One of the best values in vintage budget would be Rogers XP8 1979-84. Usually under 500 in decent condition, more for excellent, but ... usually, great buys on excellent drums.

Holly wood kits they are very reasonable especially early 3 ply maple kits

UK, you say? Well then.... Beverley, Hamma, Olympic, and of course Premier. I saw very nice sets on UK Ebay for in between 200 and 400 pound. Most birch thin shells, some mahogony shells.

I'm located in the netherlands and have had an olympic kit for 100 euro's. It sounded fabulous. Currently I have a Beverley set that sounds fabulous too (costed me only 100 euros and al ot of time to resore). I also have a kit from Premier orphans I customized, sounds great to (especially the bass drum, which is mahogony).

The chance of finding someone selling a UK kit and not knowing the worth (as I luckily did in all the above cases) is a bit higher in non-UK European country's, but you may find them in the UK as well.

good luck!

If you can find a Stewart kit from the 60's then you're golden..

Out of all the MIJ kits out there, this brand stands out, as well as the Coronets you previously mentioned.. You'll know more about MIJ's in the Non USA section of the forum..I have a 20x14 kick drum that i use for pubs and it sounds superb.. You can find a pic of my "pub kit" in my profile.. You can usually find a vintage Stewart kit in almost mint condition for about $400-$500 and even less than that ! When tuned properly, with brand new good quality drum heads, some of these Stewarts can give their original counterparts (Slingerland) a run for their money.. Here is a fine example of a superb condition Stewart drum kit for $500 Cdn dollars, which for you, would be hovering around 245 British pounds. Good luck in your search..!

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-drum-percussion/chatham-kent/3-piece-mij-stewart-drum-package-13-16-20/1090067963?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

Well I'm UK too. We never got the Coronets or Stewarts but you might find one if you dig hard enough. But without a doubt you can eBay any of these below and get results almost immediately. Also check on "Rusty Drums" website.

Premiers are always good. Specially the late 60 early 70's era. 2000 series chrome Snare is incredible.

Hayman are very very good. Again a British brand. Really good Snares. My Snare always comes out on Recording sesh's. They had a lot of endorsee's back in the day. Simon Kirke who recorded Alright Now by Free was a Hayman endorsee back in the day.

Ajax is another one to look out for. Really good value for money. Again British. I have a mate who has one and it sounds sweet!

Beverly another British brand are fantastic. The previous touring Drummer with Florence and the machine used a Beverly kit. Sounded lovely. Another Beverly favourite is the Cosmic 21 snare. A bit like a Ludwig 400.

All these drums are as good as they're US counterparts and a third if not a quarter of the price.

One last option is an old 80's Tama Silverstar. Also good bang for your buck. Used to be Stewart Copelands weapon of choice back in the Police heyday.

If I was in UK I think I'd be focussed on some "native stuff"... Premier & Olympic badged drums are right up there in quality and collectability...

This appeals to me..

https://www.gumtree.com/p/drums/premier-olympic-kit.-white.-/1131724815

Rogers, Ludwig and Slingerland kits show up also at competitive prices..

Cheers

John

had an olymic just like in the gumtree add. sounded great!!!!

I'd like to thank you all massively for your replies! On most forums I frequent I tend to get the reply "why don't you just buy a new one" so this has been very helpful. I will no doubt let you know what I purchase, I'm all for a British brand so we'll see what happens....

As a follow up, what is good in the world of old cymbals? Ideally I'd just go out and buy some paiste 2002's but they're more than the kit costs!