Forum member Mike Ellis is highly knowledgeable on the subject of Premier drums. Contact him through the forum.

Now, some answers to your questions from my personal narrow viewpoint and experience:

My general feelings: Think of the most beautiful, shapely, English fashion model / actress "goddess" - one turning heads everywhere she goes, a difficult and demanding celebrity requiring and expecting constant attention and pampering. She hasn't in her nature to be consistent. Every effort satisfying her mystifying temperament makes you deleriously happy just knowing that she's yours! But, a nagging thought won't leave you! Previous lovers, though perhaps not embodiments of physical perfection and elegance, were faithful and true. They willingly returned your affections and efforts to please them, and were for the most part far less demanding of your time and treasure. Still, it is your "goddess" with whom you are obsessed! You never tire gazing at her exquisitely sculptured form and loveliness. You marvel at her uniqueness, her style, her distinctive British heritage, class, and pedigree. With her on your arm the world is your oyster! She makes younger men wish, and older men dream! You're more than willing to continue in this madness, despite the emotional toll, because it's worth the trouble.

Now, if you could just locate a Premier slot head drum key! Hurting

More specifically:

-the shells

No finer European craftmanship to be found on the planet. Exquisite workmanship, design. No detail overlooked, no matter how small.

-sound

Different than most other vintage drums. Clear and round. Superb projection. Snare drums in particular have magnificent response and action.

-hardware

Stunning hardware and chromium plating. Every effort made to design and create "user friendly" hardware for the professional working drummer. Reduced set up and breakdown time thanks to brilliant design R&D. Excess weight eliminated. Pedals lightning fast and effortless.

-tuning

Problematic at times due to the tab loaded "flush braced" tension brackets, because shock and impact are reduced by the tabs holding the threaded insert nuts "floating" freely and "giving" a little when stressed. Internal springs would have solved the problem, but springs would have resonated, and they aren't part of the vintage British drum design concept.

-ability to find parts, etc.

Not too much a problem thanks to the internet. Keep in mind that some hardware parts are made to specific British measurements and most commonly available contemporary screws and mounts won't be compatible.

-some are beech wood and at some point went to Mahogany? I'm assuming the latter sing more in low tuning?

Both choices sing and project. The mahogany more in the middle and low frequencies. The beech are loud, clear, bright.

-heads went from metric to international

I believe the changeover in tooling came around 1968. Personally I find the pre-international drums the more beautiful and better constructed, though purchasing quality heads for them and their die-cast counter hoops can be nightmarish. The international sized drums present no head fitting issues.

-thinking about moving my Gretsch for a one and paying bills.

Can't make the choice for you, but I personally would buy a nice well priced vintage Premier kit first, and then decide if you want to part with your Gretsch. I wish I'd never sold any of the many vintage Gretsch kits I've owned. Neither do I wish to part with either of my Premier kits.

Way more than I could have asked for! I appreciate the input. At the very least I want to try out one of those Royal Ace or Olympic snares. My Gretsch is a nice set. Great bass drum, but I'm awful at tom tuning. And the Gretsch are a challenge for whatever reason. Meanwhile, my Camcos are dummy proof when tuning and when I had a Rogers tom it tuned easily. The final straw will be how wide a range I can get the toms to go. Thanks again.

I'm a fan of the early 70s mahogany kits. I love the sound of the toms particularly. Great low end resonance. As Buckie points out in his very thorough and informative review, they are very well made. They can often be picked up for very little which is a bonus, especially for the international sized shells. Even over here in NZ where vintage kits are thin on the ground, Premier kits can be bought for bargain prices.

Snares are very cool but replacement wires for the Royal Ace and 2000 are hard to find. And yes, original slotted keys seem to be worth more than the drums themselves. Parts, including new slotted keys, can be purchased from Nick Hopkins Drums in England.

I'm a big fan of Premier kits of the early 60's to early's 70's. Buckie B provided a great summary to which I'd add the following thoughts:

- Don't let the whole 'pre international' thing stop you from dipping your toe in the Premier pond. I've picked up 3 or 4 Premier kits over the last year or so and they have all had some usable Premier Everplay Extra heads that I typically clean up and spray with a Krylon paint that makes them look very elegant as resonant heads. Then I order some coated Ambassadors for the batter heads from Remo (via my local mom and pop music shop) and you are good to go. They sound best with Ambassadors, so why worry that you can't go to Guitar Center and choose something different... they wouldn't sound as good anyway.

- In terms of looks, there is NOTHING BETTER than a clean Premier kit. As Buckie B said, the chrome is typically perfect or very close, the lugs are elegant and the wraps are unique. Given the fact that you can pick them up for less than comparable US kits, if you get one that needs a rewrap, you can put a couple of hundred bucks into a nice turquoise glass glitter and you have a kit that looks like a million bucks (but don't expect to make money on the deal if you ever sell). I've attached a picture I took of a gold glass glitter Premier 12" tom I took last year. I love it.

- Mahogany/Birch..... I can go either way. Of the kits I've bought, there seem to more mahogany floor toms and bass drums, and it's not unknown to find a mix of different shells in the same kit (although not sure if they came like that from the factory).

In terms of comparing them to Gretsch, Camco and Sonor Teardrop.... can't help you as I've never owned these (unfortunately) but I do have plenty of experience with Rogers, Slingerland, Fibes and Ludwig kits and Premier hold there own with the best Rogers (although the overall construction isn't quite as robust as Rogers, but maybe that's part of the reason for price differential).

I'm slightly biased on this topic as I'm English but have lived in the States for almost 25 years now. In fact I'm heading back soon to see family and I'm looking online to see what's available in the UK right now. They are even cheaper there than they are here!

None have beech shells, rather they are Finnish birch with beech reinforcing rings.

forum member dukekamaya: "None have beech shells, rather they are Finnish birch with beech reinforcing rings."

True and factual.

I stand corrected and apologize to readers for my careless editing.

I copied and pasted sections of the the original questions, then answered each, without first fact checking the questions themselves for errors.

Even so, I have no excuse for answering with such an egregious misstatement.

Thank you, dukekamaya, for bringing this oversight to my attention.

Vintage Premier shell construction: Birch shells w/ Scandinavian beech reinforcement rings.

Thanks all! I'll be on the hunt for one. I hear those metric heads can take forever to get from Remo…that's my only issue. If I can't find a key, I'll tune it with a quarter or something. Cheaper and always in your pocket.

I have played a few 60's era Prems and Olympics and actually changed heads on a couple,I was impressed across the board with the quality,but I

think the bearing edges were excellent,I don't think anybody was better.

Over here in the UK ive played/owned lots of premiers in the last 40 yrs. They are a class in their own right. The slotted tension rods need the slotted key. Ive got one that was made. If you know someone good on a grinder they can be made. I wouldn't pay silly price for one. All the best .sean.