< PreviousModern Drummer August 2021 78 I n 1983, Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers were on a roll. They’d been steadily cracking out gold and platinum albums and racking up hits with songs like “Breakdown,” American Girl,” “The Waiting,” “Don’t Do Me Like That,” and “Refugee.” The band was touring constantly and packing stadiums all over the world. This constant touring inspired Heartbreakers drummer Stan Lynch to design a new drum kit. He hooked up with Joe Hibbs, Tama artist relations manager at the time, to design the set. They decided to create a set inspired by the Ludwig silver sparkle set that Mitch Mitchell played with The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Silver sparkle was not a finish that Tama offered at the time, so the finish had to be sourced from Donn Bennett’s Drum Vault: Stan Lynch’s Mitch Mitchell Inspired Ludwigs By Donn BennettAugust 2021 Modern Drummer 79 another drum company. This is the only Imperialstar drum set in silver sparkle finish that Tama ever made. Mitch Mitchell’s Ludwig set had one mounted tom and two floor toms. At Hibbs’ suggestion, they “floated” the two floor toms, mounting them on a double tom stand instead of traditional floor tom legs. Lynch liked a wide-open sound and the drums needed to be loud, so the stock Imperialstar internal mufflers that were standard at the time were left off. The kit was built in what would now be considered “vintage” sizes: a 14x 22 bass drum, a 9 x 13 mounted tom, and 14x14 and 16 x 16 suspended floor toms. The snare is a steel-shell 5x14 Tama Kingbeat with a parallel throw-off. He kept the whole classic vibe going with coated Remo ambassador heads all the way around and completely cut out the front bass head. Lynch remembers the set as being really fun to play and saying, “It was frisky. It was loud, explosive, and really tunable. Our sound guy loved them.” Lynch played this set in live performances with Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers between 1984 and 1986. It can be seen and heard on the band’s Pack Up The Plantation 1985 live concert video. In the summer of 1985, the band was invited to perform at Live Aid, an event to help raise funds to fight world hunger. This was the biggest musical event ever produced to date, taking place simultaneously on stages at Wembley Stadium in London, England, and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers played at JFK and their performance was seen by a worldwide audience of an estimated 1.9 billion people. This is the set Lynch played. Stan Lynch left the Heartbreakers in 1994 and went on to become an extremely successful songwriter and producer and continues to work with some of the biggest names in the music industry. I acquired this set directly from Stan, who ironically traded me for a 1960s Ludwig silver sparkle set like the one that originally inspired this set, way back in ’83.Modern Drummer August 2022 80 Tama Lars Ulrich Signature Kit T he kit shown here replicates the Limited Edition Lars Ulrich Signature configuration originally created by Tama Drums for Metallica’s 1992 tour. It includes two 16” X 24” bass drums; 10” X 10”, 11” X 12”, 13” X 14”, and 15” X 16” rack toms; two 16” X 18” floor toms; and an 8” X 14” birch shell snare drum. The drums are finished in a white gloss wrap and fitted with all-black hardware. Lars’ is signature is on the insides of the shells and on the front bass drum heads. Tama ‘90s-era heavy-duty pedals and stands complete the outfit. This kit is featured in the book Crash: The World’s Greatest Drum Kits, available at moderndrummer.comLegends Coming Soon: Billy Cobham • Carmine Appice • Gavin Harrison • Giovanni Hidalgo • Carl Palmer Cindy Blackman Santana • Dave Weckl • Charlie Watts • Eric Singer • Alex González Buy from your favorite music retailer Check out more at moderndrummer.com/legends Presents: Legends Collection The Extensive And New In-depth Interviews • Artist Approved Content New Song Transcriptions With Artist Insight Never Before Seen Photos • Digital Download components Not just another drum book or magazine, It’s Modern Drummer Legends!enter for your chance to win A free cabin and to be a professional drum tech for a day with KISS drummer Eric Singer enter today at : moderndrummer.com / roadie october 24-29, 2022 | los angeles to cabo san lucas & ensenada, mexico CONTEST WINNERS MUST BE 21 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER. OPEN ENTRIES AUGUST 1 TO SEPTEMBER 15, 2022. WINNER TO BE CONTACTED SEPTEMBER 25, 2022. FULL LINE UP AND CRUISE DETAILS AT THEKISSKRUISE.COMNext >