I am a fan of Gibraltar drum hardware. You know how you latch on to certain brands when you first start playing music? Gibraltar was one of those brands that I was really into. Of course, sometimes the choices are good and sometimes not (thank God I’m not still playing with with my gold sparkle Hot Sticks!), but I think I made a good choice with this one.

I saw some cool Gibraltar videos online the other day and it made me think of my most-prized piece of drum hardware, my Gibraltar Intruder kick drum pedal. As you can see by the photo, this thing has been through some battles…and survived to tell the stories. From high school talent shows, to beer-soaked college parties, to high-profile theater gigs, this pedal has stood by my side. The chain is a bit rusty and the paint on the pedalboard is totally worn off in the middle (my favorite sign of wear), but this thing still works, about 15 years after I bought it.

Back to the videos…Gibraltar has produced what they’re calling their Extreme Hardware Makeover videos, where they bring in touring drummers and re-outfit their kit with new Gibraltar hardware. Here’s part one of the video:

As you can see, they brought in Jagger Gonzales, a touring drummer with the progressive rock/metal band Opus Dai. This guy used duck tape and kitchen utensils to keep some of the broken parts of his drum rack alive, but it definitely was on life support. Gibraltar Hardware experts Ken Fredenberg and Jim Stanek assisted Brent Barnett in doing the make over at Chad Sexton’s Drum City in North Hollywood, CA. The goals was to make the kit more visually appealing while being more functional. They also needed to provide a way for Jagger to have a faster setup and tear-down as time is always tight at the shows. Check out part two of the video.

So, I am tempted to ask Gibraltar if I can bring in my kit to get a makeover. To be honest, though, even with my 15 year old kick pedal, I don’t really need it!