Parallel Action Snare Mechanisms

[petercreasey]

..... and it Looks and sounds GREAT just need to re wrap the rest of the kit now
Damned good job well done

[Paul Creasey]

By 'eck, our Kid.............you ARE up early following our gig last night - and on your birthday too!
As for me, it's 11.10am, and I'm just up, enjoying my third cup of tea and still haven't put the kit away yet!
The Royal Ace DID sound nice, didn't it? - and rim shots to DIE-for!
Regards
Paul

[Paul Creasey]

A couple of pics of the finished(?) Royal Ace:

DCP_3017.JPG

DCP_3016.JPG

The Baskey Vintage snares were a perfect fit, and very well made/finished too!
The wrap came from Drumbitz Europe in Wakefield, and can be highly recommended - pretty close to the original Premier Burgundy Pearl as well!
Now that I've done the Royal Ace, I'd like to think that I can tackle the rest of my Kit, as the original Military Red is faded in places and there is some "bubbling" of the underlying adhesive here and there. Not wanting to take the Kit out of use, I'll do it "one drum at-a-time" over a period of weeks so-as not to interrupt our regular Band "bashes".
Regards
Paul

[roninnes]

Paul that looks amazing, well done for taking the time to restore the snare.
I will look into those snares for my old Premier snare drum, sorry its boring chrome.

Look forward to progress reports on the rest of the kit.

Ron

[tomtomdavehull]

Glad to see you've made a successful restoration. Regards Dave

[mikeellis]

Good job Paul! Very happy to hear the wires worked out for you, we've sold quite a few sets now worldwide with equally positive feedback.

[Paul Creasey]

Thanks, Mike,
.............and the straps for my 252 Bass Pedal and Trilock Hi Hat Stand are GREAT, too!
Was it really mid-June when I posted pics of the Royal Ace? Anyroadup, I've now started to re-wrap the whole Kit. Drumbitz had a special eBay offer (still a "Subsistence Drummer!) on full sheets of the Red Pearl wrap, and two sheets arrived last week. We're having a bit of a lay-off with the Band at the moment, so it provides an opportunity to do the job at leisure.
I've stripped the 13" Tom, and am pleased to say that no new parts are required and that the shell is in FAR better condition than was the case with the Royal Ace!
I'm aiming to have the job done by early New Year (I AM "Retired" tha' nors - tired yesterday, and tired again today!!) and will try to remember to post pics as progress is made.
Regards
Paul

[Paul Creasey]

"Early New Year" eh?.........well, that's a laugh for a start!
Anyroadup, there HAS been progress on the rest of the Kit, with all Tom Toms now finished, and work started yesterday on the Bass Drum.
All the fittings have been removed, as has the old, faded "Military Red" wrap. Everything came apart easily, leaving the bare birch shell and beech reinforcing rings. However, cleaning-up the shell has been a bit of a pain! There is evidence of some work in the past, including filled holes for earlier pattern "disappearing" spurs and Tom holder. I have little doubt that the shell IS genuine Premier, but there were no distinguishing marks, date stamps etc etc to be found. The main problem has been removing adhesive residue but a couple of hours graft with an orbital sander has left the shell looking almost new - in some ways, I wish I'd opted for staining it, it really IS a lovely looking piece of timber!!
Main difficulty, now, is that I've not got enough Red Pearl wrap left to do a "proper" job! Even 20"" Bass Drums need two pieces of wrap, with the joints/overlaps located beneath the lower tension lugs. I DO have enough wrap, but will be unable to correctly position the joints, so I'm hoping that Drumbitz Europe (the highly recommended supplier of the wrap) can supply me with an appropriate offcut, as another 54" x 24" sheet (two used so-far) will set me back just short of £100 ("Subsistence Drummer", remember!).
I played the kit a couple of times with the re-wrapped Toms, and to my ears, they SOUND better, as well as looking MUCH better - there's probably a case for periodical dismantling and cleaning.
The Band has a "proper" gig in May - with me and my Kit on a Drum Riser (now there's a "first" for yours truly - nowhere to hide!) - so I'm looking forward to seeing how the re-wrap looks under stage lighting. I'll try to post some pics.
Regards
Paul

[roninnes]

Paul,
Looking forward to pictures of the revived kit.
Playing on a riser does change the dynamic of the kit as I have found out recently. On Monday we played at a holiday village in Hemsby (Not the centre of the universe) but the stage was brilliant. Half moon steps up to an area for guitars a vocals and then a further step up to the main stage, all for me. I set up at the front of the stage and the sound was really good.
I also played a few weeks ago on a riser and again the sound was far better than being on "the flat".
If only I could afford a riser and find something big enough to transport it.

Regards
Ron