1. I tune in line with fundamental notes the bass player plays in most of the songs.

3. Good idea. You'll have to make snare beds in the reso-side bearing edge though, which will end the tom-tom life of the drum. I have a premier 14 x 10 marcher snare drum (3 ply birch and beech re-rings). Sounds very good, I use it in my band as my main snare all the time. A 14 x 8 will sound good too I'll guess.

Nice kit. And being a nice, complete kit I wonder if leaving the 14" tom as a tom would be best so the kit stays complete? There are plenty of orphans out there you could experiment with. I have an orphan 14x8 Premier rack tom somewhere that I've been thinking of converting to a snare but i wouldn't do it to a nice example from a complete kit.

When I reacted I didn't see pics. No that I do see pics, I agree with Andrew. Beautifull kit, I wouldn't touch it. Try and find a Premier marcher, like mine, would make a fine second snare. In europe there are plenty out there for pretty cheap.

By the way, if you are gonna do it nonetheless, you'll have to find a matching die-cast hoop with a hole for the snare wire. Or drill holes.

Thank you guys,

You're probably right, it would be best if the kit stays complete of course... it's just that I'm not using the 14"...

I'm going to think about it again, I don't want to make a mistake with a pretty rare complete vintage kit !

But another question comes to my mind, do I really need to make snare beds in the reso-side bearing edge ? The 14"x4" Royal Ace doesnt have that and it sounds great, but maybe it is because of the parallel strainer ? Which, I guess, is way more complicated to install than a regular strainer

If you plan to keep the kit forever then i guess you could convert the 14" but if you think you'll sell it one day then leave it alone. Premier from this era (or any era actually) may not command the money of the popular American made kits but they are every bit as good and maybe one day their values will reflect this.

The lack of snare beds on the RA is due to the parallel strainer. If you plan on installing an RA system then you won't need beds but this would be the more complicated way to go I would have thought. I think quite a few people have converted these 14" toms so maybe consult Google and see what's out there and how people have done it successfully or otherwise. I would still advise on finding an orphan, if they haven't all be turned into snare drums already.

That's a great looking kit.

Based on the style of lugs (Art Deco/sharp points), tone controls (single pad vs. two smaller round pads), tom mounts (round style on tom toms) and the black paint on the bass drum hoops (earlier hoops were silver), I think the date of this kit it closer to 1966/67.

I also think the 14x8 tom tom might have been a special order or added later, because the 12x8 mount on the shell is centered off of the Premier badge and the 14x8 mount is off center. Cataloged double tom tom kits (303 Outfit) also had the bass drum mounts towards the front of the shell and in front of the badge. Single tom tom kits had the bass drum mount closer to the player and behind the Premier badge. I also see music store stickers on all of the drums, so maybe the kit was ordered as a single tom tom kit and the owner also wanted a second tom tom, so the music store ordered and installed it in shop.

I would not convert the 14x8 into a snare. Because it's Mahogany Duroplastic and it appears to be original to the entire kit (i.e. matching music store stickers on all shells). Maybe you could use it in place of the 12x8 and sometimes without the 16x16 for a two piece kit. If not, box it up and keep it safe.

You're very lucky to have the 4x14 Royal Ace snare. I would love to find one.

I have a 20/14/12 with the same heads, in the same wrap, same lugs, same tone controls and the same black bass hoop paint. As far as over all tuning, it's mostly a matter of experimenting. You'll eventually find the sweet spot. I like to make the resonant head a little higher than the batter on my kit. I installed a Remo Fiberskyn with felt strip on the resonant side and an Evans EMAD2 on the batter side. The combination of the thin 3-ply shell and the heads make this very punchy. I'm also always amazed at how light the bass drum is by itself.

Congratulations on getting this kit.

-Tim

Parallel strainer doesn't require cutting snarebed, but does require drilling many holes. I would not do that either.

Best work with an orphan or a marcher, I'd say

Thanks Andrew, well the idea is definitely to keep this kit, it's not easy to find a good 1960s kit with the matching snare here in France so I'm very happy with it.

Thank you Tim,

You're right, I checked on the catalogues here:

http://www.vintagedrumguide.com/premier_drumsets.html

On the 1965 catalogue the bass drum hoops are still silver and on the 1968 catalogue the hoops are black. And for the tom mounts on the bass drum on the double tom kit (303) as well, so probably mine was a special order...

The stickers mention "Distribué par Selmer", apparently Premier was distributed by Selmer here in France during this era.

Yes it would be reasonable not to convert the tom, I think I'll keep it as is, but it sounds so good when tuned like a snare...

I'm lucky you're right, the guy who sold it to me has a huge collection and he's not playing his drums, this one was "bothering" him because of the pre-international sizes... Yes the 14"x4" is great, very punchy but warm, the wood shell is really singing, and the parallel strainer is definitely a good idea, I can't help but think that the 14"x8" would be as good but with a deeper sound !

So I 'm going to check some 14"x8" orphan on ebay but I'd like it to be the same wood. All drums of the era was in the same wood ?

Do you think this wood sound as good as mine ?

[ame]http://www.ebay.fr/itm/Vintage-70s-Premier-Elite-14-x-8-Tom-/291404147956?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_146&hash=item43d90a6cf4[/ame]

I'm working on the tuning, for the moment I found it always better when the batter and reso head are very close...

8x14s are very uncommon and can be pricey. I'd leave it. You'll kick yourself later.

Jason