Tamaefx Premier Signia

[Tamaefx]

Hey guys,
Newly subscribed this forum, let me show my drum kit !
So, after many mid level Tama kits : 3 rockstars, 1 superstar and Silverstar, I bumped into this bargain. One of my dream kit.

So it's a seven pieces Signia : 22x16, 10x9, 12x10, 13x11, 14x12, 16x14 Coral White plus a snare drum from the same brand but in burgundy 14x5,5".
Besides I mainly use Tama snares : Classic Maple SLP and a deep Metalworks 14x6,5".

A nice piece of equipment highly above my own needs and my own skills but I definitely love it !

Cymbals are all AA Sabian, except an old Ufip China 20" !

 

[dmcdade2003]

That's a nice kit. Are you in a house band or is that your garage..lol. I want my garage to look like that ha.

 

[Tamaefx]

Hello,
No the first picture was taken in my garage, old suburban house with a dark woody garage door, quite ugly so I modified the background ;-) More pleasant to the eye I guess even if it doesn't seem pretty natural.
The other is a during a concert nearby. I love the aspect of white drums under spotlights !

Here is around the day I got the kit, so not everything is in the right place, and I've changed the skins since.
I never use that many toms, it's only for the show ;-)

 

[Tamaefx]

New arrival, I'm cleaning and restoring. Though in good condition, some parts weren't original (throwoff, top hoop, some screws), and I won't keep the same skins (were remo ambassador Vintage)
I cleaned the chrome part with polish, screws with coke (!), and wax for the maple shell.
I got it quite cheap and it's gonna complete well the rest of the drum kit. It is more than 20 years old, lugs, shell and chrome parts are like brand new.

Edit :
It's done, this snare drum barks like no other.
Haven't done that much on this except polish, oil and all. I put plastic washers, Evans Hazy and Evans Powercenter, puresound snare.
It has a good good sound, I can't compare to the Tama Slp maple I also own, much more volume and much what I'd describe as "barking", biting.

 

[incrementalg]

I had me a set of Signias. A 6 piece in the cherry finish. Beautiful setup you've got there. Do you find it a little tricky to seat the heads evenly with those undersized shells? I found that I had to pay attention to getting the heads on evenly.

 

[Tamaefx]

Hello,

So I understand you sold it and that the Signia was your former kit ?

I Don't have problem setting the head on it, I use Evans 360. It's funny the first time to have so much space between the shell and the rim of the skin. But it really enhances the sound, I really can have a great range of tuning, my 13x11" sounds deeper than some 16" !

Something for Evans specialist that'll please him. On the Signia snare I placed the former skins I bought it with, Remo Ambassador and Vintage A, and it was impossible to have it aligned correctly with the hoop !
I put a Evans Hazy 360 and Power Center : no problem. Perfect fit.

The toms are undersize (6mm), but he snare isn't at all, on the contrary, I think it's really adjusted.

 

[uniongoon]

The Signia's were one of my dream kit's as well. When new, they were so expensive.

 

[Tamaefx]

I wanted to thank - again - through this forum, Dancin' Crow whom I got in touch through the Premier Kit topic of this forum.

So I'll soon be able to use my hangin' 16x14" as a standard floor on three legs. I ordered 2 extra clamps and brackets to do so. Very pro and efficient.

One of the advantage of the Signia : no extra hole needed, everything is bolted on the tube lugs. And everything will be reversible too.
It of course cost a bit from US to France, but worth it. My kit will be more practical then and configure as I wish - even if unfashionable : 3 racks / 1 floor instead of 2 racks / 2 hangin' floors.

I'll post soon some pictures of the converted one.

 

[Tamaefx]

Hello from my blurry drum room :
Thanks to dancing' crow, known through this forum, here comes my 6/7 pieces Signia kit in a configuration more suitable to me : 3 rack, and a three legged floor tom.

Sounds perfect, deep and throaty. Positioning easier that way. I'll keep the 14x12 for small venues to play four pieces.

 

[boomstick]

Nice job getting that tom on the floor. I did the same thing with my 15x13 tom, but I actually drilled the shell. It was still worth it.

 

[Tamaefx]

Nice job getting that tom on the floor. I did the same thing with my 15x13 tom, but I actually drilled the shell. It was still worth it.

I guess I wouldn't have jumped if it had meant drilling the shell.
Signia system was of course a far more expensive operation but totally reversible and unpainful for the drum. I thought I would loose a bit of sustain, but I didn't feel it. What I lost is the sympathetic resonance with its paired 14x12 (which wasn't a trouble).

 

[Tamaefx]

Bird eye view

 

[DrumEatDrum]

I'm a long time Premier Signia player.

They are awesome drums.

Congrats.

 

[Tamaefx]

Some new pics :

 

[T_Weaves]

Those are beautiful drums. I saw a set Premier Series Elite recently that looked and sounded great but I don't think they're available in the states.

 

[Tamaefx]

Thanks,

About the Premier Elite, it's a wonderful drum, but even here in Europe, I don't know the availability - the Premier Web site is sleeping I'm not even sure Premier is still selling top end kit out of Great Britain.

 

[Tamaefx]

Here is the last purchase. Hard to find and in need for some medical care - I finally found a snare matching the rest of the drum kit :

So it's the Coral White Premier Signia Snare 14x5,5" : North American Maple 5mm thick, with reinforcement.
The batter hoop is not the original die-cast one (prompt to rust and bloody heavy).
I put Evans Power center and Hazy plus the Puresound.

I guess it's from 1993/1994.

 

[Tamaefx]

Lightweight configuration for a gig. Picture taken just before the miking. Definitely great snare drum.

 

[Tamaefx]

Here is a pic of a newcomer : shown with the Yamie of the rehearsal studio.

I found another matching snare to my drum kit, a 14x7" deep snare drum, this time with the original big die cast hoop. The drum was really dirty but complete and not rusty, even the hoop.
The sound is really different from the 14x5,5, overwhelming but not too ringy.
I think it's a 1994/95 model.
I put Evans powercenter and hazy skins. I also changed the snare strands (Tama Starclassic).

 

[Tamaefx]

Last show : traditional setup : 22 12 13 16, 6 cymbals. First concert with the big 14x7 Maple.
Beautiful sound, maybe a bit too powerful. Still a pleasure to play.