Bill Ward vs Matt Greiner — Drum Gear Comparison | MetalForge
Side-by-side gear: Bill Ward (Black Sabbath) vs Matt Greiner (August Burns Red). Kits, cymbals, pedals, sticks — compare specs and prices.
Frequently Asked Questions
What drum kit does Bill Ward use?
Bill Ward uses Ludwig Classic Maple with Paiste 2002 & Giant Beat Series (15" Giant Beat Hi-Hats, 18" & 20" 2002 Crashes, 24" 2002 Ride, 18" 2002 China). Bill Ward played a Ludwig Classic Maple kit with a Ludwig Supraphonic 14x6.5" LM402 snare and Zildjian Avedis Series cymbals (14" Hi-Hats, 16" & 18" Crashes, 20" Ride, 18" China), driven by a single Ludwig Speed King pedal — no double bass, relying entirely on foot technique for Sabbath's early doom-laden grooves. Matt Greiner plays a Mapex Black Panther Design Lab kit with his own Pearl Matt Greiner Signature 14x6" Steel snare and Paiste Formula 602 cymbals, driven by a DW 9000 Series double pedal and his own Vic Firth Matt Greiner Signature sticks.
What drum kit does Matt Greiner use?
Matt Greiner uses Mapex Black Panther Design Lab with Paiste Formula 602 (14" Hi-Hats, 16"/17"/18" Crashes, 22" Ride, 18" China, 10" Splash). Bill Ward played a Ludwig Classic Maple kit with a Ludwig Supraphonic 14x6.5" LM402 snare and Zildjian Avedis Series cymbals (14" Hi-Hats, 16" & 18" Crashes, 20" Ride, 18" China), driven by a single Ludwig Speed King pedal — no double bass, relying entirely on foot technique for Sabbath's early doom-laden grooves. Matt Greiner plays a Mapex Black Panther Design Lab kit with his own Pearl Matt Greiner Signature 14x6" Steel snare and Paiste Formula 602 cymbals, driven by a DW 9000 Series double pedal and his own Vic Firth Matt Greiner Signature sticks.
Which is better, Bill Ward or Matt Greiner?
Bill Ward and Matt Greiner represent two foundational, cross-era pillars of metal drumming built on the same jazz roots. Ward invented heavy metal's drumming vocabulary from a jazz-swing foundation, creating the genre's rhythmic DNA with Black Sabbath starting in 1968. Greiner built on that same jazz sensibility three and a half decades later, turning odd time signatures and stacked-cymbal dynamics into a Grammy-nominated metalcore signature with August Burns Red. Comparing them is comparing metal's birth to its modern technical ceiling — the originator versus the jazz-trained technician who pushed metalcore's compositional ambition further.