Premier from those years are top-quality drums - as you can probably judge from the craftsmanship on shells and chrome - and the expensive diecast hoops.

Scanned catalogues can be downloaded at drumarchive.com/premier

Personally, I like no shells better than the mahogany ones like yours, and as it seems to be in great condition, splashing out on the items you are missing is a viable project.

Check ebay.uk, the various Facebook groups connected with Premier - and the vintage-section on http://www.mikedolbear.co.uk/forum/

I like my vintagedrums open and resonant, so I use Coated Ambassadors top and bottom - or Coated Emperors at the top.

A Coated PS3 is great on the bass, with a Smooth Ambassador on the front.

Nice kit!

Jon

Everything Jon said. Those mahogany shells are fantastic. It looks like somebody fitted a Rogers cymbal mount to the bass drum but otherwise looks original. I'm pretty sure the mahogany shells will be international sizes and that may be indicated with a stamp inside the shells, so standard head sizes should be the go. The hardware for this model is called Lokfast and it's worth tracking down a hi-hat and cymbal stands as they are really nice.

Welcome

Confirm all what Jon and Fayray stated, too.

I like to add, that the Lokfast 'Flat base' cymbal stands plus hihat plus 'model 250S' bass drum pedal will be a nice (and correct) addition - but prices for these stylish stands and pedals begin to rise more and more, as they are sought after (more and more ...).

Conc. the missing tom arms: keep looking for the 'double-disappearing tom holder' on ebay UK. That's the part you need. If you got them finally, you should play a little bit with the setting of it (more or less into the tom drum shells): it's a little bit tricky and it will make a difference (in the sustain of the tone afterwards) if you give it some tries.

The snare drum is a sought after model and a nice addition with the matching wrap. Great!

Cheers, Ralf

Thanks guys.

I'll keep an eye out for those models/types of hardware forthwith. I know Mike from Blenheim Drums, hopefully he can come through with the goods. If not I'll put feelers further afield. It might be an expensive exercise but it will definitely be worth it.

A bit of history to satiate the curious...

I bought this kit a few years back from a guy who, along with his brother, used to play a bit. I bought it for about $100, because the tom mounts were shot, and, in their words, "it sounded like crap". I discovered later on that they were trying to extract a modern pop/rock sound from a kit that wasn't designed to produce anywhere near such a sound. I've used these drums for a few jazz and classic rock'n'roll gigs. They definitely look the part and sound great when tuned properly.

I was very recently on the verge of selling these drums to fund a move to a new town... fortunately the buyer was too slow getting back to me and I took them with me when I moved house. I'm glad I checked here before doing anything with them.

Thanks for the knowledge and tips on heads. Much appreciated!

Are those Metric shells?

No, they won't be PRE-INTERNATIONAL size.

I can confirm they aren't pre-international. I've been using standard heads on them for years, as did the owner before me.

A couple more pics of the snare

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/llp48uo.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/0QaNHAw.jpg[/IMG]

Sorry about the bad quality... I've lost the originals. I'll take a few more pics with a better camera soon and upload those.

$100?..you're killing me here....

Clean those puppies up..bet they will look like a million $$$$$$$