Re: TRAYNORetcALERT- The "Look What's on Ebay" Thread
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2022 7:12 pm
That’s what I got. Mine was lost in the mail and only appeared this week so I thought signs were good it was a winner but nope
I don't need another kit (I don't even play the one I own), but they dropped this down to $425 now. Ugh.yard barf wrote: Sat Dec 03, 2022 6:44 pm1975 Premier “Elite, Baron” kit!!!Nate Dort wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 2:39 pm $500 for some vintage 3-ply Premiers. I'd drill one of those rack toms for a bottom hoop and sell off the other three as-is to recoup some cash.
https://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/msg/7562172028.html
I have this kit. Most of them are 3-ply birch, but you do find some that are 3-ply African mahogany. They seem to have only made them in that blue color. Fantastic drums. I did exactly what you described: drilled holes to convert them from concert toms. Those concert toms have re-rings and bearing edges on the bottom so it's easy to do. I've done the same conversion with a '60s Beverley kit and an early '70s Walberg and Auge kit. Concert tom kits can be a real bargain and are easy to convert to two heads. Sometimes the long tom lugs have to be staggered to not bump into each other, like old Ajax kits, but it's a cool look. Drum nerds will enjoy noting that vintage British floor toms are often not square but are an inch shallower than American floor toms.
If I ever toured again, I'd bring my Premiers. They sound spectacular and are incredibly light! And the hardware is great. The tom mount is super sturdy and easy to adjust, with giant wing nuts that don't hurt your fingers to tighten. It's everything the Ludwig atlas mount should've been. Maybe Premier got their feelings hurt when they had to publish a photo ad of Keith Moon's "Pictures of Lily" Premier kit that had the old Premier mount removed and a Rogers swivomatic mount in it's place, and they decided to get the tom mount right.
These were the top of the line Premier drums at the time, with super long chrome lugs stretching across the drums. Lots of tales about how some British sports car company did the chrome plating for their hardware but apparently it's not true. What seems to be true is that they electroplated their chrome at some extremely high voltage or somehow did something that made the chrome plating much sturdier. I can attest to the fact that Premier chrome tends to have no pitting or flaking at all.
'70s Premiers continue to be the best bargain in vintage drums.
