Judas Priest kit up for auction

A drum kit used by Judas Priest´s Scott Travis is being auctioned off on eBay by UK drum store DrumWright to raise money for a cancer charity.

The Pearl Masters Maple kit, described by DrumWright´s managing director Chris Wright as "a magnificent monster", was played by Travis on Judas Priest´s Europe and USA tour earlier this year. Travis donated the kit to Deep Purple´s Ian Paice to help raise money for the Sunflower Jam, a music event organised by Paice´s wife Jacky which raises awareness for charities providing holistic care and support to children and adults suffering with cancer.

The auction will take place on DrumWright´s E-bay store between 7th and 17th January 2010.

The Pearl Masters Maple kit comprises two massive 24"x23" inch bass drums, 10, 12 and 14 inch rack toms, 16" and 18" floor toms (all in mirror chrome) plus a sensitone 14"x6.5" steel snare drum. It comes with a brand new set of Pearl's flagship 2000 series hardware (snare stand, hi-hat stand, two Eliminator bass drum pedals, two double tom stands with cymbal attachments and a tom/cymbal stand).

Since the first event in 2006, The Sunflower Jam has been privileged to have had performances by artists such as Robert Plant, Paul Weller, Deep Purple, Status Quo and Gary Moore. This years´ line-up included Ian Paice and Don Airey (Deep Purple), Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden), Micky Moody (Whitesnake), Gary Brooker (Procol Harum), and Dennis Locorriere (Dr Hook). So far The Sunflower Jam has raised over £300,000 for charity.

Chris Wright has supported Ian and Jacky in the organisation of these events and offered to help auction the kit on his company´s E-bay site to give it the best possible exposure given Judas Priest´s worldwide following, especially in the USA.

Once the auction goes live on 7th January, you can bid on the kit, which is estimated to be worth £7,000 if bought new, by going to stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/DrumWright-Ltd and clicking on the link to Judas Priest Kit, or by searching for 'Judas Priest Kit' on www.eBay.co.uk.

Chris Barnes

I'm MusicRadar's eCommerce Editor. In addition to testing the latest music gear, with a particular focus on electronic drums, it's my job to manage the 300+ buyer's guides on MusicRadar and help musicians find the right gear for them at the best prices. I dabble with guitar, but my main instrument is the drums, which I have been playing for 24 years. I've been a part of the music gear industry for 20 years, including 7 years as Editor of the UK's best-selling drum magazine Rhythm, and 5 years as a freelance music writer, during which time I worked with the world's biggest instrument brands including Roland, Boss, Laney and Natal.