Vapoo2112
Beginner
The Candy Apple Red Artstar Prototype, (CAR Tamas,) was the 4th drum set used by NP. It was used to record Signals, Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows, and Hold Your Fire***, as well as being used on all tours starting with the Deep South Spring Training Tour through the last date of the Power Windows tour in 1986.
--------------------------------
Background
--------------------------------
During the mixing of Exit… Stage Left at Le Studio, Neil discovered a set of Hayman drums, which previously belonged to Corky Laing from Mountain.
After cleaning the drums and hardware, as well as putting new heads on the drums, Neil fell in love with their sound and tonal qualities. It was never specified what the shell sizes or color the drums were, however we do know that they had a thin shell, which Neil noticed and asked Tama to make him a kit with thinner shells (4 ply instead of 6 ply) in order to achieve similar tones for the upcoming album recording and tour cycles.
Tama sent the shells to the Percussion Center in Fort Wayne where they removed 2 of the 6 plies from the inside of the shells.
Because these shells were different from the Superstar line that Neil had used previously, Tama used these as the base for the Artstar line, with the Candy Apple Red kit being the prototype for these shells. The ArtStar prototype is fitted with Superstar hardware and badges, as it was originally a Superstar kit.
The kit as it was on Signals would be the final kit to feature tubular bells, and is the first to use the “Parallel” mounts, mounting the crotale octave on the stage left side, and temple blocks mounted on the stage right side of the kit, respectively. The Effects Rack from the Black Slingerlands and Rosewood Tamas was used on the CAR kit during the Spring Training Tour.
--------------------------------
Signals
--------------------------------
Shells
--------------------------------
Tama Superstar Birch Shells (4 Ply, 2 plies removed) in Candy Apple Red Lacquer
Note; All Drums (except for the snare and timbales) were Vibrafibed.
12x8, 13x9, 15x12 Rack Toms
18x16 Floor
24x14 Bass Drums
6, 8, 10, 12 Concert Toms
14x5.5 Slingerland Artist Model Snare (Painted in Candy Apple Red)
13 and 14 Wood Timbales
20 and 22 Gong Drums
-----------------------
Cymbals
-----------------------
Note; All Cymbals by Zildjian (Medium Thin) unless stated otherwise
8” Splash
10” Splash
13” Hi Hats
(x2) 16” Crash
18” Crash
18” Pang
18” Wuhan
20” Crash
20” China
22” Ping Ride
----------------------
Percussion
----------------------
(Note; While the Agogo bells were present during the recording of Signals, they were dropped by the time the New World Tour had begun.)
Tubular Bells
Crotales
Glockenspiel
LP Bell Tree
Various Triangles
Temple Blocks
Various Wind and Cluster Chimes
LP Gold Tone Cowbell
Gon Bops Tri-Bell
LP Black Beauty
LP Rock/Bongo Bell
-----------------------
Hardware
-----------------------
(x2) Camco Pedals
Tama Ratchet Mount on Stage Left Bass
Tama Dual Tom Mount on Stage Right Bass
Tama Hi-Hat stand
Tama Snare Drum stand
(x3) Tama Boom Cymbal stands
Tama straight Cymbal stand
(4x) Ludwig Hercules Clip Mounts [Concert Toms]
Ludwig Hoop Mount Cymbal Mount Add-On - Ludwig L1370 (both bass drums)
First kit to feature the infamous Squirrel Cage Fans
----------------------
Heads*
----------------------
Remo Clear Black Dot - Concert Toms, Snare Drum and Bass Drum - Batter
Remo Clear (possibly clear Ambassadors or Emperors) - Timbales
Evans Heavy Duty Rock- Red - Rack, Floor, Gong Toms - Batter
Evans Tom Tom - Red - Rack, Floor - Reso
*For the Subdivisions and Countdown music videos, Neil is seen using Evans Red Hydraulic heads on the concert toms and gong drum, and while there is no clear view of the rest of the closed toms, we can assume they also had the Evans Red Hydraulics on both batter and resonant sides.
-------------------------------
Radio City Music Hall
-------------------------------
In September of 1983, Rush played 5 consecutive nights at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. These gigs were used as an opportunity to test out some new songs that would make their way to their forthcoming album.
Many fans were shocked to see that Neil’s kit had grown behind him, which saw the famous tubular chimes retired in favor of a new geometric, hexagon shaped instrument… The Simmons SDSV Drum Synthesizer. There was one major hiccup, which was that when Neil would play the new drum set, he would be facing away from the audience, rather than towards them.
The Solution? A rotating drum riser, in another geometric shape, this time being an octagon, was built and would remain until the R40 tour in 2015.
--------------------------
Grace Under Pressure
--------------------------
By the beginning of the Grace Under Pressure tour, Neil had switched to the SDS7 Synthesizer, but kept using the Simmons SDSV pads with a red shell. Neil would begin to use SDS7 pads by the time the band would play in Toronto, filmed for the Grace Under Pressure Tour concert film. The Simmons analog Clap Trap synthesizer was also employed, being triggered by a pedal to the left of the Hi-Hat pedal on both sides of the kit. The wood timbales have been replaced by one 13” brass timbale, fitted with Superstar lugs.
-------------------------
Shells
-------------------------
Tama Artstar Birch Shells (4 Ply) in Candy Apple Red
Note; All Drums (except for the snare and timbales) were Vibrafibed.
12x8, 13x9, 15x12 Rack Toms
18x16 Floor
24x14, 18x14 Bass Drums
6, 8, 10, 12 Concert Toms
14x5.5 Slingerland Artist Model Snare (Painted in Candy Apple Red)- Had a duplicate Artist Model on Satellite Kit
13 Brass Timbale ***
22” Gong Tom (24” Head)
*** NOTE; Neil used a 13” Wooden Timbale in CAR during the Japanese run of the Grace Under Pressure Tour.
----------------------
Cymbals
----------------------
Note; All Cymbals by Zildjian (Medium Thin) unless stated otherwise
8” Splash
10” Splash
(x2) 13” Hi Hats
(x3) 16” Crash
(x2) 18” Crash
18” Pang
18” Wuhan
20” Crash
20” China
(x2) 22” Ping Ride
----------------------
Percussion
----------------------
Crotales
Glockenspiel
Temple Blocks
Wind Chimes
LP Gold Tone Cowbell
Gon Bops Tri-Bell
LP Black Beauty
LP Rock/Bongo Bell
-------------------------
Electronics
-------------------------
(3x) Simmons SDS 7 Tom Module
Simmons SDS 7 Snare Module
(4x) Simmons SDS 7 Electronic Trigger Pads
Simmons SDS 7 Brain/Synthesizer
Simmons Analog Clap Trap
--------------------------
Hardware
--------------------------
(x3) Camco Chain Drive Pedals
Tama Ratchet Mount on Stage Left Bass
Tama Dual Tom Mount on Stage Right Bass
Tama Hi-Hat stand
Tama Snare Drum stand
(x5) Tama Boom Cymbal stands
Tama Titan straight Cymbal stand
Premier LokFast (Cowbell Tree)
Ludwig Hercules Clip on Tom Mounts (Concert Toms)
Ludwig Hoop Mount Cymbal Mount Add-On - Ludwig L1370 (both bass drums)
Pearl 717VS (Simmons Mounts)
---------------------
Heads
---------------------
Remo CS Clear Dot - Snare Drums and Bass Drums - Batter
Remo Clear (possibly clear Ambassadors or Emperors) - Timbales, Gong Drum
Remo CS Black Dot - Concert Toms, Snares
Evans Heavy Duty Rock- Red - Rack, Floor - Batter
Evans Tom-Tom- Red - Rack and Floor Toms - Reso
----------------------------
Power Windows
----------------------------
The drum set did not evolve in the acoustic department, but in the electronic areas, things had progressed. Neil and Larry Allen had gotten an EPROM unit, which allowed them to sample any given sound and put it on a chip that could be used to be triggered by the Simmons pads.
Power Windows and its supporting tour also saw the introduction to the Sydney trigger, a small trigger built and developed by the Percussion Center that mounted between the 12” and 13” rack toms.
It also saw Neil begin to use Clear Remo Pinstripes on the batter side of the closed toms, and Clear Remo Diplomats on the resonant side, the first time he had deviated from using Evans on the closed toms. Neil also used the Evans Red Hydraulic heads during the Power Windows tour, but eventually switched to the Pinstripe/Diplomat combo in the middle to late stages of the tour. It also appears that the Vibrafibing was removed from the shells at one point, however this is unverified information. If it was removed, it was eventually redone to the shells after the tour.
***The Red Tamas were sampled and those samples were used on Second Nature from the Hold Your Fire Album. The samples of the CAR Tamas were taken from Grand Designs and can be heard during Second Nature’s chorus.
Some things to note…
When the Candy Apple Red Tamas saw their last outing, it would also be the last time Neil would use any acoustic percussion outside of wind chimes until 2008. The parallel mounts featuring the crotales, temple blocks, and glockenspiel would all be retired at the end of the Power Windows tour.
---------------------
After Rush
---------------------
The CAR Tamas had a multitude of owners, beginning with Jack Hess who won the kit originally in 1987. He stored it in his basement until 1999 when he auctioned it on eBay and sold it for $26,100, ($47,400.24 when adjusted for inflation,) to Scott Jemm, who displayed them from 1999-2002, and sold them on eBay for $14,621.12. (ironic!)
Ian Coley bought them next, who spent $20,000 restoring the drums with the help of Robert Telleria, who would eventually become the 4th owner of the CAR Tamas. Eventually, Robert decided to auction the drums off through Julien’s Auctions, where the current owner, Robert M. bought the drums, and now proudly plays Rush covers using the kit. Talk about well-deserved bragging rights!
--------------------------------
Background
--------------------------------
During the mixing of Exit… Stage Left at Le Studio, Neil discovered a set of Hayman drums, which previously belonged to Corky Laing from Mountain.
After cleaning the drums and hardware, as well as putting new heads on the drums, Neil fell in love with their sound and tonal qualities. It was never specified what the shell sizes or color the drums were, however we do know that they had a thin shell, which Neil noticed and asked Tama to make him a kit with thinner shells (4 ply instead of 6 ply) in order to achieve similar tones for the upcoming album recording and tour cycles.
Tama sent the shells to the Percussion Center in Fort Wayne where they removed 2 of the 6 plies from the inside of the shells.
Because these shells were different from the Superstar line that Neil had used previously, Tama used these as the base for the Artstar line, with the Candy Apple Red kit being the prototype for these shells. The ArtStar prototype is fitted with Superstar hardware and badges, as it was originally a Superstar kit.
The kit as it was on Signals would be the final kit to feature tubular bells, and is the first to use the “Parallel” mounts, mounting the crotale octave on the stage left side, and temple blocks mounted on the stage right side of the kit, respectively. The Effects Rack from the Black Slingerlands and Rosewood Tamas was used on the CAR kit during the Spring Training Tour.
--------------------------------
Signals
--------------------------------
Shells
--------------------------------
Tama Superstar Birch Shells (4 Ply, 2 plies removed) in Candy Apple Red Lacquer
Note; All Drums (except for the snare and timbales) were Vibrafibed.
12x8, 13x9, 15x12 Rack Toms
18x16 Floor
24x14 Bass Drums
6, 8, 10, 12 Concert Toms
14x5.5 Slingerland Artist Model Snare (Painted in Candy Apple Red)
13 and 14 Wood Timbales
20 and 22 Gong Drums
-----------------------
Cymbals
-----------------------
Note; All Cymbals by Zildjian (Medium Thin) unless stated otherwise
8” Splash
10” Splash
13” Hi Hats
(x2) 16” Crash
18” Crash
18” Pang
18” Wuhan
20” Crash
20” China
22” Ping Ride
----------------------
Percussion
----------------------
(Note; While the Agogo bells were present during the recording of Signals, they were dropped by the time the New World Tour had begun.)
Tubular Bells
Crotales
Glockenspiel
LP Bell Tree
Various Triangles
Temple Blocks
Various Wind and Cluster Chimes
LP Gold Tone Cowbell
Gon Bops Tri-Bell
LP Black Beauty
LP Rock/Bongo Bell
-----------------------
Hardware
-----------------------
(x2) Camco Pedals
Tama Ratchet Mount on Stage Left Bass
Tama Dual Tom Mount on Stage Right Bass
Tama Hi-Hat stand
Tama Snare Drum stand
(x3) Tama Boom Cymbal stands
Tama straight Cymbal stand
(4x) Ludwig Hercules Clip Mounts [Concert Toms]
Ludwig Hoop Mount Cymbal Mount Add-On - Ludwig L1370 (both bass drums)
First kit to feature the infamous Squirrel Cage Fans
----------------------
Heads*
----------------------
Remo Clear Black Dot - Concert Toms, Snare Drum and Bass Drum - Batter
Remo Clear (possibly clear Ambassadors or Emperors) - Timbales
Evans Heavy Duty Rock- Red - Rack, Floor, Gong Toms - Batter
Evans Tom Tom - Red - Rack, Floor - Reso
*For the Subdivisions and Countdown music videos, Neil is seen using Evans Red Hydraulic heads on the concert toms and gong drum, and while there is no clear view of the rest of the closed toms, we can assume they also had the Evans Red Hydraulics on both batter and resonant sides.
-------------------------------
Radio City Music Hall
-------------------------------
In September of 1983, Rush played 5 consecutive nights at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. These gigs were used as an opportunity to test out some new songs that would make their way to their forthcoming album.
Many fans were shocked to see that Neil’s kit had grown behind him, which saw the famous tubular chimes retired in favor of a new geometric, hexagon shaped instrument… The Simmons SDSV Drum Synthesizer. There was one major hiccup, which was that when Neil would play the new drum set, he would be facing away from the audience, rather than towards them.
The Solution? A rotating drum riser, in another geometric shape, this time being an octagon, was built and would remain until the R40 tour in 2015.
--------------------------
Grace Under Pressure
--------------------------
By the beginning of the Grace Under Pressure tour, Neil had switched to the SDS7 Synthesizer, but kept using the Simmons SDSV pads with a red shell. Neil would begin to use SDS7 pads by the time the band would play in Toronto, filmed for the Grace Under Pressure Tour concert film. The Simmons analog Clap Trap synthesizer was also employed, being triggered by a pedal to the left of the Hi-Hat pedal on both sides of the kit. The wood timbales have been replaced by one 13” brass timbale, fitted with Superstar lugs.
-------------------------
Shells
-------------------------
Tama Artstar Birch Shells (4 Ply) in Candy Apple Red
Note; All Drums (except for the snare and timbales) were Vibrafibed.
12x8, 13x9, 15x12 Rack Toms
18x16 Floor
24x14, 18x14 Bass Drums
6, 8, 10, 12 Concert Toms
14x5.5 Slingerland Artist Model Snare (Painted in Candy Apple Red)- Had a duplicate Artist Model on Satellite Kit
13 Brass Timbale ***
22” Gong Tom (24” Head)
*** NOTE; Neil used a 13” Wooden Timbale in CAR during the Japanese run of the Grace Under Pressure Tour.
----------------------
Cymbals
----------------------
Note; All Cymbals by Zildjian (Medium Thin) unless stated otherwise
8” Splash
10” Splash
(x2) 13” Hi Hats
(x3) 16” Crash
(x2) 18” Crash
18” Pang
18” Wuhan
20” Crash
20” China
(x2) 22” Ping Ride
----------------------
Percussion
----------------------
Crotales
Glockenspiel
Temple Blocks
Wind Chimes
LP Gold Tone Cowbell
Gon Bops Tri-Bell
LP Black Beauty
LP Rock/Bongo Bell
-------------------------
Electronics
-------------------------
(3x) Simmons SDS 7 Tom Module
Simmons SDS 7 Snare Module
(4x) Simmons SDS 7 Electronic Trigger Pads
Simmons SDS 7 Brain/Synthesizer
Simmons Analog Clap Trap
--------------------------
Hardware
--------------------------
(x3) Camco Chain Drive Pedals
Tama Ratchet Mount on Stage Left Bass
Tama Dual Tom Mount on Stage Right Bass
Tama Hi-Hat stand
Tama Snare Drum stand
(x5) Tama Boom Cymbal stands
Tama Titan straight Cymbal stand
Premier LokFast (Cowbell Tree)
Ludwig Hercules Clip on Tom Mounts (Concert Toms)
Ludwig Hoop Mount Cymbal Mount Add-On - Ludwig L1370 (both bass drums)
Pearl 717VS (Simmons Mounts)
---------------------
Heads
---------------------
Remo CS Clear Dot - Snare Drums and Bass Drums - Batter
Remo Clear (possibly clear Ambassadors or Emperors) - Timbales, Gong Drum
Remo CS Black Dot - Concert Toms, Snares
Evans Heavy Duty Rock- Red - Rack, Floor - Batter
Evans Tom-Tom- Red - Rack and Floor Toms - Reso
----------------------------
Power Windows
----------------------------
The drum set did not evolve in the acoustic department, but in the electronic areas, things had progressed. Neil and Larry Allen had gotten an EPROM unit, which allowed them to sample any given sound and put it on a chip that could be used to be triggered by the Simmons pads.
Power Windows and its supporting tour also saw the introduction to the Sydney trigger, a small trigger built and developed by the Percussion Center that mounted between the 12” and 13” rack toms.
It also saw Neil begin to use Clear Remo Pinstripes on the batter side of the closed toms, and Clear Remo Diplomats on the resonant side, the first time he had deviated from using Evans on the closed toms. Neil also used the Evans Red Hydraulic heads during the Power Windows tour, but eventually switched to the Pinstripe/Diplomat combo in the middle to late stages of the tour. It also appears that the Vibrafibing was removed from the shells at one point, however this is unverified information. If it was removed, it was eventually redone to the shells after the tour.
***The Red Tamas were sampled and those samples were used on Second Nature from the Hold Your Fire Album. The samples of the CAR Tamas were taken from Grand Designs and can be heard during Second Nature’s chorus.
Some things to note…
When the Candy Apple Red Tamas saw their last outing, it would also be the last time Neil would use any acoustic percussion outside of wind chimes until 2008. The parallel mounts featuring the crotales, temple blocks, and glockenspiel would all be retired at the end of the Power Windows tour.
---------------------
After Rush
---------------------
The CAR Tamas had a multitude of owners, beginning with Jack Hess who won the kit originally in 1987. He stored it in his basement until 1999 when he auctioned it on eBay and sold it for $26,100, ($47,400.24 when adjusted for inflation,) to Scott Jemm, who displayed them from 1999-2002, and sold them on eBay for $14,621.12. (ironic!)
Ian Coley bought them next, who spent $20,000 restoring the drums with the help of Robert Telleria, who would eventually become the 4th owner of the CAR Tamas. Eventually, Robert decided to auction the drums off through Julien’s Auctions, where the current owner, Robert M. bought the drums, and now proudly plays Rush covers using the kit. Talk about well-deserved bragging rights!
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