Jeremy Bender
Platinum Member
He had an interesting kit of Gretsch drums, various old pedals & cymbals and an AK nickel over brass snare made for him.
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Charlie Watts' kit
- Thread starter Jeremy Bender
- Start date
Bo Eder
Platinum Member
Love Charlie and those drums. There’s a cool YouTube video where he discusses them in depth. But he’s played several snares with it over the years. I recall seeing him play a 6.5 Supraphonic with it when the Some Girls album came out. Talk about a kit that paid for itself!
JimmyM
Diamond Member
Late 70s. And somehow I don’t picture that job as one Charlie did personally. I imagine he could afford to hire that job out
mikyok
Platinum Member
That's what I mean. His tech must've had every vintage dealer on speed dial during a tour!Late 70s. And somehow I don’t picture that job as one Charlie did personally. I imagine he could afford to hire that job out
He wasn't a big hitter but vintage hardware wasn't reliable when it was new.
roncadillac
Platinum Member
To be fair if one of those guys got a call that "hey, charlie needs a snare" it probably went from:
To:
Jeremy Bender
Platinum Member
Note the worn down (shaved?) bass drum beater and carpeted cut outs under the pedals.
roncadillac
Platinum Member
It's probably due to the Evans eq patch. Those are a woven nylon fiber and they absolutely shred felt beaters.
Son of Vistalite Black
Well-known Member
On April 18, 2020, the world discovered that Sir Charlie Watts had no drums at his mansion and he had to pretend to play on a Stones Zoom performance. RIP.
John DeChristopher
Drums Ambassador
He bought the maple Gretsch RB kit in 1978 from SIR. He used the drums on a Ronnie Wood solo record and fell in love with them and bought them.
Charlie played Ludwig on all the Stones records until 1968. That's when he bought his first Gretsch RB black nitron kit. He had two more Gretsch kits after that (a SSB black diamond pearl and a SSB black nitron), before acquiring his beloved RB maple kit in 1978.
The DW snare pictured in post #2 was his main snare from 2013 until their last show in 2019.
This is a Gearing Up interview I did with Charlie for Modern Drummer in 2015...
Attachments
jaykaydrums
Silver Member
very nice! <3
harryconway
Platinum Member
He puts his rack tom on a snare stand, so there's really not much that can go wrong with it. The floor tom legs have been switched out (the original ones were damn near straight), and everything else is fairly bulletproof. T's and claws, spurs and mounts ..... all fairly easy to still get. I'd upgrade the floor tom legs and mounts to the newest design (uses the same hole pattern), but that's me.
jda
Diamond Member
can anyone tell If Charlie's old throne was a tubular leg 70sish Ludwig Atlas? Sure looks like it..
those are a devil to find in new shape maybe he had it re-riveted
@John DeChristopher
those are a devil to find in new shape maybe he had it re-riveted
@John DeChristopher
I am wondering what will now become of Charlie's gig drums and his vast collection of vintage gear now that he's gone. I'm sure the RNRHOF will get something to display, and some of it might remain with his daughter and her family. I wouldn't be surprised if the rest goes to Steve Maxwell to broker.
Would I like to have something Charlie owned and played? Of course, but I can imagine the price of anything would be astronomical. If I could have one drum from Charlie's arsenal, it would be the maple DW snare with the Stones' logo.
John DeChristopher, do you have any information on what will become of Charlie's drums?
Would I like to have something Charlie owned and played? Of course, but I can imagine the price of anything would be astronomical. If I could have one drum from Charlie's arsenal, it would be the maple DW snare with the Stones' logo.
John DeChristopher, do you have any information on what will become of Charlie's drums?
JimmyM
Diamond Member
I have no idea, but while I’m sure someone like Maxwell will be involved in curating the stuff, my guess is Sotheby’s or Julien’s will have an auction.
jda
Diamond Member
I would think you're right on that. The drums will be auctioned off. I'm sure some well-healed swell like Jim Irsay will buy some of the drums.
Charlie also had great collections of Civil War weapons, uniforms, cars and other things. And his two hundred suits!
JimmyM
Diamond Member
Doubt they’ll turn up at your local Goodwill