Bonham had an exclusive endorsement deal with Paiste, the Swiss-German cymbal company. In the mid 1960's Paiste designed one of the first ranges of cymbals that catered specifically to the amplified rock market. The range was called Giant Beats which consisted of a bronze alloy (B8) and a smaller tin content than their competitors Zildjian's (B20) range. With this new design, they aimed to create a more cutting sound whilst making the cymbals more resistent to cracking. This range became very popular amongst British rock drummers such as Bonham.

The Giant Beats range was discontinued by Paiste in 1971, being replaced by the similar 2002 series which Bonham adopted for the rest of his career.

Prior to participation in the any round of the Contest, all Contestants agree to provide a list of all endorsement agreements, both formal and informal, at Sponsor’s request. If, in Sponsor’s sole reasonable determination, any such endorsement conflicts with or competes with a Contest Entity or Prize Giver (“Conflicting Endorsement. Jan 07, 2011 Endorsement agreements are almost always exclusive, and your credibility and contract could both be lost. In addition to being a business arrangement, the relationship between you and the manufacturer is also important on a personal level. It’s important to understand that Artists endorse Zildjian – not the other way around. There’s a growing misconception that endorsement programs are the key to fame and success and it causes many drummers to seek these agreements indiscriminately and prematurely. The Zildjian Artist Family is one of the greatest legacies in all of music. Keith signed an exclusive endorsement agreement with Premier on 6 September, 1965. 1966/67; showing custom offset mount for the third tom. Click to view larger version.

A typical Bonham cymbal setup would include:

• 24 inch 2002 series ride
• 15 inch 2002 series Sound Edge hi-hats
• 16 inch or 18 inch 2002 series crash on his left
• 18 inch 2002 series medium ride for crashing on his right

He would sometimes additionally employ an 18inch crash on his left side and a large 20 or 22inch crash/ride on his right side, all of which were from the Paiste 2002 series.
The images below show the endorsement agreement Bonham held with Paiste, along with the cymbals he was given. (Click to view full size). It is interesting to note the wide range of cymbals Bonham requested to experiment with.

Many more details can be found in Welch & Nicholls' amazing book - 'John Bonham A Thunder Of Drums' Which you really ought to own!

Zildjian Endorsement Agreement 2019

If you have any other info on the equipment Bonham used, or have noticed mistakes - please contact me