Starting-out as a Drummer over 50 years ago, I was always in awe of the "Premier" brand, but could never afford one of their Leicester-built Kits. The "holy grail" at that time were the Super4, Super Ace, and Royal Ace Snare Drums with parallel snare mechanisms. These were superceded in the mid-'60's by the legendary "2000" series.
Anyroadup, I've recently acquired a very tatty (14" x 6" Wooden Shell '63-'66-ish) Royal Ace which I'm hoping to restore. Mike Ellis at Baskey Vintage has been very helpful, and I'm now fairly certain that, over time, I'll be able to source the various bits & pieces I'll need to bring the Drum back into use.
I could be wrong (as SWMBO says "I was - ONCE"!!) but parallel action seems to have fallen out of favour in modern times in all but "Marching" Snare Drums.
Does anyone know if Premier (perhaps as part of their "Modern Classic" range) or any other current Drum
Manufacturer has persevered with this type of snare mech? Also, if any Shadow Music Drummers use a parallel mech Drum, what do you think of it?
Regards
Paul