John Otto's Drum Setup — Limp Bizkit's Complete Drum Kit Guide | MetalForge

Frequently Asked Questions

What drum kit does John Otto use?

John Otto plays Orange County Drum and Percussion (OCDP) custom drums as his primary kit with Limp Bizkit. OCDP is a California-based drum maker that builds to artist specification — Otto's configuration uses custom maple shells in a double bass setup with two rack toms (10", 12") and two floor toms (14", 16"). Earlier in his Limp Bizkit career, he used Pearl drums during the Three Dollar Bill Y'all$ era before transitioning to OCDP. Full profile and career breakdown at [John Otto at MetalForge](/drummer/john-otto).

What cymbals does John Otto play?

John Otto plays Zildjian cymbals, endorsed throughout the bulk of his career with Limp Bizkit. His setup draws from the Zildjian A Series (14" New Beat Hi-Hats, 18" Medium Crash, 20" Medium Ride, 18" China) and the lighter, faster A Custom Series for crashes where quick response is needed. Zildjian A cymbals are B20 bronze with a bright, projecting voice that cuts through Limp Bizkit's dense live mix at festival and arena volumes. Otto also uses Zildjian sticks as part of his endorsement. For more on nu-metal cymbal setups, see the [nu-metal genre overview at MetalForge](/genre/nu-metal).

What made John Otto's Limp Bizkit drum sound distinctive?

John Otto's distinctive nu-metal sound comes from his unusual combination of formal jazz training and heavy rock context. He studied at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville — a background that gave him jazz's dynamic range, ghost note sensitivity, and polyrhythmic vocabulary. Applied to nu-metal's hip-hop groove template and metal weight, this produces a rhythm section that swings more than comparable drummers in the genre. His kick and snare sit in a hip-hop groove pocket rather than rigidly on the grid; his ghost notes add texture that purely metal-trained drummers don't bring to the same context. On Significant Other (1999) and Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water (2000), this approach is the rhythmic reason those albums worked across rock radio and hip-hop influenced audiences simultaneously. See [John Otto's full profile](/drummer/john-otto) and the [nu-metal drumming overview](/genre/nu-metal) for broader context.

What hardware does John Otto use?

John Otto uses Gibraltar hardware — cymbal stands, hi-hat stand, bass drum pedal infrastructure, and tom mounts. Gibraltar (owned by Kaman Music) produces road-grade professional hardware used by a wide range of touring drummers who prioritize stability and durability. For Remo drumheads, Otto uses Remo across his kit: Powerstroke 3 on the bass drums for controlled attack, Emperor Coated on toms for two-ply durability, and Coated Ambassador on the snare. For more on building a nu-metal drum setup, see the [drum gear category at MetalForge](/gear/drums).

What albums did John Otto record with Limp Bizkit?

John Otto recorded all of Limp Bizkit's studio albums as the band's founding drummer: Three Dollar Bill, Y'all$ (1997), Significant Other (1999), Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water (2000), Results May Vary (2003), The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1) (2005), Gold Cobra (2011), and Still Sucks (2021). Significant Other sold over 7 million copies in the United States; Chocolate Starfish debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. Otto's continuous presence across all studio albums makes him one of the most commercially successful nu-metal drummers of his generation. Full discography and career notes: [John Otto at MetalForge](/drummer/john-otto).