Now you're in my wheelhouse! :p

Bobby played a bunch of different kits. Almost every time he played, he was playing something different. He did have a white Premier kit with dbl. rack toms and I know about the Dyna and a Ludwig kit that he used several times.

Not to go off-topic, but Bobby Columby had the best left-hand technique I have ever seen on a drummer. Amazing control, creativity and raw ability. He single-handedly invented fusion drumming when he formed BS&T. Nobody else was playing like that back then. When Bobby was teaching to support himself, my best friend at the time was his ace student. Lou would come back from his weekly Saturday morning sessions with Bobby and he would regurgitate the entire lesson for me later at his house. I got to study with Bobby (by proxy, second-hand,) through my buddy Lou. How many guys can say they got two years of drum lessons from Bobby Columby for free! :p Actually, thank you to Lou's dad who is now passed on, he was the one who paid for the lessons.

John

I don't find you too far off topic, though it will be good to hear if anyone has more specifics on the equipment question.

As far as his technique is concerned, I never had the opportunity to hear or see him play any closer than from a porch on F St looking into the Hampton Casino Ballroom, which if memory serves me correctly was in the summer of 1969. It was quite a night and guys were climbing up the drain pipes and into the windows only to be grabbed by the cops and hauled back out.

He seemed himself to be very modest when speaking on the topic of his drumming abilities. He certainly was a strong influence for me, but not in the way you received it. I found that his artistic ability was the key. He could place accents very well and understood where and at what time to use each voice in the kit. He also seems to have understood drum tuning very, very well or had a really good drum tech because his toms always had a nice ring to them. As to left-hand technique and inventing fusion music; well, I best leave that where you laid it because I hadn't observed his work closely enough to know.

http://www.guyfletcher.co.uk/index.php/2014mkrecording/2014StudioDiary1

The kit which Ian used was Mark’s Wine Red Raspberry Ripple Rogers which was Bobby Colomby’s drum kit which used on all the ‘Blood Sweat and Tears’ recordings.

[IMG]http://www.guyfletcher.co.uk/images/cms/diaries/2014%20Recording/IantoRipple500.jpg[/IMG]

I've seen that before Ploughman, along with this picture of him on that kit. In live recordings of BS&T on stage, I have never seen that kit.

Judging by the richness and evenness of the wine red ripple in your photo and apparently flawless chrome, it looks as if that kit has never left the studio.

One thing I do know about this particular finish, it is relatively easy to identify individual drums. the location of the lines and how they meet the hardware on a shell are that unique.

I have seen the BC pic on stage before only bigger, but just as blurry.

There's also a picture out there with Bobby on a chrome Fibes kit. It's signed so maybe a promo pic of some kind? Not a live shot but thought it was cool. That Rogers kit he played it nice. Never saw that. I've seen his WMP and sparkle something Premier kits with the Swivo hardware. But never those. Tried to save and post the Fibes pic but my was not able to save it for some reason. Wonder if he still keeps any of his old gear around?

Glenn!

You mean this one? ENJOY!!!

Tommyp

I used this kit on the Heaven Tonight album, in early 1978. We were at Sound City and we couldn't get decent drum sound. We called Bobby, who was working for CBS at the time. I had the pleasure of going over to his house in Westwood, where he was living with Pam Grier, and going down the basement to his drum room and rummaging through his sets. He said this set was his BS+T set and he preferred it to his other sets. I used the 20,16,12,12 drums with my Supraphonic. What a gentleman!!

Bun I was hoping you would chime in on this thread .