English Drum Quality
Before the group explosion of 1957, the top line English drums were every bit as good as their American cousins. They were sold as orchestral instruments to mature, professional musicians and have high quality components, build, sound and ownership.
They've Had Poor P.R.
English drums are, generally speaking undervalued, especially by English drummers. The main reasons for this are:
- Historical Bias
- Strange Sizes
- Confusing Marketing
- Poor Internet Awareness
Historical Bias
When pop music took off, people only wanted American instruments. Owning the right gear could get you the gig, regardless of its or your quality, for example there was a time when owning a Fender Stratocaster made sure you passed the audition.
Overnight even the finest English instruments became almost worthless. |
Strange Sizes
There are two issues. Diameter and Depth.
Diameter. Many English drums were made to metric standard, now called pre-international. Today this isn't a problem for 12", 16" and 20" drums but is a real problem for snares. Depth. English floor toms were often deeper than they are wide, e.g. 16" x 20" resulting in an 'old-fashioned' look. Also when it became popular to have two top toms, Premier decided on a 14" x 8", looking strange next to a 13" x 9". |
Confusing Marketing
English makers identified their product lines very poorly, often distinguishing quality by the use of model numbers or indistinct branding. For an illustration, look at the 'Broadway' line-up. So when a drummer came across a very bottom line example, they would judge the whole brand by it. There were obviously many more cheaper models sold so this skewed exposure caused biased opinions.
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Poor Internet Awareness
We now live in a marketing and branding age and people are seduced by being able to look things up on-line. This means that often value is ascribed according to the quality of the marketing rather than the quality of the product. As an example, mass-produced Clarice Cliff pottery sold in Woolworth's now fetches better prices than fine English porcelain.
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How The Quality Differences worked...
The general rule is to look at the drum, not the brand. For most of the UK drum makers, people are aware the flagship and budget brand pairs, such as Premier and Olympic, Autocrat and Broadway, Ajax and Edgware but there were more than two simple levels, and Beverley only used one brand for all levels. Some Boosey & Hawkes Edgware and Stratford snares are infact identical to certain Ajax models of the time - the savings were made on the rest of the kit toms, bass and stands.
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Top Buying Tips
Here are some tips for sorting the wheat from the chaff.
- Stick To The Formula
- Standard Configurations
- Watch For Red Flags
- Suggestions
The Formula
For many years, English drums were built to a recipe that is now found only in the flagship lines of today's makers. Thin, 3-ply shells (preferably with vertical or 'short' grain interior), with solid 1-ply Beech reinforcing rings and die cast hoops. Brass shell snare or matching wood. Avoid toms with only 5 lugs and floor toms, snares and bass drums with only 6 lugs.
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Standard Configurations
Classic combinations are just 'right'. They are more satisfying, hold value better, are easier to sell and more definitive of their period. Some people enjoy expressing themselves through unusual combinations but they just advertise ignorance. See the virtual museum page for examples - emulating the configurations but with English kits gives real value for money.
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Red Flags
If you find an old English drum that still has 'original skins', especially if they are broken then it is almost certainly metric pre-international and very difficult to re-skin.
Check tom-holders as they may have been 'upgraded' causing extra holes. Check snare mechanisms as they may also have been 'upgraded' and if incomplete can be impossible to put back into service. In the 1970's there was a trend for painting interiors white and throwing away bottom hoops, double check because locating replacements could cost time and money. |
Suggestions
Kits with 'The Formula' are available regularly at around £250-350 and brands include Ajax, Autocrat and Premier. It is criminal to think that people are buying stencil kits for two to three times that amount. Outside the formula but still magnificent are English Rogers kits, preferably with later 'Beavertail' Lugs and later Beverley kits with a blue B or octagonal badge. If you need something even less expensive, go for an early Broadway or Olympic Super Deluxe. These kits were made less expensive due to fewer fittings rather than cheaper components.
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