House of Drumming.com

No, it's his own snares without any doubt.

Pic? I just want that BB from Karizma's live album. Most beautiful snare sound ever.

"There's a sound in my head – before I even play – that I want my drums to have," said Igoe. "With Yamaha drums, that sound becomes reality."

Well, Tommy used to play Yamaha before, he had a Recording, like most of us, but the opportunity sometimes, you have to make some choice, endorsement is also a business, like NBA player being traded...

Igoe could play on sheet rock buckets and sound great......I dont beat up DW's..I had some...but the Yamaha's are certainly a different animal and I prefer them...

Rodge wrote:Well, Tommy used to play Yamaha before, he had a Recording, like most of us, but the opportunity sometimes, you have to make some choice, endorsement is also a business, like NBA player being traded...

Totally. And then some of us would rather just buy our gear outright and have no strings attached. Course, don't get the big shiny ad's in MD either...

Thanks for the pic by the way Rodge! I do spy a BB in there...

I know Vinnie plays his signature snare a lot, but I thought he used a Longo most of the time too. Rodge do you have a link to that pic of his snare rack? I'd love to see it.

It is a business, and a lot about the money, but when you get to that level of craftsmanship most of the high end lines sound great. It just depends on what you want as a player, and if you can hear the subtle differences with each company.

In my experience, no two brands are alike on their artist politics. I know some of them are more agressive as far as promotion is concerned. It also depends on the person, I mean, some people really have the "moral need" to promote their stuff no matter how good or bad it is. Around here we don't get any kind of pressure from Yamaha to either not play stuff from other brands (snares, pedals...) or to do anything else than speak our own mind. I really do think their stuff is some of the best around. Same thing with Paiste or Remo, it's a matter of gratitude more than anything else.
Obviously, we don't get to the endorsement levels we're talking here, but everything should be taken in context and not necessarily as mere promotion. Sometimes the fresh sound of new drums really gets to you.
It does seem odd that, with the kinda recent move Thomas Lang made from Somor to DW (he's not sounding even half as good these days), they'd just lose Tommy Igoe to Yamaha just for the money.

Lots of pics on the net of Vinnie, with Longo, G Way, Brady, Ayotte, Supraphonics and pretty much the whole line of metal drums from Gretsch in addition to his white signature snare. Never seen one with the Millennium snare, though. I'm sure he's got tons more. On the Jeff Lashway album the silver sparkle jazz kit seems to be a Smith.




Modern Drummer 2007 interview:

"I have two Longo snares that sound great, some Bradys that sound great, and several Gretsch snare drums that also sound great. I also have two hybrid snare drums from Drum Paradise, and several chrome-over-brass Ludwig Supraphonic 400s. I know what each drum does when I go into a session. I listen to the characteristics of the drums and go from there. You get to a point where you know aa drum well and how a certain room will affect its sound."

George Way are pricey !!!