ROGER TAYLOR DRUM KIT RUNDOWN – "The Game Tour"

Here's a deep-dive into the drum kit used by Roger Taylor during Queen's tour for their album The Game . This kit was famously seen in Queen Rock Montreal , which had a recent re-release in IMAX. It was actually my viewing of this re-release that inspired the creation of this video. I've listed the gear below for anyone who wants a comprehensive guide as to what Taylor used on this tour without having to go through the whole video. Equipment that is mostly pure guesswork is denoted by a "?" next to it.

Timestamps:
0:00 – The Game Kit
1:50 – The Drums
6:35 – The Cymbals
10:18 – The Drumheads
11:14 – The Percussion
11:35 – The Electronics
12:45 – The Drumsticks
13:00 – The Hardware
14:36 – The Microphones
16:54 – The End

ROGER TAYLOR'S SILVER SPARKLE DRUM KIT (1980 – 1981):

Drums + Timpani (Ludwig Classic 6-Ply Maple in “Sparkle Silver No. 104” w/ Blue/Olive Badges + Remo Rototoms + Ludwig Ringer Timpani in Copper Finish):
– 26” x 17” Bass Drum (custom size w/ reinforcement tube)
– 14” x 7” Rock Concert Snare (No. 403) w/ 10 Lugs and P85 Strainer (plus spare 14” x 6” and 14” x 6.5” models)
– 12” x 8” Octoplus Melodic Tom 461 (originally a 12” x 8” Chrome Yamaha Stage Custom tom with bottom head and rim removed)
– 13” x 12” Rack Tom
– 14” x 14” Rack Tom
– 16” x 16” Floor Tom
– 18” x 16” Floor Tom
– 14” Rototom
– 16” Rototom
– 28” Timpani
– 30” Timpani

Cymbals + Gong (Paiste + Wuhan + Zildjian):
– 15” Zildjian New-Beat Hi-Hats
– 18” Zildjian Avedis Medium (far-left crash)
– 18” Paiste 2002 Black Label Medium (left-of-center crash)
– 18” Zildjian Avedis Medium? (right-of-center crash)
– 20” Zildjian Avedis Medium Ride
– 22” Wuhan China (leftmost china cymbal)
– 22” Zildjian Swish (rightmost china cymbal)
– 10” Paiste 2002 Splash
– 6” - 8” Paiste 2002 Cup Chimes/Splashes
– 60” Paiste Symphonic Gong
– 18” Zildjian Avedis Medium? (timpani setup crash)

Drumheads (Ludwig Rockers):
– Medium White Coated (12” concert tom, possibly as bottom heads as well as on rototoms and bass drum batter side?)
– Heavy White Coated (rest of kit?)
– Graphic Bass Drum Head w/ Roger’s Face (bass drum resonant side)

Percussion (Ludwig):
– 9” Ludwig Timbale Cowbell (No. 2389)

Electronics (Pollard Syndrum):
– Pollard Syndrum Quad 478 Brain w/ 4 8” Pads

Drumsticks (Premier):
– 550 CC Hickory (50PR8526)

Hardware (Ludwig + Rogers + Zildjian):
– Ludwig Bass Drum Double Tom Holder (No. 781-2)
– Ludwig Speed King Bass Drum Pedal (No. 201) w/ Hard Felt Square Beater (No. 1286)
– Rogers “Big R” Supreme Hi-Hat Stand (No. 54-6001) w/ Dual-Matic Hi-Hat Clutch (Mod. 48-1801)
– Ludwig Atlas/Hercules Snare Stand (No. 1374)
– Ludwig Hercules Boom Cymbal Stands (No. 1411)
– Zildjian Cymbal Snaps (all cymbals except China and Swish)
– Ludwig Cowbell Holder (No. 133)
– Rogers Memriloc Dual Tom-Tom Stand w/ Extension Tube (No. 53-3003)
– Rogers Cymbal Arm mounted on Dual Memriloc Tom-Tom Stand
– Ludwig Atlas Sturdy Chrome Stand w/ 7-Pin Splash Bar (No. 1360-1)

Microphones:
– AKG C414 (overheads)
– AKG C451E w/ A51 swivel elbow in white x3 (overheads + snare top)
– AKG C535EB? (vocals)
– Beyerdynamic M500 x2 (bass drum in + bass drum out)
– Sennheiser MD421 x5 (toms)
– Sennheiser MD441 (timpani)
– Shure SM57 x2 (rototoms + occasionally toms)
– Shure SM81 x2 (hi-hat + snare side)

Sources for Research:
– The Drums of Roger Meddows Taylor by Dario Blues Di Nardo (found in a video by James Rundle on YouTube)
– queenconcerts.com
– rogertaylor.info
– sweetwater.com

All other sources listed with associated images/video clips