1970 Ludwig Pro Beat - Silver Sparkle
In 1970, Alex began his long association with Ludwig Drums. Alex bought this Ludwig Pro Beat at Village Music in Mierra Madre California, and paid $1000 for it. This Silver Sparkle set consisted of a 14″x24″ bass drum, 13″x9″ & 14″x10″ toms, 16″x16″ & 18″x16″ floor toms and a Supraphonic 5″x14″ snare. He then expanded this kit into a seven-piece double bass drum set with additional toms and a 14″x22″ bass drum. In 1975, he then upgraded to a 14”x26” bass drum, abandoning the 14”x22” bass drum.
Alex used Zildjian cymbals in the early days. Apparently they were easier to acquire for Alex, as told in an 80’s interview. Alex removed the resonant heads from the bass drums and some of the toms (floor toms at first before eventually removing the bottoms from all the toms). The bass drums were muffled with felt strips, sound foam, and sometimes excessive duct/gaffer tape.
In 1976, transitioning into 1977 Alex would add the Ludwig logo’d front heads on the kicks. He would also refine his drum head choices to Black dot heads. At this point he was really into drummers like John Bonham and Carmine Appice, who he would emulate both playing-wise and in his kit setups. A 6.5″x14″ Super Sensitive snare became his primary snare for the rest of the club-days, all the way into the early 80s.
In September of 1977, the band entered the studio to record their debut album. Alex said this about the recording:
“Don Landee asked me to take the front heads off the kick drums and I said ‘What’s the matter with you, the drums are supposed to have two heads!’ But he knew a lot more about recording than I did, so I accommodated him and his style of working at that point.”
Many assume that Donn asked him to take off the bottom heads of the rack toms as well, but the pitches on the toms are not possible with one head while still sounding like the album (the second head of a drum contributes to the overall pitch of the drum). The floor toms however, would never get bottom heads on the studio recordings or any live performances. The mic setup for the debut album (seen below) consists of dual Sony C-37A mics for overheads, Sennheiser 421 mics inside the kicks, more 421’s on top of the toms, AKG C451 on hi-hat, Shure SM56 (identical to SM57) on snare top, and Electro-Voice 635A on snare bottom. The drums were baffled off from Eddie and Michael’s amps, though they all tracked the songs live in the room together.
After the recording of the debut album, Alex would quickly modify his bass drums; purchasing identical bass drums to his 24″ and 26″ drums, and permanently mounting them to the front of each. The Slingerland rack tom would also be moved to the center of the kit, in front of the primary rack toms. This drum was not played or even mic’d for the live performances, so it seems that it was mostly for show (and to mount the gas mask to..)
In December of 1978, Van Halen would again enter Sunset Sound Studios to record their second album. This time around, they photographed the studio sessions, though they were mostly staged after the recording was done. All of the band members brought in their stage gear from the 1978 tour. The microphones from the session are still set up, mostly directed at Alex’s new stainless-steel toms (see 1979 Tour Kit for more information). It is possible that the stainless steel toms were the toms heard on the album, as it seems that they have a little bit more presence than the wooden ones from the previous album. The bottom heads were definitely on the rack toms, but not the floor toms once again. The mic setup for the second album (seen below) consists of three AKG 414EB mics on overheads, Shure 546 mics inside the kick portholes, 421’s on top of the rack toms, with the 421’s on the underside of the floor toms, AKG C451 on hi-hat, Shure 546 on snare top and bottom. All 4 of the octobans were mic’d with SM57’s on the underside. The drums were baffled off from Eddie and Michael’s amps identical to the first album, and they tracked the songs live in the room together once again.
After the recording of the second album, Alex would retire this kit forever. The kit would eventually be donated to a Hard Rock in Oslo, Norway, though Alex said that he still owns the kit so he may have taken it back for safekeeping.
