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Independent research by truerecs. Not affiliated with, endorsed or verified by Questlove. Every item links to its public source.
18 items · Last checked

What drums does Questlove play?

Questlove uses his Vic Firth signature drumsticks and designed the compact Ludwig Breakbeats kit with Ludwig. His Tonight Show kit, shown at NAMM 2017, was a Ludwig Classic Maple with his Zildjian cymbals. Away from the kit he has named D'Angelo's Black Messiah, Pet Sounds and Last Night a DJ Saved My Life among the records and books he loves.

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What drums Questlove uses: a sourced gear guide

Independent research by truerecs: every item links to the public source it comes from.

Kit

2 items

Sticks

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Records he loves

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On his bookshelf

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Questions

About Questlove's gear.

What drum kit does Questlove play?

His Tonight Show kit, put on display by Ludwig at NAMM 2017, was a Ludwig Classic Maple with artwork by Lola Blu, shown with his Zildjian cymbals. He also designed the compact Ludwig Breakbeats kit, with a 14x16 bass drum, 7x10 tom and 13x13 floor tom.

What drumsticks does Questlove use?

Questlove uses his Vic Firth Signature Series Ahmir Questlove Thompson drumsticks.

Which albums of the 2010s did Questlove single out?

He named D'Angelo and the Vanguard's Black Messiah, Watch the Throne, Erykah Badu's New Amerykah Part Two, Karriem Riggins' Alone Together and Unknown Mortal Orchestra's Multi-Love, among others.

Which album does Questlove think will last forever?

The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. He said it will last forever because everyone will know Brian Wilson was a genius.

What books has Questlove said he loves?

His book list for One Grand Books includes Last Night a DJ Saved My Life, Between the World and Me, Charles Mingus' Beneath the Underdog, Hanif Abdurraqib's They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us and Rakim Told Me.

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Questlove
About this guide · Last checked

Questlove (Ahmir Thompson) is the drummer and co-founder of The Roots, the house band on The Tonight Show, as well as a DJ, producer, author and record collector. This guide covers his Ludwig kits, his Vic Firth signature stick, and the albums and books he has said he loves.

truerecs put this guide together from public videos, interviews and posts. Each item says how we know and links to the source. Questlove didn't write it or choose anything on it. How we source gear guides.

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truerecs gear guides are independent research from public sources, not made or approved by the artist. Store buttons on this page may be affiliate links: truerecs may earn a commission when you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. Questlove isn't paid for them. Report an error or ask for removal. Full disclosure.