Simple Timeline of Drum Kit & Bass Drum Head Changes

[By-Tor X-1]

John Rutsey’s Red Gretsch double bass kit (1968 - late 1972 or early 1973)

• Plain white heads with small “Gretsch” logo. Very few photos exist, only known heads.

John Rutsey’s Blue Premier single bass kit (late 1972 or early 1973 - July 25, 1974)

• Plain white head with small generic “RUSH” text underneath small “Premier” logo. Around late 1972 and/or early 1973
• First “RUSH” logo head - white background with large angled blocky black font. Around early 1973 - at least March 23, 1974
  • There is one photo from within this time frame that shows John temporarily using a double bass setup again, while all other photos of this kit show a single bass setup.
• Debut album red “RUSH” logo head with white background. Sometime after March 23 but prior to May 15, 1974 - July 25, 1974

Neil's "Chromey" Slingerland kit (August 14, 1974 - March 23, 1977)

• Plain drum heads: August 14, 1974 - at least September 2, 1974
• Debut album silver "RUSH" logo heads: Between September 6 and 25 (likely 6 or 11), 1974 - December 7, 1975
• Caress Of Steel silver "RUSH" logo heads: December 14, 1975 - March 23, 1977
  • Heads were removed during the professional recordings the June 11-13, 1976 Toronto shows, while off the backsides were spray painted blue so they're no longer transparent.

Neil's Black Slingerland kit (April 8, 1977 - August 31, 1979)

• Plain black drum heads: April 8, 1977 - April 24, 1977
• Red Starman logo black heads: April 30, 1977 - June 4, 1979
• Plain black drum heads: August 17, 1979 - August 31, 1979

Neil's Dark Red "Rosewood" Tama kit (September 2, 1979 - December 22, 1981)

• Gold Starman logo red heads: full run

Neil's "Candy Apple Red" Tama kit (April 12, 1982 - May 26, 1986)

• Gold Starman logo red heads: April 12, 1982 - September 23, 1983
• Grace Under Pressure "P/G" heads: April 7, 1984 - March 15, 1985
• Power Windows television heads: December 4, 1985 - May 26, 1986 + 1987 Ludwig kit promo pics

Neil's First Ludwig kit (October 29, 1987 - June 29, 1990 + RTB album)

• Hold Your Fire red spheres heads + kit painted pinkish white: Hold Your Fire Tour
• Presto "rock, paper, scissors" heads + kit painted dark purple: Presto Tour

Neil's Second Ludwig kit (October 25, 1991 - May 7, 1994)

• Roll The Bones dice & femur head + kit painted "Blue Shadow": Roll The Bones Tour
• Counterparts nut & bolt head + kit painted "Black Cherry": Counterparts Tour

Neil's "Red Sparkle" First Drum Workshop kit (T4E album + October 19. 1996 - November 23, 2002)

• Test For Echo inukshuk head: Test For Echo Tour
• Vapor Trails flaming head: Vapor Trails Tour

In the years that would follow, Neil's drum heads would continue to regularly change to match every album/tour, and use a variation of his "DW" Drum Workshop kits.

While the precise date ranges of the 70s kit & head changes were only vaguely documented online prior to this post I've written, most information regarding the 80s and onward have been well documented over at this website, where you can find many more specific details about Neil's kit setup per album & tour.

 

[Cygnus X1]

While doing some research, I noticed the amount of times the drum heads changed between 1968 and 2015. I thought I would showcase the different variations of the heads up through 1983.

SECTION 1: THE JOHN RUTSEY ERA (1968-1974)

1. (1968 - 1972)
The earliest live photos of the band date back to the early 70s, and features John’s kit with plain white drum heads. These were most likely the original heads for the kit.


Circa 1970

2. (Early 1973 - Early 1974)
1973 would be the first time the "RUSH" name is known to be featured prominently on the kit. The head showcases the name printed diagonally with red streaks across the top and bottom of the lettering.


Waterloo, Ontario - October 12, 1973


The Gasworks - Circa 1973


The Piccadilly Tube - March 1974

3. (Early 1974)
Shortly after the release of the debut album "RUSH" on March 18, the heads were changed once again. This time they would showcase the album cover’s red font logo on a plain white background. The heads can be seen in the May 15, 1974 footage at Laura Secord Secondary School.


St. Catharines, Ontario - May 15, 1974

SECTION 2: THE NEIL PEART SLINGERLAND YEARS (1974-1979)

John Rutsey would leave the band in July of 1974 due to a combination of reasons. With a US tour on the way, Geddy and Alex would host auditions for a new drummer. As we all know Neil would be selected and join the band in July 1974. Only a week after joining the band, Neil would purchase a Slingerland kit with 22-inch bass drums.

1. (August 1974 - Early September 1974)
For a short period, Neil's kit would feature plain drum heads. These would only last a few weeks.


Asbury Park, New Jersey - August 29, 1974

2. (Mid September 1974 - Mid December 1975)
These are the first "RUSH" heads to grace Neil's kit. The heads included "RUSH" in the debut album font. This time they are being silver. These would last through the Rush tour until late into the Caress Of Steel tour in mid December 1975.


Columbus, Ohio - September 25, 1974


Hamilton, Ontario - January 19, 1975


One of the heads as seen today

3. (Mid December 1975 - April 1977)
The change in December 1975 came late during the Caress of Steel tour, and the new heads had Rush in the Caress of Steel LP font, as well as Neil on the right head (from the drummer's perspective), and Peart on the left head. The Caress font drum heads were used on the latter end of the Caress tour, for the entire 2112 tour, and through most of the ATWAS tour. An exception to the use of the Caress font drum heads appears to be the Massey Hall June 1976 shows where there is no outward-facing drum head on the bass drums, to facilitate the recording for the live album "All The World's A Stage".


The heads before being spray-painted
Toronto, Ontario - January 10, 1976


The drums after being spray-painted
February 15, 1977

4. (April 1977)
Another Slingerland kit was used for the end of the ATWAS tour in 1977 and would be used for AFTK and Hemispheres. When they were bought, for a few weeks the drums would have solid black heads.


Fort Wayne, Indiana - April 14, 1977

5. (May 1977 - August 1979)
Starting in May 1977, while still on ATWAS tour the drum heads were changed to the black Starman logo. This logo was of course taken from the inner sleeve of the 2112 album, but it was also very clearly represented on the inner sleeve of AFTK. A plain black sleeve, unadorned other than that logo smack dab in the middle in stark color relief. The drum heads perhaps were a step towards that inner sleeve decision-making as the band embraced the Starman as a clear icon for the band. Also interesting to think that the drum head change came at the same time as a significant stage equipment change with Geddy adding keyboards to the stage in May 1977. The starman heads persisted from May 1977 through June 1979 (end of the proper Hemispheres tour). In August 1979 for the Permanent Waves warm-up shows the heads were plain black again, and By-Tor X-1 once suggested one of the starman heads were damaged during shipping back from Europe.

SECTION 3: THE NEIL PEART TAMA YEARS (1979-1986)

During the middle of the warm-up shows in late 1979, Neil changed his kit to his first Tama set prior to the Torotonto show on September 2, 1979. The reddish tint drum heads (which in some light looks black) persisted from September 1979 through the GUP warm-up shows at Radio City Music Hall in September 1983.

From this point onwards every kit would have different heads for each tour. The starman heads would be brought back for the second set of the R40 tour in 2015. I could go on about the heads for each tour but it would take a LONG time.

 

[CoS]

Interesting - thanks for putting this together.