How Long Did Premier Use Slotted Tension Rods?

Rattlin' Bones

Rattlin' Bones

Gold Member
When did Premier stop using slotted tension rods? I see a late 70's Premier snare for sale with slotted tension rods. Did they use them through the 70's?
 
Rattlin' Bones said:
When did Premier stop using slotted tension rods? I see a late 70's Premier snare for sale with slotted tension rods. Did they use them through the 70's?
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From some reading I've done (and I don't know how accurate it is) ...... around 77/78 ..... they came out with the first 10 lug drum (snare) the model 35. And that used square headed tension rods. I had an 80's Baron kit (no snare) and all the toms had slotted tension rods. So ..... unless you're looking at a 35 snare ...... slotted sounds correct.
 
mpthomson said:
Unless you've heard one and like them I'd be a bit wary. The design innovation isn't lived up to by the sound IMHO and a standard HiFi is a much better drum.
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Interesting thing is, I think they may have been standard HiFi aluminum snares with the wood internal "resonator" insert, but the insert can be removed maybe? Thus you have a standard HiFi if you remove it?
 
Was the slotted head rod a European thing? Sonor did the same thing. They must’ve loved the flathead screwdriver over there. The Steve Smith Signature Kit has slotted rods. That’d be the first thing I’d swap out.
 
Rattlin' Bones said:
Interesting thing is, I think they may have been standard HiFi aluminum snares with the wood internal "resonator" insert, but the insert can be removed maybe? Thus you have a standard HiFi if you remove it?
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Yes, in the same way that a Resonator becomes an Elite (or Projector in later life) in shell terms once the liner is taken out. Worth noting that a few Premier Resonator endorsers took the linings out as they felt they sounded better and I've always preferred Projectors to Resonators in sound terms but horses for courses and all that.
 
Bo Eder said:
Was the slotted head rod a European thing? Sonor did the same thing. They must’ve loved the flathead screwdriver over there. The Steve Smith Signature Kit has slotted rods. That’d be the first thing I’d swap out.
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That would require swapping the inserts too as those Sonor tension rods are slightly wider in diameter than the standard square head ones. When the SQ2 was introduced 'normal' rods were standard but you can still order slot head rods for them in a new design that is identical in dimensions to the square headed ones should you wish to.

It's something many Sonor purists get excited about. I like the slot heads but not to the point that I'd order them specifically if I ever ordered an SQ2.
 
mpthomson said:
That would require swapping the inserts too as those Sonor tension rods are slightly wider in diameter than the standard square head ones. When the SQ2 was introduced 'normal' rods were standard but you can still order slot head rods for them in a new design that is identical in dimensions to the square headed ones should you wish to.

It's something many Sonor purists get excited about. I like the slot heads but not to the point that I'd order them specifically if I ever ordered an SQ2.
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I guess I’m too American because I don’t get the slots. Another thing I don’t get is the DW “more threads than you need” rods. They’re basically making every one of their customers buy a cordless drill to change heads.
 
Bo Eder said:
Another thing I don’t get is the DW “more threads than you need” rods. They’re basically making every one of their customers buy a cordless drill to change heads.
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I didn't mind it when they came out with those... nearly 20 years ago, was it? But fairly recently they've increased the thread count *again*. Point of diminishing returns...? :unsure:
 
Bo Eder said:
Heaven forbid we couldn’t already tune drums with the original thread count....
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I found that they work as advertised- more precise fine-tuning, which was a solution looking for a problem- but they do hold tension better.
 
I have an old Premier drum key if anyone here needs it, I really don't have a use for it since the slot prevents it from use with any other brand. I got it from a local shop years ago and have never used it.

Premier key.jpg
 
Yep, the DW tension rods work as advertised. Has nothing to do with being able to tune drums or being too lazy to turn a drum key a few extra times, as it apparently is for some. It’s about more precise tuning and holding tension better, especially at low tunings. The extra two minutes and thirty eight seconds it takes me to get the finer-threaded rods out of the inserts is well worth it to not have to dick around with re-tuning every time a gnat farts within 5 feet of the set.
 
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