Drummers That Didn’t Switch Endorsements

[XVIII Airborne]

Charlie Benante has been with Tama/Paiste a long time, one of my favorite drummers.

 

[type85]

Good point about Switzerland and Paiste. I love this clip, all 3 were amazing in it.

Simon is friggin' on fire!
I also noticed that both he and Billy are playing Sound creation hi hats, possibly dark sound edges (you can tell from the black ink vs. the red ink for 2002's)

 

[dingaling]

I think Jeff Tain Watts with Sonor.
Adam Nussbaum with Sonor.

 

[Steech]

Simon is friggin' on fire!
I also noticed that both he and Billy are playing Sound creation hi hats, possibly dark sound edges (you can tell from the black ink vs. the red ink for 2002's)

I love sound edge hats. And yeah, Simon is pretty much killing it here, holy smokes! It looks like the two older dudes are like woah, check this kid out!

 

[squidart]

Thinking Kenny Aronoff & Stewart Copeland may have always been Tama guys along with Zildjian and Paiste respectively...

Mr Copeland was Ludwig with Curved Air and with THE Pearl snare apparently way back then.

 

[hsosdrum]

Gene Krupa died in 1973, and Buddy was still playing Slingerland at the time. Wouldn't that have left him as No.1? Anyway, by the time Buddy switched to Ludwig, Gene had been gone a few years, so I'm skeptical that that's how he lured Buddy away.

That's probably how Bill Ludwig lured Buddy away from Slingerland in the late 1940s, when he went with Ludwig until Rogers lured him away in 1961 by building the Dyna-Sonic snare drum for him (and throwing some $$ his way).

Buddy left Rogers in 1967 because they were owned by CBS and CBS records didn't sign his new big band to a record deal. He played Fibes (used them on "The New One" album) and quickly switched to Vox (Trixon) for which they paid him $100,000. But he hated those drums and even those big bucks weren't enough to make him stick around.

He left Vox in 1968 for Slingerland, with whom he stuck for roughly 10 years (although he frequently played a Fibes snare with his Slingerland kit, much to the dismay of company president Don Osborne). He then switched to Ludwig for around 5 years, until he received a restored 1940s vintage Slingerland Radio King kit from Joe MacSweeny of Eames Drums. He played those vintage Radio Kings until his death in 1987.*

Buddy played Zildjian cymbals his whole life, except for one infamous instance (talked about here on DFO) where he bought a Paiste ride cymbal and used it for at least one live performance in Europe.

*Buddy's last live performance was as part of a Tommy Dorsey tribute taped at the Hollywood Palladium in January of 1987 for broadcast on PBS. At that show he played a backline modern-day Slingerland kit (fitted with a Ludwig double-tom holder) which is currently on display at Professional Drum Shop in Hollywood, CA.

 

[type85]

That's probably how Bill Ludwig lured Buddy away from Slingerland in the late 1940s, when he went with Ludwig until Rogers lured him away in 1961 by building the Dyna-Sonic snare drum for him.

Yes, all that's from Ludwig's book, he also states that when Buddy was in the hospital with his 1st. heart attack, a Rogers exec visited him and offered him $10K to switch!

 

[Whitten]

I assume the equipment was loaned for the performance, considering this performance was in Switzerland it's no surprise they would supply Paistes!

A ton of drummers over the years have played Paiste (and Sonor) at Montreux. They obviously supply backline, and if you are an artist playing one show you aren't going to travel with your own drums and cymbals.

 

[John DeChristopher]

Back to the original subject...

There are many drummers who played one brand or another, but didn't endorse it. This is/was usually the case early on in their careers. As its been pointed out, Stewart Copeland played Ludwig drums and Zildjian cymbals on the first 2-3 Police records, but he's only ever endorsed Tama and Paiste and therefore never switched companies.

Other drummers that come to mind who haven't switched companies are:
Steve Gadd (played original K. Zildjians until about 1980, but didn't endorse them).
Rick Marotta
Jerry Marotta
Jeff Porcaro (though he famously played Gretsch and Zildjian, he only officially endorsed Pearl and Paiste)
Kenny Aronoff (though he switched drumhead companies so maybe that disqualifies him )
Max Weinberg (technically never endorsed a drum company before DW)
Bun E. Carlos (didn't endorse a drum company before Ludwig)

Simon Phillips had a short-lived "loose" endorsement with Paiste in the 70s. It might've been a handshake deal. By 1982, he was endorsing Zildjian.
Steve Smith endorsed Paiste briefly in the 70s with Jean Luc Ponty and early with Journey, before signing with Zildjian around 1981.

 

[varatrodder]

Paul Leim has been with Yamaha and Paiste for as long as I can remember. I ran into him at Fork's one day, and he was a super nice guy.

 

[SpinaDude]

Charlie Benante has been with Tama/Paiste a long time, one of my favorite drummers.

Charlie's amazing. He rarely gets the credit he deserves. Nice tour of his rig.

What about Weckl and Yamaha? I thought he was born clutching a Yamaha brass piccolo.

 

[ncdrumr]

Simon Phillips and Tama, not sure about cymbals though. Zildjians the whole time maybe?

Though there is an amazing clip of a very young Simon playing a Gretsch kit in a three-way drum battle with his hero Billy Cobham and Art Blakey.

Check this out!

Dang....never saw that clip before. Thanks for posting it! What struck me right away is Phillips' tom sound. To my ear, those Gretsches sound identical to the sound he's gotten with the Tamas for decades. I've been a fan of his since the early 80s. One of the first times I heard him was on a radio broadcast of the 1983 Ronnie Lane 'ARMS' benefit concert. Check this out:

Well, crap. Looks like that video has been taken down. In any case, look for Simon Phillips with Jeff Beck at ARMS concert. I made a cassette of the original '83 broadcast and listened to it a thousand times.....anybody remember cassettes?

 

[Pickinator]

Phil Collins - Gretsch
I believe there was an add in Modern Drummer where he says he's been with Gretsch for 40 years? Maybe.
He is standing next to a stack of WMP drums.

 

[John DeChristopher]

Phil Collins - Gretsch
I believe there was an add in Modern Drummer where he says he's been with Gretsch for 40 years? Maybe.
He is standing next to a stack of WMP drums.

I believe Phil endorsed Premier and Pearl at different times, prior to or in between Gretsch.

 

[BennyK]

Phil Collins - Gretsch
I believe there was an add in Modern Drummer where he says he's been with Gretsch for 40 years? Maybe.
He is standing next to a stack of WMP drums

In the Air Tonight is either Pearl or Premier , depending on the info source .

 

[dsop]

Who's the most famous drummer that has never endorsed any brand?

 

[Buffalo_drummer]

Portnoy has Tama and Sabian tattoos.

 

[BennyK]

Tommy Aldridge - Yamaha

Ian Paice - Pearl

both 40 years plus with the same brands

 

[Heavy Beech]

Mikkey Dee : Sonor + Paiste his whole career , from early 80s on to now and still playing and loyal to both .

 

[varatrodder]

Phil Collins - Gretsch
I believe there was an add in Modern Drummer where he says he's been with Gretsch for 40 years? Maybe.
He is standing next to a stack of WMP drums.

He was Pearl and Premier before that, but yeah, Gretsch for the bulk of his career. He's pretty much known as a Gretsch player.