Premier Hi-fi COB snare (1967-1970): The Odyssey

Some of you know the buzz of excitement when you find

Hi-fi: The drum that got me going...

an interesting drum for sale. You smell a potential score that will fill a hole in your collection, and you start to tingle. You check a few photos, ask a few questions, and you turn to the Holy Drum Geek Triumvirate for answers: Friends, Facebook, and Forums. And then you jump.

In this post I'll share what I've learned about late-60's Premier metal snares. Some of this stuff I knew, but most of it I learned while trying to figure out exactly what I had bought without having ever seen it in person!

Feel free to comment or send me a note if you know more about anything I claim here or anywhere on this blog!

What makes a Hi-fi a Hi-fi?

In case you're new to Premier snares, the Hi-Fi is a late 60's addition to the Premier line. It came in wood and metal (see below) with a standard strainer (called a 632, I believe), as opposed to the more common parallel strainer offered on most other Premier snares at the time (like the earlier Royal Ace or the Hi-fi's contemporary, the 2000).

Metal is metal is metal

1969 Catalog Page

In this post I'll only look at the metal version of the Hi-fi. (For info on birch v. mahogany, check my Beverley article.) Take a look at most pre-1970s Premier catalogs and you'll find that their metal snares were made of... well... metal. What kind of metal? That's another story. Metal is metal, right? At least it was in the good old days!

Here's a page from the 1969 Premier catalog. Notice that the lower Hi-fi is made of... Metal. (Insert smiley here). And look a bit lower down this blog post at the 1972 catalog. By 1972, clearly the Hi-fi has changed, but it's still made of... you guessed it: Metal.

I scoured lots of sites and the Premier experts seem to agree that the metal for most pre-1968 Premier snares was brass. But once we get past 1968 or so (during the transition from Pre-International to International size shells) you also find lots of references to aluminium Premier snares. That is, pretty soon after introducing "metal" Hi-Fi's, Premier switched from brass to aluminium as their metal of choice. Why change? I hate to be cynical, but based on what I've read about the history of Premier (and all other major drum brands from those days) it must have been a cost saving measure. 

1972 Catalog Page

What about the badge? Dating?

So like I mentioned, you can tell a Hi-fi by the strainer. That's the easy part. But what year is my Hi-fi? Is it an earlier brass drum, or maybe a later aluminium?

With Premier, badges can tell a lot, but not everything. For example, look at the 1969 catalog above. Notice that there are two different badges on the same page. The wooden drum has the newer badge, while the metal drum has the older badge. Hmm... in fact, even in the 1972 catalog we see the same "different badge" effect, but this time with the wood and metal switched.  

Either way, for my purposes it was clear that my drum must be from somewhere after 1967 or so when this "new badge" was introduced (even if nobody told the folks who made the catalogs for Premier).

Most confirmed brass Hi-fi's seem to have come with the older badge and often had the Hi-fi name on the badge, so at first I suspected my drum was a later 1970's model, and likely aluminium. I felt better when I learned that the "new badge" came without a serial number until 1970. Assuming that's the case, it seemed safe to assume that my drum is from 1967-1970. (Side note: Serial numbers at Premier don't help with dating since they were only provided to allow you to track your assets for insurance purposes.)

(Also note that I'm focusing on a very short period here from 1967 into the early 70's... I won't discuss earlier or later Premier badges.)

Lugs and Beer Barrels 

Some examples of  Premier die-cast hoops 

Obviously my drum had 10 lugs. Since later Hi-Fi's were often 8-lug, I considered this encouraging.

Next I noticed that my snare has a tighter, rounder style die-cast hoop, which I learned is called Beer Barrel. It was the standard Premier hoop in the 60's and before (feel free to add detail in the comments below). After that, perhaps by 1972 or so, the design changed slightly to what many call Streamline hoops. All veteran Premier-watchers know this like they know mahogany from birch, but it's something I had never noticed. Maybe you had never noticed either? Maybe you care? :-)

Anyway, this little piece of Beer Barrel evidence got me excited. From what I know about Premier (and Rogers and others), after a major transition they would use whatever old components they had on hand (shells, badges, labels, lugs, hoops, etc) until they were gone. So I was thinking that I must have old hoops with a new badge.

The hoops, by the way, are non-magnetic. If you can believe what you read, they are made of mazak, part of a family of alloys with a base metal of zinc and alloying elements of aluminium, magnesium, and copper (thanks, wikipedia). 

And the shell?

I bought the drum based on this photo and  a few more

So back to the shell. As you can see, my drum shows a few scratches, but no pitting. Seasoned snare collectors know that it's rare to find an older chromed aluminium snare that doesn't show at least some pitting. Even my very pristine Cosmic 21 shows some very minor pitting. This drum (my Hi-fi) showed no evidence of the usual aluminium pitting.  And following the logic of "old hoop, new badge" I ended up thinking I must have old hoops, new badge, old shell. That is, I must have a "leftover" brass shell, or simply from the days before they introduced aluminium.

And the sound?

So finally the drum arrived! At first I was concerned because a household magnet gave the ever-so-slightest resistance. Barely noticeable, but confirmed by my friend as something real. Nonetheless, folks in my community (Friends and Facebook) confirmed that a magnet sticks to steel like it sticks to your fridge, and that I shouldn't worry about la resistance. I also read that chrome plating can also cause minimal pull.

When I finally played the drum (with original Everyplay heads top and bottom), it became quite evident that it's indeed brass, as most of the Facebook Premier guys had told me it would be. It has "that" brass sound -- quite round with a nice "donk" to go along with just enough crispiness. I'll try to post a sample as soon as possible, but the current video on YouTube of an earlier Hi-Fi brass (not mine) gives you the idea (posted below).

One tidbit of info I am missing: I'm thinking there must have been a change in tone control that helps folks date their Premier drums? I can't find any details, so if you have some info, please comment or drop me a note. 

The Cleanup

All cleaned up

I took the drum apart, probably for the first time in its lifetime. The drum was very well cared for, and only one slotted tension rod and insert showed some rust. The lugs are nearly perfect, with one or two scratches here and there on a few lugs. It weighs in at 1952 grams with lugs, strainer, and butt attached. Each lug is 61 grams, so stripped to strainer and butt it's about 1300 grams. There is one ding on the bottom edge and the badge has what we might call a tear. But for a 45 year old piece of equipment, I'd say it's looking fine. I can also mention that there's a very smooth weld. Nicely done. Superior to the weld on my ~2010 George Way (Dunnet) Bronze snare.

Not my video, but gets the idea across very well!

Blue Badge Beverley Drums, Vintage (early 1970s)

After playing my buddy's Rogers Holiday, I became determined to score a vintage kit of my own. After drooling over kits on American eBay for weeks and fretting over the risks and costs of shipping overseas, I decided it would be easier to find a kit locally, here in Europe where I'm living (Hungary, to be precise).

Pretty quickly I made the move on a rather obscure kit out of England called Beverley. Or as it is written on the blue badge: BeVeRLeY OF ENGLAND.

Before making a move I read dozens of posts about Beverley drums on various sites to convince myself that "Blue Badge Beverley" kits from the late 60's are professional kits. I read great comments about the supraphonic-like aluminum Beverley 21 (or Cosmic 21) snare, one of which was included in the local offering.

Here's the kit in a nice little track from my current band. It features the main kit without the 13, but with the Cosmic 21 snare. The 12" had a Renaissance Remo head, while the 16" a coated Ambassador.

So here's the word on my Blue Badge Beverley, after a couple of weeks in my possession. It was sold to me as a 1968 kit, though I have no way to prove that. UPDATE: This kit seems to be at least a 1974 kit. The oval-shaped "lokfast" tom mount seems to have only been introduced in the 70's:

These lasted until roughly 1974 when they were replaced by the more substantial ones (confusingly called Lokfast), which we’re probably all familiar with. These had an oval down-tube, knurled L-arms, and a massive cast receiver block on the bass. 

source: http://www.drummagazine.com/gear/print/the-rocky-history-of-premier-drums


Set-up and sizes
12 x 8, 13 x 9, 16 x 15 (yes, 16 x 15!), 22 x 14, with a 5 x 14 Cosmic 21 snare
The 13 actually has a stamp on the inside that says International Size. I consider that pretty cool!

Shells 

The drums are Premier 3-ply birch with beech re-rings. All, that is, except for the 12", which is a Premier mahogany shell with beech re-rings. Clearly they are matching drums, wrapped at the same time. Don't ask me how or why the 12 is mahogany, though it makes sense according to my research. That is, Premier started to move to mahogany around this time, so I guess somehow this kit got made with a mahogany 12". Go figure. Anyway, all of the shells are perfectly round with no signs of any problems whatsoever with the bearing edges.  The Cosmic 21 snare is aluminum (or aluminium, if you prefer).

Interestingly, the floor tom seems to have a sandwich layer of darker wood, presumably mahogany. I've yet to find info about Premier using a sandwich shell of birch-mahogany-birch, but you can clearly see a dark ply in this photo.

Update: Here's a link to a site that mentions a middle-ply of "darker wood" on Olympic (Premier) shells: http://www.vintageolympic.co.uk/faq.html#q2


Wrap 
The wrap itself might officially be known as Hairline Silver, but I'm not sure.

Update: A fellow VintageDrumForum user informs me that the name of this wrap is Silver Star.

Whatever it's called, it's certainly silver and textured and very cool (clearly a subjective view, though). I had read on one forum that Beverley kits had thin wrap. This is certainly what I would call a light wrap, or maybe soft is a better word. It's not a hard plastic wrap, but almost more of a fabric-like wrap. Instead of cracking, this wrap scratches like a thick industrial wallpaper, you might say. The wrap is a bit bubbled in a few places, mainly on the 12". But you have to look closely to notice.


Badges, Serial Numbers
My band mate noticed that at a certain angle you can see a serial number printed on the each blue badge. I'll have to write them down and post them here.


Chrome.

Probably the most surprising thing about the Beverley is the chrome. Even close-up there's hardly a spot on the chrome. On some sites I read that Beverley was first known for music stands, so I guess it makes sense that the chrome is top-notch. Even the Cosmic 21 is almost flawless, but I've seen some 21's in rough shape online.

Hoops/Rims
So far this is the weak spot. The hoops are rather light, and the 12" hoops are out-of-round where the drum seems to have been dropped. The 13" is also slightly dented. I think I read somewhere that these are 2.3mm hoops, but they are not as solid as the steel rims on my new Natal, for example.  I replaced the 12" with standard Gibraltar 2.3mm hoops and it's sounding fine. Update: I also changed the 13 and 16 just to keep everything the same. Naturally I've stored away the originals.

Lugs
Somewhere on a forum someone described Beverley lugs as "space age", and I'd have to say that's fair. We're talking Sputnik 1957 space age. The one practical problem I discovered with the otherwise stylish and well-chromed lugs is that they are positioned close to the hoop and have an upward pointing "tail" that makes it hard to finger-tighten the rods. In other words, my fingers don't fit in the space between the lug and the hoop. And it's not like I have fat fingers.

Tension rods
It seems Beverley drums always came with slotted-tension rods, and mine is no exception. The original rods are in excellent shape. I got a Sonor key, so I can manage alright.  Some guys suggest that the Sonor key is not ideal on English slotted rods, and I'd have to say I agree. The Sonor key works, but it's not a perfect fit.

Strainer on the 21
The strainer is a bit flawed. You have to pull the knob up a bit before pulling the lever, and sometimes it slips off during play. Not good. I need to spend some time debugging it, you might say. UPDATE: A little teflon lubricant fixed the strainer! Easy as that.

Tom mount
Originally I had trouble figuring out how to position two rack toms mounted on the kick, but with some suffering and experimentation I managed to figure out how to get the best out of the rather old fashioned hardware. I guess this is why Keith Moon preferred  Rogers Swiv-O-Matic to any of the mounting available out of the the UK at the time?

Sound... 
Fantastic! Watch the video and listen to "Raven Girl" and decide for yourself (see above).

Beverley in the USA
My research tells me that these kits were sold in the late 70's in the US as Premier Powerhouse 6500 and Premier Kicker 6400. Same as the Beverley kits from the same period, as far as I can tell, with some variation over time (kick spurs, for example).

• Premier Powerhouse 1975 from Vintage Drum Guide 
• Premier Kicker 1977 from Vintage Drum Guide 
• After the demise of the Beverley name, it seems the kits became marketed as Premier Projector (catalog ZIP from drumarchive.com)
• Projectors have Beverley kick-drum sized lugs on all drums, including toms (the lugs have one type of insert for kick and one for toms in order to allow proper spacing between rim/hoop and rod)
• The later Soundwave is not the same as Beverley

Playlist on YouTube
I started a playlist of videos featuring vintage Beverley drums.
Feel free to add to it!




Here's some random banging showing the toms with wide open medium tuning and the Cosmic tuned somewhat lower than I play it now (not intended as a solo).

Natal Aluminum Snare

Some quick comments on my Natal 5.5 x 14 aluminum snare.

• Solid build
• Nice matte finish
• Full bodied sound for a 5.5" drum

My buddy has a 6.5 Supra in the same practice space. Clearly the 6.5 has extra body and that typical Supra "crunch", but the Natal totally holds it's own. It's not a Supra clone, but it has that characteristic alu sound.

I used it for an unamplified gig the other day and it provided the perfect mixture of cutting high end with plenty of body. I actually chose it over my beloved George Way Indy Bronze for this gig. I can also note that it stayed in perfect tune together with the help of a few Gibraltar nylon lug locks.

I can also directly compare it to my 5" Beverley Cosmic 21. The Cosmic, like the Supra, has more of that crunchy sound, but lacks some of the roundness of the Natal. The Natal feels louder, you might say. I should really try to do a head-to-head comparison and post it to YouTube!

In short, it's a fine drum and a totally valid option for anyone looking for a solid aluminum snare.

Update: I just found this video. It's very important to note that the factory Aquarian (Taiwanese) head featured in the video is a beastly thick monster. I changed to an Evans HD Dry to get the sound I wanted. Compared to the drum in this video, mine is more open, with a much sharper crack. Just so you realize what a beast the head featured in this video really is, I put it on my 1982 Tama Imperialstar 6.5" and the Aquarian turned my ringy loud roaring steel drum into a tame super-dry puppy dog.  To put it another way, the Evans HD Dry is dry, but this factory Aquarian is far drier than any head I've heard. It really dampens the drum.

I'm not familiar with the standard Aquarian line, so I'm not sure which Aquarian USA-made head this Aquarian Taiwanese head is copying.  Again, it's a strange choice for a stock head by the folks at Natal. But whatever. Not a deal breaker by any means.