Nick Mason’s Ludwig Kit: Sizes, Finish, and the Switch to Rogers for Dark Side of the Moon

Nick Mason’s first serious kit was a Ludwig set in black diamond pearl wrap. The standard sizes were a 22×14 bass drum, 9×13 rack tom, 16×16 floor tom, and a 6.5×14 Ludwig Supraphonic snare. He used coated Remo Ambassador heads on both sides of the toms and a coated Ambassador on the snare batter.

By the early 1970s Mason wanted a bigger, more powerful sound, especially for recording Dark Side of the Moon. He switched to a Rogers kit with a 24-inch bass drum and a deeper 16×16 floor tom – the larger kick gave a fuller low-end that suited the album’s more polished production. Rogers hardware was also more reliable for touring, and Mason stuck with them through Wish You Were Here and Animals.