the Premier Royal Ace Snare Drum

The Royal Ace snare drum was the flagship snare drum for the Premier Drum Company. Every drum company back in the day offered a top of the line snare drum that represented the best that particular company had to offer at the time. Indeed, Slingerland, for example, had the Radio King. Rogers sold the Dynasonic. Camco offered the Super 99. And Premier presented the drum you see pictured here.

The Royal Ace garnered a full page in the 1966 catalog. It came in two sizes, 5 1/2 x 14 and 6 1/2 by 14., in either a wood or metal shell. The snare mechanism set it apart from its competitors. The parallel action strainer allowed the snare wires to " float" against the bottom head. Perhaps the best way to describe this strainer is to quote directly from the Premier catalog. " The patented Premier floating snare system brings snare response to a new high level. The perfect snare action keeps the 20-strand snare wires always under tension. Unwanted snare "buzz" is completely eliminated. No longer are the snares attached to both sides of the shell, choking the sound and stifling the vibrations."

Certainly some of this explanation is advertising verbiage. Nevertheless, it did work as advertised. The drum is responsive. And it comes with die-molded counter hoops, eye catching chrome plating and a choice of various finishes, some of which were exclusive only to Premier. This drum is wrapped in Red Sparkle Pearl and to say she's beautiful is an understatement.

A number of famous players endorsed Premier. Sam Woodyard with Duke Ellington, Gus Johnson with Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Elliott of the Hollies and, of course, Keith Moon of the WHO----all endorsed Premier.

To read further details about the Royal Ace snare drum and the players who endorsed Premier, kindly click on the following link.

http://www.vintagedrumsandmore.com/media-drum-articles-premier-royal-ace-snare-drum.htm

The Premier Super 4 Snare Drum

The 1960's was a time of intense competition between Drum companies. American companies like Gretsch, Ludwig, Camco, Slingerland, Rogers and,to a much lesser extent, Leedy did their best to attract the prospective buyer. But they weren't the only players on the field. European drum manufacturers entered the fray as best they could. Two German companies, Sonor and Trixon, promoted and marketed their drums using all means possible. But it was a English company that really carried the standard for the "Old World." That company was Premier.



Premier was founded in 1922 in central London. Premier made drums up until the Second World War. After the war, they resumed production. Premier attracted it's fair share of endorsers. I was first made aware of the company when I saw a picture of Sam Woodyard playing a double bass drum kit with Duke Ellington. Other jazz players like Rufus Jones and Barrett Deems also played Premier. Ringo Starr played Premier at first, but then switched to Ludwig. And the irreplaceable Keith Moon, of the Who, played the brand his entire career.


But Premier faced an uphill battle in the U.S. Perhaps it was the distribution. Or maybe it was the fact that the early Premier drums were metric sized. The fact that 3 of the major American Drum companies were based in Chicago, with a 4th one in Ohio, certainly didn't help Premier sales in the American Midwest. But you could find the drums if you looked for them. Both Frank's Drum Shop and Drums Unlimited in Chicago carried the line. And Premier was worth investigating, which brings me to the drum you see pictured here.



The 1960 Premier catalog called this model the Super 4. This little beauty sports one piece die cast hoops and Premier's parallel snare action strainer. The strainer was designed to allow the 18 snare wires to "float" against the snare head. Tension across the head would be consistent and the drum wouldn't choke, at least that was the theory. Premier was the only company in the world using this system in a 4 x 14 snare drum.

But does it work? Well. by the sound of the drum, it works just fine. The drum sounds as good as its American competitors. It's heavier than a comparable Ludwig, Slingerland, Gretsch, or Camco 4 x 14. Surely, the strainer has something to do with this. But it's a fine drum, solidly constructed, with state of the art chrome plating.


In the early 60's, the name was changed from Super 4 to the Royal Ace 4" model. And, for many years, it was a staple in the Premier catalogs.

As of this writing, Premier's future seems to be in limbo. That's unfortunate. Premier made some fine drums in the 60's ( and 70's, 80's and 90's). The company always seemed to be " swimming against the current." But its place in the history of drum companies is assured.



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