Pre-international A2E conversion. Head options?

[John M]

Looking to carry out an A2E conversion on my vintage gold sparkle Premier kit (early 1960s). Sizes are 12", 16" and 20". Only problem is the drum heads are pre-international size. AFAIK nobody makes pre-int'l mesh heads. Has anyone here converted a pre-international kit? Is it possible to use acoustic heads (still available) and damp them internally? Any other suggestions? Or would it be more practical to abandon the idea and convert a later kit? Cheers!

[KennyinDundee]

I'm not quite sure what you mean by pre-international. Can you not just measure the diameter of the playing heads and buy accordingly?

[John M]

"Pre-International Sizes: 12" = 30cm, 16" = 40cm, 20" = 50cm
European Drum manufacturers used metric as well as imperial diameters until 1968, some 10 years after the introduction of plastic drum heads."
Taken from: http://ukdrums.weebly.com/pre-international-sizes.html

Modern 12/ 16/20 heads are kind of close, but they're either slightly too small (won't fit the shell) or slightly too big (won't fit inside the hoop).

[KennyinDundee]

Ah, I see. Thanks the info, very interesting. I'm not aware of any head makers that would cater for those sizes in mesh heads. Could you try making your own? There are many threads on this site about how to make your own. Other than that, looks like you might need to buy a kit to convert using modern head sizes.

[bwilburn79]

If you're set on converting your classic kit, here's an option. You can adjust your measurements to any size shell.

[triggera]

I used to have a pre-international Premier. Made in early to mid-sixties, I guess. I played it as was (no A2E). Wonderful drums!
12" is slightly smaller, which isn't a problem (you put spacers under lugs and then use regular hoops). The problem is 16", which is bigger in diameter than current heads.
20" should also be ok. At least mine accepted regular 20" heads.
So, maybe you can DIY only the 16" head and use Z-eds on other drums ...

[John M]

If you're set on converting your classic kit, here's an option. You can adjust your measurements to any size shell.

Thanks for sharing your info. Very impressive work! If I can't find an off the shelf solution I will give this a try.

I used to have a pre-international Premier. Made in early to mid-sixties, I guess. I played it as was (no A2E). Wonderful drums!
12" is slightly smaller, which isn't a problem (you put spacers under lugs and then use regular hoops). The problem is 16", which is bigger in diameter than current heads.
20" should also be ok. At least mine accepted regular 20" heads.
So, maybe you can DIY only the 16" head and use Z-eds on other drums ...

Spacing the lugs... hadn't thought of that!
It's so long since I had the heads off I can't remember how close a fit the floor tom and bass drum were. Will check it out. Thanks!

[triggera]

You may even don't need spacers. But it's better with them ...

[FraserP]

I know this is an old thread but I thought I would just update it to say I just got a jobeky tri ply 12" to fit my pre-international premier tom by using a desktop grinder to take enough meat off the edge of the hoop on the head. It took about 30 minutes of grinding but that's shorter than I think it would take me to do a diy head.

I tried an international hoop from a modern premier tom first but the screw level was too low for the old lugs (and it didn't look fantastic either).