Keith Moon’s Drumkits: Miscellaneous notes

Additional notes

• Keith favoured Ludwig Supraphonic 400 snares although he had a soft spot for Gretsch chrome-over-brass snares. Keith’s favorite Gretsch wood shell snare was the “Gretsch DRB Special.”

  Roadie Mick ‘Doc’ Double:

  “I had about six — they were quite a rare bird even in those days. We used to have several set up around the back on stands.”

• Early on, Keith would tape and rope his kit together and nail it to the stage floor to withstand the abuse.
• The kits, including the double tom holders, had steel structural supports and were clamped to the floor to withstand the abuse.
• The hi-hats, when used on the stage, were usually set at half-open.
• The third floor tom — set up on Keith’s left — was usually used for for setlists, drumsticks, drinks and towels.

Sticks

• Moon used light sticks with matched grip, plus some unusual grips at times, and the mallet end often. — Kenney Jones
• At some point Keith used Premier C drumsticks.

Drumheads

Keith used Premier Everplay Extra drumheads. Made by Premier in their factory since 1957. They were only made with a smooth white finish, almost transparent. They were one-ply heads and made of plastic.

Cymbals

Moon mainly used Paiste cymbals, but was known to occasionally use Zildjian. He first used Paiste in the late ’60s. The issue was not the brand of the cymbals, but the durability. If a certain cymbal broke, a thicker one was bought.

He is known to have used Paiste Formula 602 crash cymbal, which is mainly used in jazz.

Kick pedal

His favourite pedal was the Premier 250.

Drum construction wood

Premier drums from that period were either three-ply birch or three-ply mahogany, both had beechwood reinforcing hoops (or glue rings.)

Birch was used up until about 1970, then they used mahogany up until about the mid ’70s, and after that they went back to birch.

Birch is a lightish-coloured wood while mahogany is a dark, reddish brown so it is quite easy to tell them apart.

The first black set and the white and gold set are mahogany. The mahogany used was expensive African mahogany, not the Philippines stuff that cheap drums are made out of these days.

• Ludwig kits: ?
• Red glitter kits: Birch
• Pictures of Lily kit: Birch
• Silver kit: ?
• Black kit: Mahogany
• Gold kit: Mahogany
• White kit: Mahogany
• 1978 Metal chrome kit: Birch
• 1978 single bass drum kit: Birch

Claves

As heard on stage versions Magic Bus, Keith’s stage-used claves.

Endorsements

A likely incomplete listing of promotional endorsements for Premier drums by Keith Moon. Keith signed an exclusive endorsement agreement with Premier on 6 September, 1965.

Signature Series

‘Spirit of Lily’

In January 2006, Premier have announced the release of a “Pictures of Lily” tribute kit, a replica of Keith’s “Pictures of Lily” Premier kit used 1967–68.

From the Premier site:

Premier announces limited edition Keith Moon ‘Pictures of Lily’ tribute kit

Premier has announced the introduction of a very special limited edition drumset in tribute to the legendary “Pictures of Lily” kit that the company made for Keith Moon of the Who in the 1960s. Named the “Spirit of Lily,” the new kit features faithful recreations of the unique artwork that adorned the original kit and the original drum sizes used by Moon.

Premier has painstakingly researched the original “Pictures of Lily” kit to ensure absolute authenticity in the recreation of the original artwork. Premier was given unique access to photograph and examine the original drums in detail, most of which are currently stored at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Premier also worked with Roger Daltrey of The Who and John Wolfe[sic], Keith Moon’s chauffeur and Who “roadie” at the time, who had intimate knowledge of the original kit.

The “Spirit of Lily” drumset features Premier Series Birch drums with authentic replica artwork finish with Premier Series lugs, fittings and die-cast hoops. The setup emulates the original 8-pc setup and comprises three 14″ x 8″ mounted toms, two 16″x16″ floor toms, two 22″ x 14″ bass drums and 14″ x 5.5″ steel snare drum. The kits will only be available for a period of 14 months, one month to represent each of the 14 years of Keith Moon’s relationship with Premier.

The “Spirit of Lily” Drumset is officially authorised by the estate of Keith Moon and also by Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of The Who. The first set made by Premier will be donated for auction to raise funds for The Who’s Teenage Cancer Trust charity.

See the Premier site for more information.

Report on 2006 NAMM show in Los Angeles, from mikedolbear.com

Biggest news from Premier is the “Spirit Of Lily” drum kit. This is a modern recreation of the classic Keith Moon drum kit. Premier spent months analysing the remaining drums and all photos they could find to recreate the finish of the drums onto a wrap that they could copy to build multiple kits. The kits will be built to order for only 14 months (one month for every year that Moon was associated with Premier) and are built with the blessing of Keith’s daughter and the Who. The kit has three 14x8″ toms, two 16x16″ floor toms, two 22x14″ bass drums and a Modern Classic 2000 steel snare. The shells are modern Premier Line birch models with Premier Line lugs and the finish looks stunning.

Photos of the Spirit of Lily kit from NAMM 2006

Click to view larger version. Images courtesy of mikedolbear.com.