Gear

Craig is one of Mapex’ longest serving international artists, he is one of their main brand ambassadors and senior design consultant for Mapex Drums and KHS Taiwan brands. He’s played Mapex since the early 2000’s. The team look after him no matter where he is in the world and gave him the opportunity in 2020 to launch his own signature Snare Drum "The Machine", which is Mapex’s best performing artist snare. He plays a mixture of series both live and in the studio and on the current Steven Wilson world tour he played a very special 1 of 1 Design Lab Equinox series set up, 22" kick, 8/10/12 racks, 16/18 floors and an 18" gong drum. Check them out [HERE](https://www.mapexdrums.com/).

Craig joined the Paiste family in 2006. Paiste are a very special company that he has so much respect for. They branded his 2002's for Steven Wilson's "To The Bone Tour" and have made him many prototypes for his studio set ups over the years including his current 24" ride cymbal on the SW tour, a Masters extra dry. He plays a mixture of cymbals in the studio depending on the project but live his set up is currently 602 Modern Essentials Crashes 20/21/22/ 14" 602 hats, 2002 bells, 8/10 602 me splashes, 14" swiss flanger stack, 10/8 pstx stack and a 22" 602 modern essentials ride and prototype 24” ride.

Craig’s relationship with Roland goes back over 20 years, they gave him a chance when he was just starting out and continued to have faith in him all the time he was in the "day job days" Before Craig turned pro, he used to do lots of Saturday music shop demos up and down the country. Eventually, Roland put him into Europe doing shop demos and launch events at trade shows to learn his trade and then the drum clinics and festivals started to arrive. In 2008 he joined the R&D team and has now been involved in creating sounds and play-alongs to many of the modules that countless drummers around the world play today. To date, he’s been involved in over 25 product launches from initial inception thoughts to final sound design ideas and kit patches

Craig has used Sennheiser all his professional career, from clip on 604's a few years back to industry standard MD421's in the studio, Craig has used Sennheiser microphones on over well over 100 recording projects. They are also his choice of "in ears" on tour and headphones tracking in the studio. They are still a great family company and one that he feels very privileged to be a part of.

Craig will always be grateful to Alan Vater and Chad Brandiolini for having faith in him in the early years. They have supported him so much around the world and gave him the opportunity to have a signature stick. Vater remain a family company and their attention to detail in their "end product" is simply unrivaled. Currently, Craig is using a Classics 5b

He will always have the story that he was Protection Rackets first artist signing in 1994! Craig remembers speaking to a very cool surf dude down in Cornwall called Dean Bowdery and they hit it off great. Dean and the team have truly stood by Craig, even when the work dried up in the early days. The company have gone from strength to strength in the industry and now hold the reputation as the best-case manufacturer in the world.

All that know Russ Miller will know that outside his incredible playing he is a true pioneer in drum industry manufacturing and has had a hand in over a hundred products in the industry from Yamaha's Sub-Kick to the Groove Wedge. Russ approached Craig to play the X-Click and trigger bar on tour. If you're looking to take your sonic palette to the next level then check out Gruv-X, You'll be glad you did.

Back in 2021, Craig’s gear on the "Seconds Out" tour was being flown all over the world. It was a fairly big concert tom rig and getting it all on a 8x8 riser was an issue for the team and Craig’s tech. They decided that a rack was the best option. Craig knew the guys at Gibraltar and GEWA for years but never really looked at rack systems. Fast forward a year later and all of Craig’s touring rigs are flown on Gibraltar. Gibraltar are the true masters of solutions and from Craig’s very poorly designed drawings! Craig has used three different systems on three different tours, they are a true game changer.

The one product that poses more questions on Craig’s rig than anything else! A product that once you use, you'll never go back. Basically, it acts as a real time noise gate. If you mount your cymbals and toms on the same stand or on a bass drum, you'll always get resonant cymbal sounds when you hit your drums, especially on splashes. The inner gasket of the CRS makes the cymbal almost "free float" on the stand, making every hit completely isolated.

Craig had the opportunity to join the Evans Roster in 2022 and was very grateful to the team in welcoming him to their incredible roster. He uses a different variety of head combinations live and in the studio, choosing the EC reverse dot for his Mapex Signature Machine snare drum and using G2 coated on the top and G1 on the resos with a Emad Heavyweight on the kicks

The gel market is fairly saturated, and you can find lots out there. Slapklatz stand heads and shoulders above them all and their vast array of Gels have been a welcome addition to Craig’s touring and recording rigs over the last few years. They come in a plastic protection case, you can wash them, they come in different sizes and even after they been washed, they can also work underneath cymbals to get the perfect sound every time

Zoom products feature very high on Craig’s list of tech gear both live and and streaming his Drum School Masterclasses The ability to preload scenes for different stages is has been a game changer for Craig. If the bass traps are under the stage the Zoom L6 can load a pre-set monitor eq with less low end, or if they are in front he can load a pre-set with more low end eq Instantly. He will always be seen with the L6 by his side at concerts and clinics. Zoom is a massive asset to Craig with Audio and Cameras for streaming

Another recent and welcome addition to Craig’s rig both in the Recording Studio, Streaming Studio and on tour are Hercules stands. They are part of the KHS group of which he’s had a relationship with for nearly 20 years and where he is a design consultant. They have flown everything for him currently for Steven Wilson and Frost, from ipad holders to adjust virtual monitor mixes, floating kick stands, overhead stands and camera clamps, they do it all with ease and are a massive part of making the job easier. His first design collaborations with the brand will be launched in Autumn 2026

George Frederick is a bit of an industry legend and a friend of Craig’s for over 20 years. If you ask most pros around the world, they'll know George from his days at Pearl and Premier. What he's done for the industry is staggering and any chance Craig gets to work with George at the legendary Freddie Gee Drum Camp, he’ll make it happen. George is artist relations at Natal Drums. Outside their great drums they make some incredible percussion. In more recent times recording music for albums and TV with Matt Berry, Craig has needed a quality percussion set up and Natal is where he found the perfect blend of sounds