A Closer Look at Alex Van Halen's Iconic Bass Drum I Won at Auction

[@bobc.5698]

That drum was 99.9% played in the Las Lunas house....I bet he got it when Eddie was still in High School. That's the drum he probably developed a lot of his technique on. To me, out of all the items on the auction....it's the one with the most history. All I wanted was a signed drum head to hang in my music room.....but I failed....lol.

[@erics.2886]

Alex was a tonechaser like his brother, he was notorious for cannibalizing his drums to get the sound he was looking for!!

[@MyVideos-fm7ug]

One thing I noticed upon viewing the photos of all his kits is that he was not afraid to take a brand new finely crafted set of drums, then begin drilling holes into each drum It was obvious that he did that so he could install his internal microphone mounting brackets. I believe that it was his use of internal microphones that he was able to get that “coffee can” sound from them… I have my own theory on as to why he began using 4 kick drums, and why the two outer ones were always joined up with the inner ones by coreugated tuning of various sizes, which had air tight seals around the tubing I believe it was an attempt to create a sort of large room effect with the outer drums by forcing air into them upon each hit. The outer ones would have microphones picking up the air volume as it’s being pushed through the tubing, then resonating inside the drum

[@burningbeard9478]

i guessing you paid 650.00 for this incredible drum....score

[@TheMusicRoom1973]

Congrats man!! I’m a huge AVH fan and was looking at several things in this auction. Unfortunately I came up short on everything I was interested in. That’s great piece of history, I’m a little jealous.😂

[@danielcooper7271]

this is awesome thank you

[@ralphbenites1312]

A peace of rock n roll history

[@SethLarry]

Boring ,,,,,,

[@McCormickfarrier]

Congrats to that piece of history! Actually I hoped, this would explain the 4 spurs on 14 deep bassdrums, but it´s obvious that Al added a second pair of spurs himself. I also own a 24 by 14 that I bought in ´94, serial number says ´76/´77 and it has also 4 spurs, but the holes are drilled exactly and clean, looks like factory made. Do you have any informations, if they did this to 14 deep bassdrums? I know the 16 deep had 4 spurs, never saw any 14. So I hoped, Al´s kickdrum would explain it... Thanx for posting bro! 👍🥁

[@ChuckSchillingDrums]

Good question! I'll be keeping an eye out for that detail when I'm browsing drums on Reverb.

[@McCormickfarrier]

@@ChuckSchillingDrums Oh WOW! Thank you!

[@BobetteJennett]

Use it in good health

[@JaimeExploring]

Hi Chuck, regarding the auction purchase, did Alex autograph or sign anything? Thank You for sharing

[@ChuckSchillingDrums]

He didn't sign the drum, but it came with a certificate of authenticity signed by Alex.

[@JaimeExploring]

@@ChuckSchillingDrums Nice And I viewed the Box Opening with Certificate, Thanks!

[@Brian-bf4vb]

Congratulations. What a cool piece to have.

[@jefflyon2020]

DO IT! lease, i wanna see and hear Alex's bass drum, whether it was on the first record or not,who know's except AVH?but even better if it was used to write on fire or atomic punk perhaps....so cool he sold off the gear that created such amazing rock and roll.

[@ronbaker8383]

Why did you buy that junk Ludwig drum

[@ChuckSchillingDrums]

🤣

[@therandomrollercoasterride8751]

Yeah to be fair obviously it’s awesome but it probably does sound terrible, but then again you don’t buy a drum like that for the sound

[@TheSDRS]

It’s the drum from the backyard party photos

[@Ronniejamesleo]

That junk bass drum probably worth more than your car

[@TM_Stone]

@@Ronniejamesleo You're assuming he owns a car. Probably rides his bicycle when he ventures to work at the local Dairy Queen.

[@hollylewis5302]

Nice deep dive! I know you will cherish and enjoy this kick! Valuable piece of history!

[@totigerus]

It would have been interesting to hear what you paid for it, but I can understand you wanting to keep that private.

[@BearFaceStudiosLV]

awesome breakdown man. I love the insights into classic gear like this. Great score!!

[@RichRawDawgdrums]

That’s so awesome! Thanks for sharing!

[@shawnsdrumcave]

so cool! congrats man!

[@salthedrummer1]

How much?

[@DavidLee-g1r]

Build a set with it

[@ChuckSchillingDrums]

@@DavidLee-g1r that’s the plan! I’ve got some matching drums from that era on the way.

[@hollylewis5302]

@@ChuckSchillingDrums That's killer news!

[@thomasdixon3307]

That's totally cool!

[@comfortablynumb9342]

It's really cool that you got a piece of VH history. At the same time it's a bummer that Alex has decided not to play live anymore. I don't know what he does with the money, hopefully something good. David Gilmour and Mark Knopfler sold their famous guitars for charity.

[@ChuckSchillingDrums]

@@comfortablynumb9342 he donated to a charity, I don’t remember which one off the top of my head.

[@hollylewis5302]

The charity was "Ride on Therapeutic Horsemanship". Ride On teaches adaptive horseback riding to children and adults with physical and cognitive disabilities. We also provide Physical, Occupational & Speech and Language therapy, specializing in using the movement of the horse to improve specific medical conditions.

[@ChuckSchillingDrums]

@@hollylewis5302 Thanks for sharing!

[@chriswright2250]

I like it ❤

[@Gma7788]

You weren't even born. To DON'T turn it back into FACTORY shape. It IS what it is and u just leave it that way. You clearly display immaturity and obviously you're the wrong owner of this drum.

[@ChuckSchillingDrums]

I don't plan on going back to factory shape, nor do I plan on doing any irreversible mods. I'm just going to swap the hoop and head (safely storing the originals) and add a spur to be able to play it. It's not going to gig or anything, but it'll get played at home. Doing my best to preserve the history of the drum while also following Alex's wishes by using the drum.

[@leeburt893]

I saw your unboxing vid as well....Awesome and Congrats! That is the best time frame to win from in my opinion.