Drummer

Lars Ulrich: Metallica's drummer and co-founder, decoded

Q: What kind of drum kit does Lars Ulrich play?

Tama Starclassic Maple. Lars is a documented Tama signature artist; his current touring and studio kit is a custom Starclassic configuration. The kit pairs with Tama's Iron Cobra pedal series, which Lars helped develop in the 1990s. Earlier-era kits include Tama Granstar and Tama Artstar (1980s through Black Album era). The Tama relationship is one of the longest single-brand artist endorsements in metal drumming.

Lars Ulrich co-founded Metallica in 1981 and has anchored the band across 11 studio records. Tama Starclassic kit, Zildjian cymbals, Tama Iron Cobra pedal, the thrash-into-modern-metal pocket that defined the genre.

Metallica · reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team · 2026-04-27

Lars Ulrich (born December 26, 1963, Gentofte, Denmark) co-founded Metallica with James Hetfield in 1981 and has been the band's drummer across all 11 studio records. Long-documented Tama signature artist (Starclassic Maple kit, Iron Cobra pedal partnership), Zildjian cymbal artist, Remo drumhead artist with Powerstroke 3 kick batter cited across the Metallica catalog. Defined the thrash-metal pocket on Master of Puppets (1986) and ...And Justice for All (1988), pivoted to the rock-tempo Black Album (1991), navigated the band's early-2000s reinvention on St. Anger, and has anchored Metallica's continuous touring through 2023's 72 Seasons. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee with Metallica (2009).

Sourcing7 citations · reviewed 2026-04-27· by Change Your Strings editorial team

Who Lars Ulrich is

Lars Ulrich, born December 26, 1963, in Gentofte, Denmark, co-founded Metallica with James Hetfield in October 1981 in Los Angeles. Across 11 studio records (Kill 'Em All through 72 Seasons) and 40+ years of touring, his pocket has anchored the band's evolution from Bay Area thrash through stadium metal through the band's recent late-career resurgence.

Before Metallica he played in regional Denmark and Los Angeles bands as a teenager; the band's formation in 1981 ended his pre-professional career and started the longest single-band drummer relationship in metal. Outside Metallica he has done occasional film soundtrack work (Mission: Impossible 2 contribution; the band's Through the Never (2013) concert film) and curation work (the Lars Ulrich and Marshall record collection auction); his professional career is otherwise Metallica.

He was the public face of Metallica's 2000 Napster lawsuit, testifying before Congress and conducting the bulk of the press cycle. The suit was culturally divisive at the time; the questions it raised about digital music rights shaped the next two decades of industry policy.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee with Metallica (2009).

The current rig (sourced)

What's documented in 2026

Style signatures

Three things across the Metallica catalog you can identify as Lars's:

Architectural fills, not improvised flourishes. Lars's fills function structurally: the ride-cymbal-into-tom transitions in 'Master of Puppets' verses, the snare-led pivots in 'One', the gallop-into-fill structure of 'Battery' all serve the song architecture rather than show off technique. This is closer to Neil Peart's compositional approach than to the lead-style fill vocabulary of more technique-forward metal drummers.
Hi-hat-led thrash pocket. Through the Master of Puppets (1986) and Justice (1988) era, Lars drives the rhythm guitar through tight closed hi-hat eighth-note patterns rather than ride-led patterns. The closed-hat pocket is one of the defining production elements of mid-1980s thrash; it's what gives songs like 'Master of Puppets' and 'Disposable Heroes' their relentless forward push.
Tempo discipline across long-form songs. Metallica songs run 6-9 minutes regularly; the band's mid-1980s arrangements are formally complex, with multiple tempo and time-signature pivots per song. Lars holds the pocket through those transitions without the tempo drift that long-form metal arrangements often show. The pocket is the engine, the fills are arrangement furniture.

Documented gear, where it lands on CYS

Tama Starclassic kit + Iron Cobra pedal. Drum-kit pages out of CYS scope per CYS_DRUMHEAD_BACKLOG.md §Non-goals; Tama relationship stays as brand-level historical reference.
Zildjian cymbals. Cymbal pages out of scope; Zildjian relationship stays as brand-level reference.
Remo Powerstroke 3 Coated kick batter. Live on CYS at /gear/remo-powerstroke-3-coated with Lars cited as a documented user. Reverse-lookup compounds immediately.
Snare and tom batter selection. Brand-level (Remo) endorsement; specific model selection per drum requires individual rig-rundown citation. Sleuth's queue.

The catalog. Metallica from Kill 'Em All (1983) through 72 Seasons (2023). James Hetfield on rhythm guitar + vocals.

Drumheads in the metal-kick lane. Remo Powerstroke 3 Coated kick batter (Lars cited), Remo Coated Ambassador snare batter (genre-fit), Remo Pinstripe Coated tom batter (genre-fit; Lars's per-tour tom batter selection requires rig-rundown citation).

Production lineage. Producers across the Metallica catalog include Flemming Rasmussen (early thrash), Bob Rock (Black Album through Reload), Rick Rubin (Death Magnetic through Hardwired), Greg Fidelman (recent records).

Drummer hub. All drummers on CYS. Currently John Bonham, Neil Peart, Lars Ulrich, Dave Grohl, Tré Cool, Travis Barker.

Frequently asked questions

What kind of drum kit does Lars Ulrich play?

Tama Starclassic Maple. Long-documented signature artist on the Tama artist roster. Custom Starclassic configuration through current tour cycles.

Earlier kits. Tama Granstar (mid-1980s thrash era), Tama Artstar (Black Album era through the late 1990s).

Tama Iron Cobra pedal. Lars helped develop the Iron Cobra pedal line in the 1990s; it remains his signature pedal endorsement.

RelatedTama Lars Ulrich artist page

What cymbals does Lars play?

Zildjian. Long-documented cymbal artist; specific cymbal selection across tours has included Zildjian A Custom hi-hats, A Custom crashes, and signature ride configurations per Modern Drummer's feature archive. The Zildjian artist roster page documents the relationship; per-tour-current cymbal model attribution requires individual rig-rundown citation.

What kick batter does Lars use?

Remo Powerstroke 3 (Coated). Documented across the Metallica catalog as the canonical rock-kick batter, the Powerstroke 3 is the head Lars uses to deliver the focused, controlled kick voice that sits in Metallica's quad-tracked rhythm-guitar mixes. Lars has been a Remo signature artist for decades.

RelatedRemo Powerstroke 3 review

When did Lars start Metallica?

1981. Lars placed a classified ad in The Recycler (a Los Angeles-area newspaper) looking for musicians, James Hetfield answered, and Metallica formed in October 1981. The band's debut Kill 'Em All (1983) shipped within two years; the original lineup included Dave Mustaine (later of Megadeth) on lead guitar before he was replaced by Kirk Hammett mid-tour. Cliff Burton was the band's original bassist (replacing Ron McGovney) until his death in 1986; Jason Newsted (1986-2001) and Robert Trujillo (2003-present) followed.

Cross-verified against Wikipedia, Metallica's official band history, and the Some Kind of Monster (2004) documentary.

Did Lars play double-bass on Metallica records?

Some, not all. The fast double-bass kick patterns on '...And Justice for All' (1988) and 'One' specifically are notable; Lars's foot technique was a defining element of the late-1980s thrash sound. From the Black Album (1991) forward, double-bass appears more selectively, song-by-song based on arrangement need. Lars has historically been more about pocket and fill architecture than blast-speed double-bass; the technique exists in his vocabulary but isn't the defining element.

What's Lars's snare voice on Metallica records?

Varies by record. The Black Album (1991) has the most-covered snare voice in metal: Ludwig Black Beauty (or close approximation) tuned high with a Coated Ambassador-style batter, the canonical 'crack' that became the genre default. ...And Justice for All (1988) is the controversial low-mix snare voice. Master of Puppets (1986) is the firm, mid-range snare voice. The shifts reflect production-cycle decisions across producers (Flemming Rasmussen on early records, Bob Rock from the Black Album forward, Greg Fidelman on the recent records).

What other bands has Lars played in?

Just Metallica. Lars is a one-band drummer in the rock-touring sense, his entire professional career is Metallica from 1981 onward. Outside studio work, his side projects are mostly in production / curation / film (the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack contribution, the Through the Never concert film, occasional production work). The band itself has been continuous since 1981; the longest single-band drummer relationship in metal.

Was Lars in a famous lawsuit?

Yes. Metallica sued Napster in 2000 over copyright infringement. Lars was the band's public face on the lawsuit, testifying before Congress and conducting the bulk of the press coverage. The lawsuit settled in July 2001 with Napster filtering Metallica's catalog. The Napster suit was culturally divisive at the time but is now widely understood as a precedent-setting case in digital music rights, the questions it raised about distribution, royalties, and copyright ownership shaped the next two decades of music industry policy.