Just goes to show you how much attention I was paying.....

Hi! Nice kit to get for free! As for the mounting arm, they do crop up pretty regularly on e-bay UK (I'm from the UK!) I recently got one cheap for a project. I can't really offer anything that the guru's haven't though I'm pretty sure that the drums are birch - I've got a Premier, Beverley and Olympic, and they're all birch and all have that Premier connection. I've owned a kit very similar to this one, and another Beverley too, in the past and they was birch.

Unfortunately, I've also owned a Luan Premier (urrghhh). The thing is, I sold the kit like yours and bought the luan number cos it looked cooler! Ah, the folly of youth!

[COLOR="DarkRed"]That's why l requested for a shot of the interior -'cuz Prem did make the error of importing cheap asian shells for a time - the Luan ones ! But unless someone actually stained the interiors of these shells - there is no way they are birch because birch isn't that dark. As l said they did make some mahog shells - not common but l have seen 'em :2Cents:[/COLOR]

Jaye can spot mahogany at 100 paces, I can't! lol! Seems you may be quids in though, cos what Jaye spotted seems to be backed up by this extract from Wikipedia:

For some years during the mid-1970s, Premier began using African Mahogany in their drum construction. Premier drums from that period were mostly made of three-ply mahogany with beech wood reinforcing hoops (or glue rings.). True mahogany from Khaya Nyasica, Africa have an approximately 20% increase in low frequency resonance over the maple drums. Mid and high frequencies are mostly the same from a reproduction point of view, but because the Mahogany has the 20% low end increase, the perceived tone is warmer.

So, I'd say hardware-wise, your kit matches the time-frame, and it has the

re-rings! Vintage Premier stuff is all quality, but if this is mahogany, then there's even more collectibility!

I just found some Premiere drums I am restoreing that look exactly like those except in a red metallic looking wrap. Not metal though. I think you may have a mahogany Resonator set without the resonator shells. Bass drum mount tom holder is the same. Badges are identical too and date 1970-1980. Serial # started in 1970 and the badges changed in 1980. So our sets are 30 to 40 years old. Guess we could check the color offerings between those years to zero in even more on a production date. And we know the african mahogany was used in the mid seventies, which I think that's what ours are, so we are looking at maybe 1975. Thats what I guestimate.

My bass drum is a 24" 10 lug without resonator shell, and my floor tom lugs are just like the ones in the pics. Upper and seperate bottom lugs. The toms are a one piece lug as well as the bass. The resonator shells are in all my toms and the damper in the tom pic is identical to mine.