AboutMike Caldwell Expertise Fortunately, or unfortunately, there are no Led Zeppelin questions I can't answer. My immediate specialty (or proclivity as it may be) has to do with concert performances and lyrical interpretations.
Experience Countless hours of biographical research and personal interaction with relevant individuals. Avid contributor to Led Zeppelin newsgroups since 1997 (check Google groups!)
Publications Bullseye News Magazine. The Vapid Voice.
Expert: Mike Caldwell Date: 6/10/2008 Subject: John Bonham drumsticks
Question QUESTION: I collect Rock memorabilia and i have just added to my collection a pair of John Bonham drumsticks.These have his name wrote/embossed in silver, on the sticks and the makers name PROMUCO.The size of the stick is a 5b he did use that weight of stick.I have heard that this company did make custom sticks for Bonzo but how could i authenticate these as being a pair of used John Bonham sticks.Any info you can add to help me authenticate these would be of help Cheers Mike
ANSWER: Hi Shaun
This one's a bit tough, as there was nothing more than anecdotal evidence of the fact that Bonham used the custom sticks from Promuco, as you mentioned. He did use those heavy sticks (5B), that was widely established. Sites like http://www.drumdogs.com/message-board-forum/about11542.html will corroborate the fact that he used Promuco sticks back in the day. Now for authentication - you have to verify it by extraction. By this I mean that Promuco didn't market "John Bonham Sticks" as a product, to the best of my knowledge. Since the weight is accurate for that which he used, you can run with that alone, but normally authentication for items (like autographs) require the star using or signing whatever item is being sold. In subsequent years, Promuco sticks were largely hard to find, which helps point things as to their authenticity. You'll have to back up its rarity, and the fact that there are very few, if any, instances of John Bonham drum sticks being traded around on the collector market. Short of a certificate of authenticity, there isn't much else you can do except for the fact that the item is rare and unique. I know that Bonham's equipment wasn't widely distributed in general, except for a few drum kits from past tours, so that fact alone might help. There isn't much else I know of to tell you, but I can do a little research if it helps. Good luck, and I'm sure it's the real thing - just hard to prove!
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QUESTION: Hi Mike Thanks for the quick reply,the info that you sent me i had already found.Eddie Ryan custom drum builder who made custom sticks to order for Bonham.I cannot find any info that matches 'PROMUCO' to exclusively making drum sticks for Bonzo.He only used these sticks in the mid 70's.The only other info that i found was the drumkit that was auctioned back in 1988 the orange see through perspex kit.I seen a photo of that kit from the auction booklet and it had a pair of visible drumsticks sticking out of the bass drum tension rod.You can clearly make out that the signature and make are the same as the sticks i have.The background history is that i got these from a rock memorabilia collector who was a big Zeppelin fan.So i gather he got them from a fan or dealer back in the 70's.Sadly the guy died of cancer back in 1999.I can only imagine these to be the original article as i got other items from the guy which i wouldn't have to query any authenticity.Mike if you could possibley ask any other Led Zep expert/fans.As i would love to know if these are what i think they are.Thanks again Regards Shaun
Answer Hi Shaun
Sounds like you were on the hunt as well, good to hear. I did some background research, and it was spotty at best. Problem was, I couldn't find articles to cite that directly linked Promuco to Bonham's custom sticks. I did have a couple fairly reliable pieces of evidence to help justify the sticks as being legitimate, but I will need to further hunt down things to eliminate informal references and unreliable sources.
I'd like to do a little more digging to try to verify things, and I will try to email some cohorts who might have old publications that could narrow this down. Since this will take more than a couple days, you can check in with me at mikeydhh@gmail.com if you want, and I might have something more substantial in a few days. It's a tough thing to research, but perhaps some people I know might shed some light on things. Thanks,
Mike
