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The swinging rock machine
German music site bonedo profiles Ian Paice. And while our regulars would find little new from the provided biography, details of his kit throughout the years may be of interest.
When Ian Paice joined Deep Purple in 1968, the then 19-year-old British drummer probably had no idea that a career with one of the greatest rock bands of all time lay ahead of him. Leaving aside the brief hiatus, the band has now existed for 58 years, and Ian Paice is the only founding member to have been part of every single lineup. More than enough reason, then, to delve into the story of this rock legend. Besides the various stages of his career, you’ll also find everything you need to know about Ian’s equipment at the end of the article. Enjoy the read!
Read more in original German, or in other languages courtesy of Google translations.
Thanks to Uwe for the heads-up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
IP had switched to Pearl already with Gary Moore, and possibly for the recording of Saints an Sinners too, since that album had him sounding different than he did up to and including Come An Get It, where the drum sound was crisper and more in line with the sounds on PAL and CTTB.
The drum sound and style of playing on Saints an Sinners, the Gary Moore albums and PS was more simplistic by comparison.
March 12th, 2026 at 05:40Don’t thank me, I’m all for affirmative action for drummers and similarly challenged people. 😇
March 12th, 2026 at 13:16@ 1- I posted a link here recently in regard to Ian talking about his early 1980’s playing. He wasn’t happy about his heavy handed approach to his playing etc. Maybe he had been associating in the 1970’s with John Bonham too much or was he getting every Whitesnake fan read for Cozy’s impending arrival into the ‘Snake. Uwe may beg to differ, being a lover of all things drumming. I cannot remember where it is, I will attempt to find it, although our ever present ‘Sherlock Holmes’ aka Uwe Hornung might be able to wave his trusty old magnifying glass over everything and it will pop up here. I will attempt to beat him at his own game. Cheers.
March 12th, 2026 at 21:22@ 1- found it, the Modern Drummer article and at the start of the interview, Ian Paice briefly talks about his early 80’s drumming. Cheers.
https://www.moderndrummer.com/article/deep-purples-ian-paice/
March 12th, 2026 at 22:23Ian was in a “what to play?-crisis around that time, self-doubting his own style in a decade where everyone wanted to be Bonham. So unnecessary.
March 12th, 2026 at 22:53@2
Uwe, this song:
https://youtu.be/FS_rgTWkf94
That bass, isn’t it the same as the bassist in Rush was/is playing?
March 13th, 2026 at 07:31@6: Correct. A Steinberger. Roger also played one for a while. I am sure Uwe will dig out some links.
March 13th, 2026 at 07:36@7
I remembered this lovely tune:
https://youtu.be/oGqCCnFxQLU?is=nXDujdke6XGfk3A_
Where Roger indeed played this Steinberger 😊
But for the life of me (or is it death?) I cannot hear the difference between this and an ordinary bass! (Yeah now Uwe will explain there are no orders basses! I look forward to the links 😊)
March 13th, 2026 at 13:37@8: It isn’t built like that to sound different than any other bass. Well, except that all instruments have their own sound, of course. But that is generally nerd stuff. It’s just looks and has a convenient size. There is a guitar too.
https://www.steinberger.com/
March 13th, 2026 at 15:10It was such a groundbreaking design with its all graphite/carbon construction that one specimen is now permanently displayed in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in NYC.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRwO14Z_UdNWqKkF0O8k_AE2g30LYvQ2dnTPQ&s
Yes, Roger played one, mainly with Mk V,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFHdD93WCJ8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmBFuG8mdis
they were quite popular for a while, but eventually interest waned. Dee Murray, Elton John’s brilliant longstanding bassist played one too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mO-lEtw2Yw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOZP-Xplc-M
March 13th, 2026 at 15:13Uwe, did you have any links? 😉
March 13th, 2026 at 17:56The poor ole Steinberger bass ‘guitar’, looking like a toy and from where I heard it, it sounded like one. It didn’t last long though the poor thing. Like a lot of toys, then it was thrown away and never seen or heard of again. Have we ever heard a worse bass guitar? Cheers.
March 13th, 2026 at 21:17That’s unfair, Herr MacGregor, the Steinberger, due to its graphite composite body and neck, was a very even- and direct sounding bass. So direct that it was rather unforgiving if you played sloppy on it. The UK-made Status basses preferred by Mark King and John Entwhistle were made of the same material too – it has an extremely fast attack and the notes jump at you – to the point where you have to adjust your playing to it a bit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOmizwKGZgE
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1yZdY62VrTc
I don’t think that Roger sounded any the worse for it – I personally prefer him with a growly Rickenbacker though,
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DhOF5Cu8kUA
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eH5ilEJvYnY
but his true choice is a very clean sound which, he says, gets neither in the way of Jon’s Hammond nor of Ritchie’s Strat (and his booming Taurus bass pedals).
The Vigier basses he has been playing for ages now have graphite composite parts too – he’s not really that far away from the Steinberger sound. And of course, Steinberger, Status and Vigier all have battery-fed active circuitry for that slightly clinical hifi sound – not exactly my preference.
March 14th, 2026 at 01:19@ 13- of course I have no idea what a Steinberger would be like to play and how it sounds in that situation Uwe. However as Geddy all of a sudden began using one in the mid 80’s with Rush and the sound of the bass from where I was sitting was gone, almost totally. Sure we were use to the mighty Rickenbacker but the Steinberger bass didn’t hit you as a classic bass sound does and it did have a ‘toy’ look about it, as a few friends of mine also commented along those lines back then. Roger Glover used one too of course as did a few other bassists. They just didn’t seem to have any punch, grit etc listening from afar. I have never been to a concert where one was being played so I don’t have that direct live experience of hearing one. They were trying something new, I get that and something that didn’t weigh a ton and I get that too. But the sound like many sounds of instruments from the 80’s, best left where it was to my ears. Thankfully as you said, technology improved greatly after that initial early experimentation period. Thanks for the information from your playing perspective of those instruments, alway good to hear. Cheers.
March 14th, 2026 at 18:42The graphite material gave it a lightning-fast attack, notes just popped out at you from it. Hence it was an ideal bass for athletic slapping which was popular in the 80s.
I never liked the “boat oar” look either, but there is a certain purity in its design language. After it had hit the market, cheaper second generation boat paddles were quickly produced by competitors – made from wood, not the graphite composite. I really hated those, they aped the look, but had none of the feel of a Steinberger. Wannabes (Steinbergers were expensive in production, few people could afford them).
In the 80s, Rush decided to become more hifi and less raw rock in their sound – switching to the Steinberger made sense from that perspective because it provides a very pure and strong signal that gives you endless possibilities to shape it further with effects. But like you, I always missed the Rickenbacker growl.
Like Leo Fender and Jim Marshall, Ned Steinberger was not a musician, he was an engineer.
March 15th, 2026 at 05:01