Hello. I have been playing Premier drums and hardware for 40 years. This kit is the Premier 6000 series with German Beech Re rings. Premier's Diamond Chrome Plating and die casting were done in house. 95% of the drums and hardware and parts were built in house. Duroplastic plastic black. Premier just made excellent stuff. They have now brought back the Elite with. 4.8mm 2 ply Birch 2ply maple with beech re rings. Awesome. 1968 Premier switched to standard international heads. Great Video Gentlemen.🥁😎🎉👍
It's a 6000 range kit that we shipped to the USA in the 70's. Distribution by Selmer. Serial numbers don't mean anything. Drums sometime they have a date stamp in the shell. I worked at the factory from 1970 to 82/3. Happy days, great drums.
I just picked up an early 70's Olympic and it has date stamps inside the shells. Mine seems to be mostly 74 barring one tom which dates from 61 so at some point in it's life it's grown a new tom. I'm just getting back into playing having not played since the 90's and I'm so pleased with how this kit sounds and feels. It's a genuine pleasure to sit behind and play.
Premier 12 16 and 20 where metric sized until 1968, 14" was always international inch sized. After 1968 they switched to international sizes (thats where the pre-int name comes from, everything pre 68) Remo makes the heads for pre int sizes, so its all no problem. Slotted screws are nice, you can use spare change to tune if you dont have a drumkey :D The best Premier kits are the 60s outfits and the late 60s early 70s elite models. The model you have came just after the elites, late 70s, also good, but the elites are even better!
The reason Ringo used Ludwig was for the US Tour he didn't have a complete kit of Premiers. The only Kit that was available in stock at the Music Shop was a Ludwig.
i think its a 204 , i found 1 the same as this for $30 for the exact kit here ,most musical kit i ever heard ,i done a couple videos on my channel worth checking out how awesome they sound , i ditched those bass drum spurs tho,my kit came with a 2000 snare drum ,amazing snare
It's not a Premier 6000. That's a hardware range. It's a Premier 'Powerhouse'. I'm 100% on this. Ink date stamps in the shells yes. They are week number 2 digits and year, also 2 digits. Serial numbers are inconsistent, yes. Pre-international is something I also stay away from. I have a Premier Resonator Black Shadow MKII from 1985 with all the Trilok hardware and it's just the best kit ever. I have loads of snares, all Premier. That snare looks like a model 35 to me. beaded aluminium. Very nice setup!
If you look in the Premier catalogs when Selmer distributed them, you'll see that these were indeed labeled as 6000/6500 series and given the configuration name "Powerhouse". The snare is indeed a PD6021 which is an 8 lug COA with Beverley lugs, the 35 is 10 lug with the standard Premier art deco lugs. There is also a PD6035 (which I have) which is a 35 with Beverley lugs. Lots of duplicate type products from that period since they made a few things special for the US market which were modifications to their standard UK offerings.
@@mgdrummer77 I'm happy to be knowledge +1 if you can evidence these Powerhouse sets ever being labelled '6000', legitimately by Premier. 6500 yes, but 6000 no. Just a hardware range for 6000
Right now I've got 2 Cabria mk1 kits (circa 98-99)...a 10/12/14/16/20 kit...and the 12/14/18 bop kit...Premier beer barrel die cast hoops swapped on to the bop kit. These sound killer...with triple flange hoops there's a punchy 3 ply Ludwig kind of vibe. Killer tuining range with under sized shells. With the die casts it's closer to a Round Badge kind of sound. Close enough that I sold the 68 Rock and roll outfit I had becayse I thought the Premier were close enough. At the same time, they have their own unique sound as well. Recently picked up a Club date kit and some Super classic in need of restoration, but I'd love a vintage 70's birch shell kit one day.
Couple things: 1) that IS a Powerhouse 6500 kit, these were built with Beverly lugs specifically for the US market. The same shells with Premier hardware, die cast hoops and slotted tension rods were the UK market “top line” kits that didn’t have a series name until “Elite” in 78/79. 2) pre-international sizes are NOT metric. That is a wide spread misconception similar to the “Rolls Royce chrome” myth. They are simply non-standard diameters that Premier had arrived at somehow/someway. 3) speaking of the Rolls Royce chrome plating myth: the Della Porta family who owned/operated Premier had a separate company that did metal plating. They utilized that company for their drum hardware playing, Rolls Royce had nothing to do with it.
The oval tom mount is a good idea because they will not turn and are gripped from both sides. I bought a spare one! I’ve got a Royale kit looks similar to this. Chrome is perfect on it and it’s nearly 40 years old
The 20" bass drums were pre-international into the VERY early 60s before they went 'international sized'. The 12" and 16" toms remained pre-international until the late 60s.
It's not a Royal. ( Royale ) It's a Powerhouse. Royales had no re rings, and eight lugs per head on the bass drum. And a different snare. And different lugs. And different spurs.
This is actually incorrect. The Della Porta family who ran Premier owned a platting company that was independent of Premier. They used that company for their drum hardware platting, Rolls Royce was never involved with the brand.
@@mgdrummer77 ackchually that is incorrect. the Della Porta Family manufactured parts for the military, navy and royal air force in WW2 and through this started doing the chrome plating for many industries including Rolls Royce. their factory was destroyed in the blitz, and subsequently rebuilt. Each Spirit of Ecstacy was chromed by the Della Porta Family, a company that is still family owned today even though they sold the Premier company. There are many vintage 20th century products from Britain that were done by Della Porta Family chroming. Premier hardware was superior and still today have better chroming than any ludwig or gretsch kit from the same era. cast hoops are superior to stamped mild steel hoops. The only criticism of vintage Premier kits are their flatbase hihat and cymbal stands which were more suited to jazz and light playing, whereas ludwig hihat stands were more beefy for rock.
@@arthurwilliams3479 Not sure what your point was, the myth is that Rolls Royce was the source of Premier's chrome platting and that myth has been debunked by the fact that the Della Porta family had a plating business that did the plating. Weather that business ever did any work for Rolls Royce, I don't know, and even if they did it still wouldn't change the fact that RR was NOT responsible for Premier's chrome plating.
@@mgdrummer77 The Della Porta family still owns the chroming business and still does chroming for many companies because of their superior chroming process. Rolls Royce being one of them. You haven't debunked anything. Only made it more apparent that they did indeed do the Rolls Royce chroming. The reason why this legend started, was because the Premier kits had chroming done that will last a lifetime, just like the chroming done on a Rolls Royce. There are no other chroming companies that can match this superior chroming process.
The premier dominion brass shell snares look sturdy and bad-ass, same with Royal Ace snares, and their die cast hoops which must stand up to sonor hoop weight and beefyness indeed!!!! any decade,along with tension rods like sonor's design with a slotted deal,and round head shape,i think????anyway if keith moon and nicko mcbrain plays them, good enough for me!!THe finish on the signia series drums were way above most in quality,coming from a witness, not owner?
The Drum Fettler has a good bit on sorting out the Premier Pre-International/International shell/hoop mysteries: th-cam.com/video/qeckU_n2PEI/w-d-xo.html
Hello. I have been playing Premier drums and hardware for 40 years. This kit is the Premier 6000 series with German Beech Re rings. Premier's Diamond Chrome Plating and die casting were done in house. 95% of the drums and hardware and parts were built in house. Duroplastic plastic black. Premier just made excellent stuff. They have now brought back the Elite with. 4.8mm 2 ply Birch 2ply maple with beech re rings. Awesome. 1968 Premier switched to standard international heads. Great Video Gentlemen.🥁😎🎉👍
It's a 6000 range kit that we shipped to the USA in the 70's. Distribution by Selmer. Serial numbers don't mean anything. Drums sometime they have a date stamp in the shell. I worked at the factory from 1970 to 82/3. Happy days, great drums.
Thanks for the info!
These look so similar to my 1979 Beverley's. Better bass drum spurs on my set, but other than that, identical. Birch. £150 paid recently. Mental.
I just picked up an early 70's Olympic and it has date stamps inside the shells. Mine seems to be mostly 74 barring one tom which dates from 61 so at some point in it's life it's grown a new tom.
I'm just getting back into playing having not played since the 90's and I'm so pleased with how this kit sounds and feels. It's a genuine pleasure to sit behind and play.
I bought a chrome snare in 78 , could you tell me the name please and is it steel or aluminium with chrome , thanks
@@garywalsh9798 Depends on the drum, A lot were Aluminium & chrome.
Premier 12 16 and 20 where metric sized until 1968, 14" was always international inch sized. After 1968 they switched to international sizes (thats where the pre-int name comes from, everything pre 68)
Remo makes the heads for pre int sizes, so its all no problem. Slotted screws are nice, you can use spare change to tune if you dont have a drumkey :D
The best Premier kits are the 60s outfits and the late 60s early 70s elite models. The model you have came just after the elites, late 70s, also good, but the elites are even better!
Kenny Clark and Philly Joe Jones played premiers back in the day
The reason Ringo used Ludwig was for the US Tour he didn't have a complete kit of Premiers. The only Kit that was available in stock at the Music Shop was a Ludwig.
If I remember correctly, the reinforcement hoops are made of beech.
You’re correct
i think its a 204 , i found 1 the same as this for $30 for the exact kit here ,most musical kit i ever heard ,i done a couple videos on my channel worth checking out how awesome they sound , i ditched those bass drum spurs tho,my kit came with a 2000 snare drum ,amazing snare
I have this kit. I've Frankenstein'd it together with an APK from about the same era. These are great kits.
It's not a Premier 6000. That's a hardware range. It's a Premier 'Powerhouse'. I'm 100% on this. Ink date stamps in the shells yes. They are week number 2 digits and year, also 2 digits. Serial numbers are inconsistent, yes. Pre-international is something I also stay away from. I have a Premier Resonator Black Shadow MKII from 1985 with all the Trilok hardware and it's just the best kit ever. I have loads of snares, all Premier. That snare looks like a model 35 to me. beaded aluminium. Very nice setup!
If you look in the Premier catalogs when Selmer distributed them, you'll see that these were indeed labeled as 6000/6500 series and given the configuration name "Powerhouse". The snare is indeed a PD6021 which is an 8 lug COA with Beverley lugs, the 35 is 10 lug with the standard Premier art deco lugs. There is also a PD6035 (which I have) which is a 35 with Beverley lugs. Lots of duplicate type products from that period since they made a few things special for the US market which were modifications to their standard UK offerings.
@@mgdrummer77 I'm happy to be knowledge +1 if you can evidence these Powerhouse sets ever being labelled '6000', legitimately by Premier. 6500 yes, but 6000 no. Just a hardware range for 6000
@@mgdrummer77 I see my best guess around the snare was wrong, I did check the catalogues!
Right now I've got 2 Cabria mk1 kits (circa 98-99)...a 10/12/14/16/20 kit...and the 12/14/18 bop kit...Premier beer barrel die cast hoops swapped on to the bop kit. These sound killer...with triple flange hoops there's a punchy 3 ply Ludwig kind of vibe. Killer tuining range with under sized shells. With the die casts it's closer to a Round Badge kind of sound. Close enough that I sold the 68 Rock and roll outfit I had becayse I thought the Premier were close enough. At the same time, they have their own unique sound as well. Recently picked up a Club date kit and some Super classic in need of restoration, but I'd love a vintage 70's birch shell kit one day.
Couple things:
1) that IS a Powerhouse 6500 kit, these were built with Beverly lugs specifically for the US market. The same shells with Premier hardware, die cast hoops and slotted tension rods were the UK market “top line” kits that didn’t have a series name until “Elite” in 78/79.
2) pre-international sizes are NOT metric. That is a wide spread misconception similar to the “Rolls Royce chrome” myth. They are simply non-standard diameters that Premier had arrived at somehow/someway.
3) speaking of the Rolls Royce chrome plating myth: the Della Porta family who owned/operated Premier had a separate company that did metal plating. They utilized that company for their drum hardware playing, Rolls Royce had nothing to do with it.
The oval tom mount is a good idea because they will not turn and are gripped from both sides. I bought a spare one! I’ve got a Royale kit looks similar to this. Chrome is perfect on it and it’s nearly 40 years old
Agreed!
I had a premier blue royal 80s kit what a fantastic sound it had.
A lovely basic black drum set. That's my go to finish. Very much like the basic black dress or suit. Always classic but the sound is paramount!
The 20" bass drums were pre-international into the VERY early 60s before they went 'international sized'. The 12" and 16" toms remained pre-international until the late 60s.
It's a Premier Royal Kit.
It was my 1st ever kit.
It's not a Royal. ( Royale ) It's a Powerhouse. Royales had no re rings, and eight lugs per head on the bass drum. And a different snare. And different lugs. And different spurs.
Sounds great❤
The chrome plating on Premier ( Made in England ) kits were made at the same factory as made on Rolls Royce too .
This is actually incorrect. The Della Porta family who ran Premier owned a platting company that was independent of Premier. They used that company for their drum hardware platting, Rolls Royce was never involved with the brand.
@@mgdrummer77 Indeed and when Premier built their big factory at Wigston, chroming was done in house
@@mgdrummer77 ackchually that is incorrect. the Della Porta Family manufactured parts for the military, navy and royal air force in WW2 and through this started doing the chrome plating for many industries including Rolls Royce. their factory was destroyed in the blitz, and subsequently rebuilt. Each Spirit of Ecstacy was chromed by the Della Porta Family, a company that is still family owned today even though they sold the Premier company. There are many vintage 20th century products from Britain that were done by Della Porta Family chroming. Premier hardware was superior and still today have better chroming than any ludwig or gretsch kit from the same era. cast hoops are superior to stamped mild steel hoops. The only criticism of vintage Premier kits are their flatbase hihat and cymbal stands which were more suited to jazz and light playing, whereas ludwig hihat stands were more beefy for rock.
@@arthurwilliams3479 Not sure what your point was, the myth is that Rolls Royce was the source of Premier's chrome platting and that myth has been debunked by the fact that the Della Porta family had a plating business that did the plating. Weather that business ever did any work for Rolls Royce, I don't know, and even if they did it still wouldn't change the fact that RR was NOT responsible for Premier's chrome plating.
@@mgdrummer77 The Della Porta family still owns the chroming business and still does chroming for many companies because of their superior chroming process. Rolls Royce being one of them. You haven't debunked anything. Only made it more apparent that they did indeed do the Rolls Royce chroming. The reason why this legend started, was because the Premier kits had chroming done that will last a lifetime, just like the chroming done on a Rolls Royce. There are no other chroming companies that can match this superior chroming process.
Premier invented springless lugs, and Premier owned Beverly drums.
And Olympic as well. They were also affiliated with John Grey Drums
The premier dominion brass shell snares look sturdy and bad-ass, same with Royal Ace snares, and their die cast hoops which must stand up to sonor hoop weight and beefyness indeed!!!! any decade,along with tension rods like sonor's design with a slotted deal,and round head shape,i think????anyway if keith moon and nicko mcbrain plays them, good enough for me!!THe finish on the signia series drums were way above most in quality,coming from a witness, not owner?
I need a location of where I can get the small Tom
I have vintage Premier early 70s, late 60s Ludwig and Slingerland.
The Slingerland sounds best, but all three are great..
Right on!
Ringo on The Ed Sullivan show February 1964, was the start of the Ludwig boom.
He switched from Premier to Ludwig, May 1963..
Great time for music!
I heard he only switched because of the colour
Wat yr are the drums to my right??
A man wants to trade me his vintage 1987 xpk 8 piece premier kit for my 2023 9 piece yamaha stage customs, good deal?
Only if you want a vintage XPK kit more than your new Stage Customs. Stage Customs are really nice drums for the price though.
@@drumfactorydirect he changed his mind and wanted to keep them lol I sold the stage customs, getting a mapex saturn.
How does the Premier snare compare to the Supra.?
Very similar.
The premier 35 is there aluminium snare. It's amazing. Before that it was the Beverly cosmic 21.
The Drum Fettler has a good bit on sorting out the Premier Pre-International/International shell/hoop mysteries: th-cam.com/video/qeckU_n2PEI/w-d-xo.html