarticulate I am.
Sonor D 506 Chrome Ferro is the best sounding snare drum ever made. 🤟👍
Can you still get power square sizes? Great podcast!
Yes, for sonor, you can do it with the SQ2 drums.
YES.
Great episode, I am bracing myself for the American pronunciation of Premier on the next episode & doing all that I can not to correct it every time it's pronounced incorrectly.
Preh mier :) Don't make us say Aluminum.
@@nickosrightfoot yeah nah you can't get that one right either.
Yikes!!! Yes, the 3000 series replaced the 2002 in 1986... sort of (the 2002 never really went away)!
Finally!!