[JEFF BOTTA PERFORMING]

JEFF BOTTA: My name is Jeff Botta of 54 Seconds. I'm the drummer. I'll just ramble.

Right now, I'm playing some '65 Ringo-finished, the Black Oyster Ludwigs, 22", 13", 16" with a hand-hammered Ludwig brass snare. I used to be a dyed-in-the-wool Gretsch guy because those drums really sing, but the problem with that is when you're in a live situation, the sustain becomes a real issue. It's just like having a guitar. You know, it's like how much sustain does an electric guitar really have. It has some but then you plug it in into an amplifier and turn around and it sustains for days. That's something you really don't want with a drum kit, so that's why I use these older drums now because they're deader, they're punchier so that when you're dealing with a drum monitor about this tall and maybe Texas headphone, you know, you got one on each side of you, it's not going to cause the drums to sympathetically resonate to the point where they have to start gating you and messing with the tone you've already arrived it.

It is largely due to the construction they have. The older Ludwigs have three-ply shells but they have a reinforcement ring which is about 1/2" thick and the bevel on it is really curved, and once they get older, it's -- it gets flatter and more of the wood touches the drumhead and it mutes it more. And the bearing edge, exactly. Yeah, and the Gretsches have a 30-degree bearing edge and they're kind of a good compromise as far as, you know, say a Yamaha or a DW, and they go 45 degrees and that's sharper so they sustain more, which is great if you're playing drums in your bedroom and you can sit there and, "Oh, they sound so good!" but as soon as you put a microphone it front of it, the sound guy is going, "I don't enough gates to deal with your tone," so then you run into -- well, you know some sound guys love your tone because the drums have great tone, and some guys hate your tone because it's hard to deal with. So these drums, I mean the bearing edges, they've gotten really rounded because they have been, you know I mean the drums are 40 -- what 43 years old so the bearing edges are (a} they're wider to begin with and (b) they've worn down, and the glue starts to separate, so it's just really the quality kind of -- as the quality decreases of the tone, the functionality of it in a live and loud setting improves.

PATRICK OGLE: So basically, as they deteriorate, they get better?

JEFF BOTTA: Amen. Amen. I found some Ludwigs cheap, this kit, for like 500 bucks with a Supraphonic, and it was ridiculous so I bought them because they looked so good, and I want a bigger -- I have a smaller sizes in the Gretsch. I have 20", 10", I have a 12" which I haven't used, and then 14", and so I wanted bigger drums because louder rock and roll stuff, you know, bring your arms up, hit them harder, they like to be hit up, you know, bigger drums like to be hit hard. So, I got bigger drums and then I discovered this after having had those drums. I still use the Gretsch for fusion gigs and things that nobody will ever hear, but as far as the rock gigs, yeah the Ludwigs are the most functional. They [SOUNDS LIKE] brutalize them. If he doesn't, I'm going to do.

You know, if I always play in these gigs, you know I'd probably get a reissue Ludwig because they are built the same and I can get the same -- I wouldn't be as worried about breaking them because they're new, but I really don't know. I still love to play those Gretsches and as far as my favorite bank, those are the ones but as far as live playing, and actually studio playing too because like every situation where I'm in in front of microphones, the Ludwigs seem to work better.

[JEFF BOTTA FINISHES PERFORMING A SONG]