Currently I am playing with the Toronto Police Grade 1 Pipe Band out of Toronto Ontario Canada, and we use Premier HTS 700's, but with a twist...

Hugh Cameron and Doug Stronach have created a conversion kit that you can purchase at www.dougstronach.com to convert your Premier HTS 200 or 700 into the new Hybrid Pipe drum with a 14"x4" shell.

Here they are in Action this past summer:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Uf15rxkr7wE

Although the look is shock at first on the pipe band circuit, lots of people are interested in them, and judges have really accepted the look and sound of the new drums!

I just finished converting my Premier HTS 700 and can't put it down! 21 pounds down to 11 pounds? Not bad!

Cheers'

best not to scream in the subject line. just a FYI...

i really dont understand why you would cut the shell down so much.. out side of making a practice drum. or something speciallity drum. I have heard the indoor verson of the HTS which is a little longer then 4" and i wasnt too impressed.
all just my opinion btw..

although i did like the fade on the before picture..

looks cool! you can't much sling a drum that size though i bet

Hey Guys thanks for the post! The fade is actually what was under the wrap on the shell. Im not exacty sure why, but Premier doesnt wrap right to the top of the shell so they paint it... and that's the way it came out..
I am refinishing the shell to keep that look just incase I did want to go back to the full size down the line.

I too wasn't impressed with the HTS 350 (the shorter Premier) and wasn't happy with the sound quality.

Straight out we can carry them longer and practice as much as we want and not worry about our backs etc.

Thanks guys for the posts!

FYI- ....When comparing the sound of a full size Premier HTS 700 to the Conversion here are the results!

http://www.dougstronach.com/website%20drum%20pics/Conversion%20drum%20test%20data.pdf