All of Dave Lombardo’s Classic Slayer Drum Kits Were Stolen
Drum legend Dave Lombardo, who wants to keep drumming into his 80s, sadly won’t be doing it on any of the gear he recorded all those classic Slayer cuts on: those drum kits have been stolen.
Lombardo, who was a part of the recent Mr. Bungle reunion record, explained on a recent appearance on the Hangin’ & Bangin podcast that his drum collection isn’t what it once was, hollowed out by two completely separate storage unit thefts.
When asked, “How many drums do you have?”, Lombardo replied [transcribed by Ultimate Guitar]:
“Unfortunately… I don’t have many. Two storage units, at two different times in periods of my life, were broken into. So, I think, probably five-six drum kits out of the first storage unit were stolen. It was cleaned out – everything, road cases… And Slayer’s rehearsal room that we were at in Riverside was broken into; everything was stolen, all my classic drum sets.
“So I’m slowly building everything up again and trying to piece together some of my old classic kits, from kits that I see online that are similar.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Lombardo revealed how he’s been keeping busy during the pandemic, saying:
“I moved to Ventura approximately two years ago. And I wanted to get into a house where I can set up a studio, set up some drums, and, fortunately, pandemic hit and made me just focus on everything – all drums and recording here at home.
“And I’ve been able to knock out some projects. I did a song for Ice-T. That was the first song I did here, which was a remake of ‘Colors.’ And let’s see what else…
“I worked on this really bizarre project, Satanic Planet. So there’s been a lot of productivity, which I’m really fortunate and happy that things have been – still, even with this pandemic, I’ve been able to stay busy and productive.”
During a recent appearance on the Speak N’ Destroy podcast, Lombardo relayed the story of how he was in the running to become Megadeth’s drummer the first time he left Slayer in 1986 (he would have replaced Gar Samuelson at the time). He explained:
“A funny story – I was going to join Megadeth when I left Slayer the first time in ’86. It was very much on the down-low – probably [Dave] Mustaine doesn’t remember this.
“But they had opened up for Alice Cooper during the [1986’s] ‘Peace Sells’ tour, and I went to the Long Beach Arena, and I met with the guys.
“And the main issue at that time was – when I saw the guys, they didn’t look very healthy. I think it was a very dark period for them, and I had heard rumors of drugs and stuff like that. I was no saint, but I kept it in check, and they just didn’t look healthy to me, I didn’t see a healthy path for myself.
“Sure enough, Gar Samuelson died [in 1999] – and he was an amazing drummer.
“Megadeth and Slayer played many times together, and so yeah, I just didn’t see things go well, and then I, of course, rethought my position, and with a little bit of coercion from Rick Rubin, I returned [to Slayer].
Lombardo is still a young 56 year old meaning he’s got 24 years of good drumming left in him, by his own estimation, so we’re glad to hear he’s staying in tip-top shape even during the worst of times.
