Lars Ulrich recently marked 40 years with Tama Drums, celebrating with an interview on Metallica’s YouTube channel. He reflected on his early days with the brand, influenced by Neil Peart’s guidance in the band’s formative years.
Ulrich shared, “In ’83, when Cliff [Burton] joined the band, I added a second bass drum and re-covered the Camco kit all in black. This was also the drum kit that got stolen, I believe, in early ’84. One morning, we got a call from one of our cue guys saying that the whole truck was just gone.”
He first played his Camco kit at Metallica’s debut concert at Radio City in Anaheim, California, in March 1982. After the release of ‘Ride the Lightning,’ Peart persuaded him to switch to Tama.
“Our new managers had a relationship with Rush,” the drummer noted. “I found myself on the phone in the fall of 1984 with Neil Peart, who obviously, at that time, was the number one guy on that pyramid. [He] certainly was at the very top, and as an aspiring drummer, talking to Neil was just crazy cool. And I had understood the overlap between Camco and Tama, and Tama was basically my first choice.”
“So, one thing led to another, and I was talking to Neil, and then he sort of connected the dots and put me in contact with the good folks at Tama. Talking to him and having him help open the door to this relationship that’s been in place for 30 years was an amazing way to kick it off. Tama was what I was after, and Tama is where I ended up.”
Today, Ulrich uses a Starclassic Maple series kit with 10″ and 12″ rack toms, two 16″ floor toms, and two 22″ bass drums. From 2008 to 2016, he played an orange version, while his M72 World Tour kit features a bright yellow with black hardware.
To celebrate his 40 years with Tama, a special edition of his custom ‘72 Seasons’ tour kit was released, limited to just 72 sets worldwide.
