Projectors were quite a common range of Premier kit, and this one shares the same tom mount fixture as I think all 80's premier xpks and apks. This looks like quite a rare wrap though, and the jazz sizes seem quite a novelty too. Is it a re-wrap? I notice that the nut-boxes are neither the style of 70's/80's royale/apk/xpk, or the later early 90's one-piece fitting. When did you buy it how old is it? There's some pitting to the chrome, but nothing too major. Old Premier kits are becoming a little more collectable these days. You can pick up old royale sets for around £150, but I think there's more collectability here, just because of the sizes and wrap. Some of the royale ace era kits can fetch a good £500, but they are in great condition for that price. It may be worth a good £350 at least if it has all original parts. (Significantly more if the snare's there too!) A re-wrap would possibly de-value it. Anyone with a more in-depth knowledge can give you a more exact price, however.

Thanks for the quick response...I bought the kit off a drum tutor I used to have lessons with about 9 years ago. I think he said it was a custom kit made for him, bit I couldn't be sure of that. I've never had a re-wrap and as far as I know all the original features are still there. Unfortunately when I bought it the snare was a steel Pearl 14" x 5" similar to the senisitone drums that are on the market these days.

I have contacted my tutor to see if he could let me know anything more about the kit.

The pitting is noticeable, but would you say it is common for the age of the kit? (I've added another picture which shows the pitting up close)

Thanks again in advance!

If it's a custom, that would explain the sizes - it would almost certainly put more value on it. The pitting is common I'd say for a kit of that age - it's in good condition. Id suggest looking on here to see if there are any standard size projector kits from the time in the catalogue images (I'm sure there's some Premier catalogues!). If you can work out a rough price for a standard projector kit in good condition for the time it will give you more of an idea of what it's worth. I've got a 60's Premier kit with a 20" bass drum, but I've never seen an "18. If it is a custom in the sense that it was made to order, it will be worth quite a lot more to a Premier collector or someone who loves those size of kits. Please let us know if you get a more acurrate age of the kit from your tutor. A lovely set though!

Hi there,

Just to add a little more info, the original owner, my drum tutor, came back to me and the kit was originally made for him in 1985, the shells are birch and the colour is technically polychromatic red.

Thanks for your help.

Wow, with a birch 18 bass drum it's sure to, er..., project! I'm not even sure projectors were around mass produced mid 80's, I know later 80's and 90's...it could even be a very early one off. Actually, they were! A look at Mike Ellis' timeline on this very forum reveals Projectors were launched in 1984. Still, this is a very early Projector!

Hi,

I bought my Projector brand new from Professional Percussion in 1985, and I still have it. I should have some litrature somewhere detailing what was available but from memory the mk1 kit with the single lugs was available in normal and deep shells with either single or double headed toms. I do remember jazz or fusion kits with 18" kick drums and standard depth shells being available so this wasn't a special imho. the smaller sized kick drums still had the power depth and were marketed with a special name or tag line which i can't remember.

It was aimed at the serious drummer and sat beneath the Resonator in the product line. I can tell yours is an early one as you have the rubgy ball shapped tom holder, the mk2 had a round one and full length lugs on the shells. Your harware is original also.

value wise they're not worth a lot. I've been watching fleabay as I was going to sell mine recently and a five piece power sized kit went for £200. I contacted a few dealers and they advised selling the shells individualy as they don't sell well, people don't understand how good quality these kits are. I seem to remember paying £1500 for my kit with Paiste 2002 / Rude cymbals, and the prolok harware. I know i have the reciept somewhere, and I'll try to find it, but that would put the shell price at about £600 in 1985 prices I reckon. A Pearl export with budget hardware was £350 from memory so that gives you an idea of where Projectors sat in the marketplace.

They were available in Red, Black and White wraps or laquered wallnut, rosewood and clear finishes.

I think the drum shops made a kit up rather than the manufacturor so I don't think there was a standard snare that was supplied. Mine came with a 6.5" steel which I still have, I upgraded the snare soon after so it hasn't been out of it's case for 25 years. The same goes for the hardware, there were 3 levels, single braced budget, double braced and the professional level memory lock which I think was called prolok but i could be wrong.

The top of the range kick pedal at the time was the classic 252, I used one until I upgraded it to a pearl double pedal.

I remember choosing the shell pack and then the hardware in the shop. I'm happy to check anything against mine if you need me to.

The one thing I will say is that when I recorded with the kit on a few occaisions the engineers sampled it as they thought the tone was superb. I preffered the Premier DS heads as opposed to pin stripes but you won't find any DS's in regular sizes now. They are very well made, I don't think mine has pitted but i should check really.

And once again this is all from memory from 25 years ago so I could be wrong.

Hope that helps.

Hi all. I have a hybrid 11990's Premier Projector/APk kit. 8 and 10 toms and the bass drum are projector, the 12,13 toms and 16 FT are APK (ithink - black painted shells inside). The problem I have is finding a replacement head to fit the 8" tom. Everyting I have tried so far sems too small (evans, aquarian, remo)

Does anyone else have the same snag and how did you get around it??

thanks.

I think the early Projectors use Beverly lugs,after Premier bought them out,I have set one up for a beginner drummer,and as I remember the shells were birch with beech rerings,I also seem to remember that the re rings were about the same thickness as the thin shell,but looked quite a bit deeper than most re rings I have seen,maybe that was a Beverly shell spec,just thinking out loud,I have never seen a Beverly kit up close.

All of the above sounds good based on my knowledge of Projectors.

I can add that the beech rings on Projector-era shells are ply, while the older Premier (and Beverley) shells have solid rings. So I would say that a pre-88 Projector is not the same as a Blue Badge or B&H Badge Beverley (or a US Powerhouse). Almost the same, but not exactly the same due to the bass drum-sized lugs and different re-rings. as noted. Here's my illustration of the Projector 1987-88 transition (doesn't apply to you kit, but pretty much on-topic).

Re: 18" kick... That certainly adds value! Also, standard depths are more popular and hence more valuable.

Bottom line: You have a great kit that has some value as it is. Probably smart to clean it up nicely but not change too much. Keep it original and love it with whatever small flaws it has.