I can't TELL you how nostalgic this makes me! These are the first two drum brochure things I ever sent off for (remember doing that? Pre-internet?) - I'd seen Vinnie drumming on the Sting Live in Oslo gig, decided I wanted to become a drummer, and sent off for details of what he used. Say what you like about endorsements, they worked on 15 year-old me - I've now played Yamaha and Zildjian for 18 years.
Anyhow, I had no idea who Vinnie was, or who any drummer was, I just knew he looked like a drumming God - so I was pleasantly surprised when he was on page 1 of both these mags!
As I learned more about drumming I discovered Vinnie actually WAS God so it all made sense later on... But looking at those pics again, I must've spent HOURS staring at them in my teenage years, and I'd still quite like a Maple Custom Vintage (and I briefly had some platinum Quick-Beat hats, which were awful). They made such an impression on me, so I thought I'd share them in case they made anyone else feel nostalgic.
By the way, back then it seemed like EVERYONE played Yamaha / Zildjian...
If you're interested, I photographed a bunch of the other setups from the mags, here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewikiman/sets/72157634730627324/ - Weckl, Erskoman, JR, Tony, and Dennis. It's quite fun reading the little '1994 frozen in time' bios next to their names, too.
.gif "Smile")