My set-up has change several times over the years. As with all things, my playing has grown in both technique and insight. The various versions of my playing set-up have grown as well. I started way back in the late 1970s on a ‘Westbury’ drum set. I thought I was buying a Pearl drum set but the store owner said “Don’t worry son these are made by Pearl!” (Pearl was Peter Criss’ kit and I loved Kiss!). I was sold! It was a blue four piece kit with a 12″ rack tom and a 16″ floor tom. I then received four concert toms and another bass drum (Christmas and  birthday presents) to complete my Neil Peart like kit! Man…I was the happiest drummer in Montreal! I have played several brands of drums and had many set-up configurations over the years and all of them have brought me to my current brand and set-up.

I am now a Sonor Canada endorsee and I can’t even imagine working with another drum company at this point in my drumming life. The instrument has always had a reputation for being one of the very best drum set brands on the planet. I started to play the drums consistently in the 90s when I extensively toured Europe. I made sure to have Sonor on my drum rider and was lucky to get the drums 90% of the time. Here is a breakdown of the drum set I currently play the most.

1. A) The drums seen in the above

Sonor S-Classix

• 8″ x 8″ Tom
• 10″ x 10″ Tom
• 12″ x 12″ Tom
• 14″ x 14″ Tom
• 5 1/2 x 14″” Snare Drum
• 18″ x 22″ Bass Drum

I have a great relationship with my cymbal endorser Dream Cymbals. I have been an endorsee since about 2006. They have treated me incredibly well; I feel like they are family! These cymbals are the brain child of Canadian percussionist Andy Morris. The company is based in Toronto and the cymbals are made in Wuhan province in China. They are beautifully made. The following video gives you a great sense of how I feel about the company and the cymbals.

Check out this video to see what cymbals I currently play.

I am using Sonor hardware except for my hi-hat stand, bass drum pedals and throne. I am using a Sonor 400 series bass drum pedal on my left for for the jam block I set up on the left side of my hi-hat stand.

I just recently started working with Remo drum heads again. They feel and sound fantastic!

They are the Black Suede model on the toms. I use Emperor heads on the batter side and Ambassador heads on the resonant side for all them. The batter head for the bass drum is a Powersonic coated head. This one comes with a great external mute. I also use theHK-MUFF-22 Adjustable Bass Drum Muffling System on the inside of the drum against the batter head. The resonant side of the bass drum has an Ebony Ambassador on it.

I am very happy with my current set up. I don’t see it changing too much in the near future.