Percusize Me!

My last acquisition is a 14"x10" Premier "Soundwave" snare drum and, as you may have guessed, I bought it on eBay.

©Drum Attic Warminster

The seller advertized it as a 9.5" deep drum, but didn´t provide much details, as he couldn´t find much information about it. Once I got the drum, my investigation started...

It features those charasteristic "Soundwave" lugs (early 80´s), which got their "powerboat" nickname due to their futuristic look.

©Premier Drums

This drum features the RW finish:

©Premier Drums

The shell is made of birch with solid beech support rings (see the "New drum shells" section on the first catalogue photo). Its diametre is slightly less than the nominal 14" (see that same photo), a new feature (back then) in the "Soundwave" series which was to be repeated in the legendary "Genista" series. See how the head overhangs the shell, a feature Premier had already added to its Elite timpani.

©Drum Attic Warminster

Knowing it´s a Soundwave, identifying it should have been easy, but the deepest snare drum in this series was "only" 8" (next photo, model 2005 under the section "Snare drums, wood shell"), and this one is 10"...

©Premier Drums

Ths particular drum is exactly 14"x10", so there are only two options: it´s a a snare drum that, somehow, was made to specific request and was not on the official catalogue, or it´s a modified tom-tom...

Its support rings have not been moved (there are no signs of such modification) and they are in pristine condition, so we can deduce this is not a drum that was cut from a bigger one. In addition, lugs are perfectly symmetrical and there are no extra holes, so it´s clear the drum is intact and keeps its original sizes.

There are some more hints... The shell features two Premier badges, something you can see very often on tom-toms:

©David Valdés

There are two holes under the snare strainer (the classic 632 model by Premier) that shouldn´t be there (unless this drum was originally a tom-tom). These holes (now a pair of vent holes) would have been be part of the original mounting system. You can see them behind the strainer:

©David Valdés

In addition, the bolts and washers holding them in place are different and newer:

©David Valdés

This drum features snare beds (an essential structural element).

©David Valdés

From the outside, we can see it´s very well done. From the inside, we can see it´s been hand made and "a posteriori" (very well, but we now can confirm it´s not original):

©David Valdés

This last photo also shows us that the hardware holding the snare strainer (central line, first and third bolt/washer from above) is Premier (it´s the same as that in my 1049).

All this hints guided me to a conclusion: this drum is not a model specifically made by Premier, but a modification of a tom-tom... As its sizes are original, the only tom-tom Premier had on its Soudwave catalogue measuring 14"x10" was the 4440 (see the "Tom-toms, double headed" section on the next photo). It can´t be the 4114 (see the "Tom-toms, single headed, concert" section) as it would only had featured the batter head (very trendy at that time), meaning the person who modified it would have had to drill, get more lugs, bolts...

©Premier Drums

So, this snare drum was born as a 4440 "Soundwave" tom-tom. It got snare beds added (very well made, by the way), snare strainer and butt end (all of them Premier), which are hold in place with original hardware. An original resonant hoop featuring a snare gate was also added, together with a Premier snare. The original holes holding the suspension system were converted into vent holes and were hidden behind the strainer. It´s a modification so well made that the previous owner could not find information about the drum because he couldn´t imagine it was a "transgenic" tom.

Before we start with the restoration process, here you have a link to an inmense resource of Premier catalogues: DRUMARCHIVE. I hope you find it useful.

First thing I did was getting rid of all the hardware, leaving the shell bare nude. The washers protecting the shell from the screws holding the lugs were rusted and stained the wood, so that was our first task...

©David Valdés

I used a delta sander:

©David Valdés

First, using 80 grade paper.

©David Valdés

Then, 120 grade.

©David Valdés

180...

©David Valdés

Lastly, a 320 grade for a smooth finish.

©David Valdés

I also sanded the support rings.

Once the inner part of the shell was smooth as a baby bum, I applied five layers of tung oil to protect and nourish the wood and make it look better.

©David Valdés

I cleaned the outer part with a cloth lightly dampened with ammonia, and then applied some wax (which I got at Leroy Merlin).

©David Valdés

Once each layer was dry, I buffed the shell with a peace of cloth (which I also bought at Leroy Merlin) attached to a drill.

©David Valdés

Because I wanted a very shiny finish, almost like a mirror, I applied ten layers and buffed like crazy...

©David Valdés

Once the shell was done, I started restoring the hardware.The washers causing the rust stains were cleaned and chromed.

©David Valdés

The lugs were cleaned and buffed using this Leroy Merlin kit.

©David Valdés

This is the final result. I promess this photo doesn´t make the lugs justice...

©David Valdés

Looking at this detail you can see why they got their "powerboat" nickmane.

©David Valdés

©Dubai Travel Guide

I also cleaned and buffed the snare strainer and butt end.

©David Valdés

The tension bolts and their washers were also chromed.

©David Valdés

Counterhoops...

©David Valdés

The screws holding the lugs...

©David Valdés

The strainer and butt end screws...

©David Valdés

Once everything was like new, I mounted the drum back.

©David Valdés

Finally, some decent photos of the instrument (which don´t show the mess in my workshop... :-D ).

©David Valdés


©David Valdés

©David Valdés

At the moment, this snare drum is fitted with a REMO Controled Sound Black Dot as its batter head, paired with a REMO Coated Ambassador as its resonant head (funny, isn´t it...? I´m trying something I´ve read on a forum about 80´s sounds). The goood thing about this drum is its versatility: now it can provide a monstruous backbeat to your 80´s sound. If I fit it with calf heads and gut snares, it will make a fantastic rudimental drum. If fitted with a REMO Renaissance Diplomat or a REMO Thin Coated as the batter head, a REMO Diplomat SD as the resonant one and some GROVER Club Bright snares, I´ll have a fantastic drum for playing certain orchestral excerpts... Not to mention the different head tensions we can play with in order to get those many different colours/sounds.

A fantastic drum, isn´t it? From now on I have a super versatile new toy in my arsenal... ;.). Stay tuned, as a future article will include a video of this drum in different musical situations.

…et in Arcadia ego.

Lately, I have spent quite a few time restauring and modifying different kinds of drums. I never did that before, so I learnt along the way, trial and error, and one of the first things I realized was having the right tools is C-R-U-C-I-A-L. I have bought many, which made my life easier, but one in particular, specific for drum building, is a must: a rotating tray.

There´s a "Lazy Susan" in IKEA under the name of SNUDDA which I used as the base for my rotating thing. It costs the prohibitive price of 5,50€...

As its diametre doesn´t accomodate 16" or larger shells, first thing I did was adding an extended surface so I could work with bigger drums. I used a 50x50cm board on top of the IKEA tray, carefully aligning both centres so as not to get eccentricity and the whole thing rotating funny...

So, first thing was finding the centre of the SNUDDA. For that, I draw a chord 20cm. long (I chose that particular lenght in order to easily draw the perpendicular bisector without using a compass, as the lines would be outside the tray). Once I have my 20cm. chord, drawing its perpendicular bisector is easy, as I know it´s on the 10cm. mark.

©David Valdés

Then I did exactly the same with another chord (where you draw them or their lenght is irrelevant: you can draw them wherever you want and as long or shot as you fancy). The point where the two perpendicular bisectors cut is our centre.

©David Valdés

Once I know where the centre of our base is, I searched for the one on the "extending board", a conglomerate one measuring 50x50cm. (you can cut it bigger should you want to work with 18", 20" or 22" bass drums... At the moment I don´t need it that big, so I´m ok with this size).

©David Valdés

It´s as easy as drawing its diagonals: the centre is on the crossing point.

©David Valdés

Then, using the excess battens I got when cutting the board as my parallels drawing rulers, I draw a center line and two parallels 5cm. above and below it. I did the same again rotating the board by 90º.

©David Valdés

These lines demarcate a centered square, which I used as a guide to stick four strips of autoadhesive velcro.

©David Valdés

I did exactly the same on the IKEA thing, but using the corresponding velcro to the one I already used on the board (pretty obvious, as if I use the same kind on both surfaces they would not stick together).

©David Valdés

Then, I just had to match both squares and the two pieces got perfectly centered and join together.

©David Valdés

Why the velcro? The SNUDDA is made of two pieces already drilled in the centre, and I didn´t want to drill again, make the holes match perfectly, buy a screw, a drill, make a countersink... I already had the velcro (you may remember the "That damn vibraphone chord" article) and, with this solution, I can easily separate both parts whenever I want to).

©David Valdés

Now I can put my shells on top of this tray and easily work with them (painting, oiling, lacquering, measuring, marking, mask taping...).

©David Valdés

Next thing is to put a layout mat on it so I can measure angles for lugs, shell sizes, distances for snare beds... But that´s for another day... ;-)

The "Lazy Susan" was 5,50€ in IKEA, and the board 4,50€ in Leroy Merlin (and I got two 50x50 pieces!). Total: 10€ for a fundamental piece if you want to believe you are a real luthier :-D.

…et in Arcadia ego.

Posts by themes

Percusize Me! en español.

Tuesday, 18 August 2015

Premier "Soundwave" snare drum restoration.

Wednesday, 29 July 2015

Rotating table for working with drum shells.