1960s Red Sparkle Premier Royal Ace Snare Drum

This is a Premier Royal Ace snare drum in red sparkle finish, manufactured in England in the mid 1960s. This is the first snare drum I owned. Bought by my step-father in an auction in Edinburgh in 1994, to add to a similarly-aged Premier drum kit he had acquired as part of a house clearance the year before.

I began to take an interest in drumming in 1993, and so started playing that kit, and was delighted when the snare drum was added. I played this snare drum at every band practice, gig and recording I was involved in at the time, carrying it around without a case!

I moved to Bristol in 2002, taking this snare drum with me, treating it to a strip-down and clean of all the parts, and a replacement of the hard-to-find ‘Double 10’ snare wires, which I was lucky to find a set in Wilkie’s Music Shop on a trip to Perth. I also finally purchased a case for it.

Cycling to band practices in Bristol city centre, I carried the snare drum and a pair of 14″ hi hats snuggly-fit on my back. I recorded an EP in 2006 with my band, using this snare drum at Ruby Recording Studios in Bristol.

On my return to Scotland in 2006, I used a fabulous image of the snare drum, captured by my late friend, Richie Smith, as my first marketing campaign as a drum tutor.

In 2012, I recorded drums for The Coaltown Daisies debut Album “This Old House” playing this snare drum with a turquoise/green drum kit, with one of the tracks of the album entitled “Red and Green”, it felt almost serendipitous to play that combination of drums.

In 2016, I acquired a matching red sparkle drum kit from a collector, and have since used the kit in my home studio. It rarely comes out for live gigs these days, as I have since acquired other snare drums, which I think are more suited to a live performance situation, although there may be a project coming up in late 2025, which I may bring the red sparkle out for again – stay tuned!

I can only wonder what and where this snare drum got up to before it fell into my hands – do you perhaps recognise it?

Stay-tuned for stories behind all my snare drums, as I embrace my geeky sentimentality!

Peace, Love & Drums –

Scott