Ian, Used Ludwigs from the late 60's to the time he went to Pearl.Iam not sure what year that was i think 1998..The set of Ludwigs ian used were a 14x22 sametimes 14x24 basss drum, One mounted tom 10x14 floor toms 16x16,16x18 snare was a 5.5x14 and or 6.5x14..Drums were silver sparkle..In 1987 if i recall right he added a few more toms single heads 6,8,10 i think..Mikey

Ta for the info Mikey! :).Yeah i,ve seen pics of him with the silver sparkle luddy kit also with a black oyster pearl kit(which is the one i,m mainly after info on).I know exactly what model&sizes&quantities of Paistes he used as i,ve got both Paiste profiles 2&3.The other thing i,m enquiring about is the exact size of Ludwig 7B sticks.What happened to the "original black label" 70s Paiste Giant Beat 18"? :(.

Early on in Purple Ian played a Black Oyster Pearl kit in rather normal sizes 22,13,16,18 but his most iconic kit was the silver sparkle kit that was featured on the cover of Made In Japan that kit sported a 26" kick with I believe was a 16x12 mounted tom supported on a snare stand with 18 and 20 inch floor toms and a 6.5 Supra. He played some pretty blazing chops on that monster sized kit. By the time Come Taste the band cameout He was playing a big Ludwig Concert tom kit in silver sparkle still with a 26" kick. I believe he switched over to a Maple finished Pearl kit in 84' when Purple first reformed. I,m no expert but Paicey has been one of my favorites since I was a kid. Hope this helps

An interesting Ian Paice kit was this one from 1975. 18x26 bass, 16x18 and 18x20 floor toms, 10x14 rack and 6 concert toms. (of course the 6 1/2 x 14 supraphonic). The drums were hand painted by his buddy. The pictures range from horses, mountains, feminine figures, seas, suns and galaxies, ect...The pictures are from the Paolo Sburlatti book, Ludwig: Yesterday and Today. Paolo ownes a ton of drumsets and Ian is letting him borrow this set for his Deep Purple cover band. Lucky.

@ one point, he also used a double bass kit with 2 rows of concert toms across the front. I didn't pay much attention to the pic so I didn't notice the floor tom setup.

Here's a pic of that kit minus the 2nd bass drum:

http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Ian_Paice.html

Scroll down' til you find it. Pretty kit. Like to see some color pics.

Ta for all the info lads/mates! :).

Here is an excerpt from a 1998 Modern Drummer interview. For studio work it was all 22" and live all 26". He still used the big toms in the studio, so his studio kit would have been 16-18-20-22. That's what I call even spacing of the drum sizes!

RF: How has you equipment changed through the years?

IP: The biggest change came in the early '70's when I changed from a standard kit to a very big bass drum kit. That was a Carmine influence. I heard my rinky dinky 22" and heard his 26", and there was no comparison. But you can't use a 26" in the studio, it's just too big. On stage, they can explode if you mike them right, though. I was with Ludwig from the day I could afford a kit in the '60's, and then I managed to get an endorsement until a couple of years ago. Ever since the company was sold, the drums haven't been the same. They're made just as well, it's just in the quality control. You find it very hard to get a key on the tension rods because the middle of the rim sticks out too far and little things like that. Those things never used to happen and shouldn't happen now. So I began to check other companies out. I though Pearl was best looking and they're particularly nicely finished drums. Drums are drums, and the rest is really what you think they look like. The sound is up to you; I don't care what anybody says. If you get two drums made to a certain standard, they'll sound the same. I just decided they made the best product. Apart from the obvious change of drum company, nothing has changed really. I might experiment on stage putting in some electric triggering devices off the microphones to maybe beef up the sound a little bit. But I've tried that in the studio, and it actually sounds better without it. I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up with straight drumkit and leave well enough alone.

RF: Any words of wisdom on tuning?

IP: I never, ever try to tell other people how they should tune a drum.

live he used a 16" x 10" rack which he cut down himself a 18" and 20' floor tom. He went back and forth between the 24" and the 26" bass drum with a full front head nothing inside. The snare was a 6 1/2" Ludwig Super phonic. 20" crash, two 22" crash a 22" ride a pair of 15" sound edge and a 8" splash all 2002. The drums were silver sparkle Ludwig's. This is the set he used live from Inrock to Stormbringer. The drums on Stormbringer are pearls with three racks and two floors. I am not sure when he added the other two floors. Now in the studio I believe but not sure it was the same snare 22" bass drum 14" 16" 18". I remember reading that he used all Blue Label 602"s in the studio. The hi hats were 13" blue label sound edge. Which you can really here on Who Do We Think We Are. Always wanted a full set of the blue Label but I have a 22" 2002 black label ride a pair of 15" sound edges these are 2002"s and then two 16" signature crashes and 18" signature crash a 17" reflector crash a 12" sig. splash. The reflector is one of the nices cymbals I ever bought but good god almighty are the expensive.

Hope that helps john police

Interesting. Never read anything were Ian himself cut down a 16" Floor tom to a 16 X 10 tom. I read he had the kit custom built by Ludwig. His Bass Drum was even 26 X 16.