Lego
Ancient Mariner
My head is spinning! Did not see this coming at all, but given a lot of the major folks from Premier's UK operation are the founders/builders/owners of BDC, it totally makes sense. What a gorgeous kit!
I never liked his drums sound since Fear of the Dark...
Not really, Nicko and Keith Keough (BDC founder) are great friends from their days at Premier - Keith was the one who designed and built the Nicko’s Syco and Aces High snare drums. Keith even built the shell for Nicko’s TBOS snare- it just had Sonor hardware bolted on.What a strange move. I assume there was something going on with Sonor that caused him to go looking elsewhere. Maybe they weren't willing to do a kit to his exact specifications anymore since even now his 6" tom had to be custom-made? Hell, maybe they took a look at his endorsement agreement and realized Nicko getting free kits wasn't doing shit to boost their sales and decided to cut their losses. A bizarre move, nonetheless.
I never liked his drums sound since Fear of the Dark and I have to admit that Book of Souls tour and Legacy Tour the drums sounded very good.
To be fair, a lot of the difference on the albums has to do with production style, recording technology, and choice of studios - not just the drums.I never liked his drums sound pre-1993 (before he moved to Premier)
I loved the fact that Maiden England DVD has drum sound tweaked a lot. It sounds more like his Signia kits than that cardboard Sonor he used to play.
Not really? After spending a good amount of time with Sonor and having to leave due to things beyond his control, he spent a really long time with Premier and left only after it became obvious they couldn't supply him anymore. He hasn't exactly been shown to be too flaky with endorsements before, at least not major ones. He was singing Sonor's praises a lot more than you'd have expected in the years since he endorsed them again and genuinely talked like he was humbled to be back with them.Not really, Nicko and Keith Keough (BDC founder) are great friends from their days at Premier - Keith was the one who designed and built the Nicko’s Syco and Aces High snare drums. Keith even built the shell for Nicko’s TBOS snare- it just had Sonor hardware bolted on.
Who knows - could be lack of support while on tour, maybe a planned signature product development that Sonor canned against his wishes. We’ll probably never know the full story.Not really? After spending a good amount of time with Sonor and having to leave due to things beyond his control, he spent a really long time with Premier and left only after it became obvious they couldn't supply him anymore. He hasn't exactly been shown to be too flaky with endorsements before, at least not major ones. He was singing Sonor's praises a lot more than you'd have expected in the years since he endorsed them again and genuinely talked like he was humbled to be back with them.
Nicko going to someone else, no matter how good of a friend, after just four years of being back in with the drum company (the drum company for him, even) he originally endorsed for many years is definitely out of character and I really don't believe it was just "oh hey I can get you a better kit". I mean, what happened to loyalties with the Sonor crew? Did he just brush them aside because a good friend could make him better drums?
To be fair, a lot of the difference on the albums has to do with production style, recording technology, and choice of studios - not just the drums.
But live sound and handheld recorder technology also vastly improved from the mid '80s to the mid '90s... so it's still not just down to the drumsOf course. I'm not talking about the albums because on albums he usually sounds good.
Live is another thing. If you compare bootleg drum sound in mid 80s and mid 90s the drum sound in mid 90s is absolutely thunderous compared to Sonor.
Of the things you speak of, the most infamous example is Virtual XI. They took a kit that sounds big and made it sound small, and they shafted the playing by choice. Live, there was no studio/production to kill off the drum sound and no intentional choice to simplify the playing.
Hopefully those sound as good as the TBOS and LOTB Sonors. But I doubt they will.
Pooch+LOTB kit = Magic drum sound.
It can't be said enough that this dude is a fantastic drummer. His Caught Somewhere in Time video is amazing also!Their kits sound pretty good to me: