S.S. Professor Drum Kit Tour

Close encounter with Neil's drums - Page 4

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Bill was a stocky, affable man, with a thick Boston accent. He told everyone the story about convincing Neil to let them take his kit on the road.

Bill: "Neil, we want to take out your 30th Anniversary kit on the road."

Neil: "Why?"

Bill: "Because you played it, and it's beautiful."

Unidentified person, Lorne Wheaton, Chris Stankee, and Bill Morgan.

But Neil still didn't like the idea. So Bill said, "What if you could go see the most famous motorcycle rider's motorcycle? What if you could see Valentino Rossi's cycle at a show? Would you go?"

Neil finally understood.

Bill also talked about how Neil started playing Sabian, some of which I'd heard, but a lot I hadn't. He talked about the sales dilemma after getting Neil Peart on board with Sabian: "Now I've got Neil Peart, but he doesn't like logos on his cymbals. How are people going to know he's playing Sabian cymbals?"

Fortunately, one of the Sabian folks came up with the gold ink logo that now tastefully adorns all Paragon cymbals. (It is very cool.)

Bill introduced Mr. Chris "Christian" Stankee. Chris was fundamental in working with Neil on the new Paragon cymbal line. He talked about working with Neil in the Meductic, New Brunswick, Sabian factory for an entire day. He said the biggest surprise was how hard Neil played.

He walked through some technical details of cymbal making, most of which I found fascinating. I'd never really understood how they got particular cymbal sounds. Chris hit all the Paragons, demonstrating the different sounds (the two 16" crashes sounded a little different, which Chris attributed to the cymbals being handmade).

He also talked about the Paragon "crown jewel," the 19" China. I was particularly interested because I'd bought a 20" Paragon China, but it didn't have the Neil Peart trashy sound you hear in songs like Mystic Rhythms. But the 19" definitely had that sound — if not a more full-bodied trashy sound.

Then Chris introduced Lorne, Neil Peart's drum tech.

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Page Updated 09/14/2019 08:34:09 PM