So back around 1998 I wanted a DW kit like every pro drummer in the world at the time. Went into the drum shop and had “settle” for a dark red Premier Genista kit. Holy cow, what a blessing in disguise! The thin, slightly undersized shells are the only drums I’ve played that “sing” regardless of head age. They still sound good with some 15+ year old Remo suedes…but I changed them out for some CS dots. They are just unbelievable, high quality pro level drums. The hardware is meant to last a lifetime on and off stage. I’ve used these drum from punk, blues, hard rock, to country stages and they have never let me down. Ok, not the greatest jazz kit but that’s me. I’ll never sell them. Get yourself a kit and hold on!
The APK and XPK were reliable kits for low price. Much better than the lower end kits of today. I had one that had been absolutely battered in a venue for years. Cleaned it up, stuck some new heads on it and it sounded great.
@@Yimello it certainly made me an expert in the duck tape slings needed to keep the Tom-Tom mounts in place! Glad you’re putting some love into them. Anything can sound great with some love and attention.
Premier was also pretty big in the marching world in the 90's, specifically with Crossmen and Blue Knights. All those amazing Crossmen lines of the early 90s were Premier :)
There really dropped the ball on the marching percussion and have been surpassed and replaced, not least by The British Drum Company (BDC) who now supply the bands of some branches of the UK military (most notably the Royal Marines).
I’ve always been a Premier fan. As a British drummer, I’ve grown up with this brand and it has never failed me from a £95 starter kit from the 60’s to my current XPK from the 90’s, I’ve found these to be great quality and durability and never had any issues. I was also a user of their marching drums which again have always been amazing quality and sound. Nice to see this awesome video and your faultless playing as always!
Was clearing out an old cupboard at the studio I work at and found an old Premier kit sitting in the corner and I've slowly been fixing it up. Such an underrated sound!
I haven’t been sleeping on them, just next to them! I’ve owned and loved my Premier Artist Maple kit for about 20 years now! I had originally bought a 5-piece, but added 8” and 16” toms to the setup so I could swap in different sizes when I wanted them. I love that kit!
Wow, I had no idea that Premier made undersized shells! I thought that was unique to Sonor. I wish everyone did that, it really helps focus the tone and makes tuning so much easier. In the 1990s I had a custom set of drums made for me by the Eames Drum Company of Saugus, MA. They are also 100% birch and made their shells 3mm undersized, and heads just drop right on. I love those drums to this day, they have a TON of tone and sustain and a really wide tuning range.
Yes for a long time now. Concept first used on the Soundwave Mark 2 series in the early 80s, then on just about all pro ranges since the early 90s (Genista/Signia/Gen X/Series/Elite etc)
Not to go all Riley Breckenridge on a feller, but I specifically bought my OCDP kit because of a specific thrice record. It didn't really occur to me until just now but fairly sure the shells on that kit are maybe 4 or 5mm thick, and naturally smaller than the head by a noticeable once I think about it amount. I am older now, I managed to get that kit back, I also managed to work out how sound works and the difference between resonance and sustain, and I get paid daily to make bands sound good. and all it took was listening to thrice circa 2003. So please no bully online. My first kit was a premiere, my second was something dogshit, but that taught me the importance of tuning and head selection. my third was the ocdp, that got sold while i was playing in seattle one time, heart broken, bought a 4th kit that was a yamaha maybe something studio custom something. no one asked, i don't know why I'm still typing, but, i got my ocdp back, now I know how to tune drums it is dangerously sexual to listen to. Will comment here once my band has recorded if anyone cares. OCDP/keller shells sing hard. Evans G12s for the balance between durability and resonance. Sometimes I need to remind myself that I actually love drumming. this is one of those times. Thanks fellow drum nerds.
I bought a mount to turn my floating floot tom into a standing one - takes up so much less space, allow more placement of the cymbal stands, and doesn't fall over if you position it wrong!
I used to own a Premier Gen-X kit and it was easily one of the best kits I’ve ever played. Very easy to tune and sounded amazing. I learned about them from seeing Scott Phillips (Alter Bridge/Creed) play them back in the day.
I recently bought a vintage Premier Soundwave kit from circa 1980. Beautiful finish with a matching beast of a 14x8 snare drum. I absolutely love them. With clear CS heads on the toms they sound straight out of the 70's to me.
A good friend of mine had one of these back in high school and I was always impressed with it. His older brother had a pearl kit and the premier always sounded brighter and cleaner.
It’s good to see that Premier kits haven’t dropped in quality. That’s apparently the main reason Nicko went from Premier, back to Sonor, before starting British Drum Co with ex-Premier Drum Builders.
I think BDC is probably much closer to the original Premier than anything now coming out with the ‘Premier’ name on it. I’ve just bought a new kit and was interested in BDC - but I couldn’t find hardly any kits in stock anywhere! A very few of the named stockists had snare drums, but that was all. I got the impression you had to contact them direct and get something custom built, which wa$ not only out of my price range, but likely to take months. Shame, really. Too much competition from Chinese built kits, I suppose.
Well built drums. When Premier closed the New Jersey warehouse ( pulling out of the USA), some friends dumpster dove and pulled out about 30 spare shells and additional parts. I still have a few in my shop.
Was fortunate enough that our high school, (class of '84), used Premier drum sets exclusively for every music activity offered. They had 3 different kits for 2 choral groups and band. Always played well and held up to serious abuse! Love the kit you've featured here!
My Premier Signia kit sounded so good when it was tuned up, that I ended up using the raw drum track recordings on two of my recordings back in the late 90's. Signia's to this day are one of the best sounding drums you can play.
A Premier Soundwave 2 is a kit I would also love to own someday! Phil Collins' kit (Definitely an 80s Soundwave if you see the lugs, the early 60s and 70s had a sort of sharktooth-like lugs) in the Tarzan and George Martin sessions looks gorgeous!
I once worked with a drummer with a Premier kit and a Ludwig kit. From my bass guitar position, both kits sounded great. But the Premier seemed to have more "bite" to it; a sonic clarity to them that translated better into the overall mix. You've proven the "bite" in this demo.
My best friend’s dad has an old Premier kit he still uses and it always sounds great, he lets me jam with his band when I’m there and they’re definitely one of my favorite sets I’ve played.
As a UK drummer,it's great to see you reviewing the revived Premier brand (it's pronounced PREM - I - ER btw) Always the most popular British brand especially in the 60's and 70's,renowned for their superb diamond chrome,amazing shells,full range of kit sizes ,most British drummers owned or started on one of the UK produced kits - they are still highly rated and it was only really the competition from Far East produced drums from the 80's onwards that saw them decline (production costs etc) And as for well know users? Well,Ringo started with a Premier,Clem Burke,Phil Collins,Mitch Mitchell,Nick Mason,Nicko McBrain,Keith Moon,etc,etc,etc Great to see the quality continue and hope more USA drummers try them....Great video 👍👍
I'm 52 and in High School we had a Premier drum set that sounded great. It had a Ghost pedal. You ever seen one? I've never seen one since. Here's a name drop for ya. My High School Band Director was Denny Seiwell's Brother and a hell of a trumpet player and drummer. I was a good drummer and did very well at the state orchestra level for High Schoolers. I was given a lot of attention and many songs were selected to cast attention on the percussion section. Plus Denny's brother was a great guy. Probably was the best influence on me out of any adult outside my family. He handled his business and was a great leader. At that same time I was taking lessons from Jimmy DeGrasso BEFORE he moved out of Allentown, PA. It was through Jimmy I realized I probably wasn't going to a professional drummer. When you meet those types you realize they're just a little different. They're very good, technically proficient, and very creative. I became an Engineer - not the kind that drives trains :-( For District Band auditions you get a prepared solo usually a sheet full of junk you never seen before and you pick through it one measure at a time. This is no lie - once I looked at this thing and I'm thinking this is going to take a while. I hand it to Jimmy and he SIGHT READS it almost perfectly. It was then that I knew. Jimmy was a heck of a guy too. He'd chew your ass if you didn't practice. He would get pissed if you didn't have both oars in the water and put your back into it. It's crazy looking back at things how two music teachers left such a positive influence on an engineer. Both those guys more than any professor. Anyhow, I really enjoy your videos. Take care.
Fine review. I've never had a chance to play on a Premier but that kit looks great and has a tuned classic progressive rock character. Thank you, God bless your work
Yep; been playing my old Cambria kit for years. Constantly getting compliments on how well they sound open and live with single ply heads and punchy with double ply heads for recording; especially the bottom end.
this has made me wanna get a premier kit! I live in the U.K. and they’re everywhere on the used market, they’ve always struck me as pretty meh and mainly for nostalgic prog rock fans and fans of the who. I need to do my research! If they’re about all over the used market, and sound this good, with such clear attention to detail, I’m gonna do my homework and try and snag a great deal!
I'm pretty sure every UK drummer used Premier at some point. Phil Collins, Keith Moon, Mitch Mitchell, Matt Helders, hell even Ringo played Premier at the beginning of his career.
Keith Moons Pictures of Lilly drum kit is one of my favourite kits, from the black light wrap to the tom mounts connecting the bass drums, just beautiful
Glad to see they've improved. I have the Maple version of this the Signia from the 90s. Sounds great and is super warm while being the heaviest and bulkiest drums I've used. However the hardware does not hold up, and makes it frustrating to tune and use. And my coworker who worked at a music shop in the 90s said the same thing about the hardware back then. Definitely stay away from vintage premier unless you want to replace most of the hardware.
I've owned 3 Premier kits in the past. I still have a Premier 80's bop kit and a Yamaha birch kit. I've always liked Premier and will never get rid of the bop kit. It sounds amazing!
Haha the bottom right pic you used at 0:37 is my kit in my old living room! The vintage original tri-band finish kits are great drums too. They were only cheap ‘student’ kits but had nice British made 3-ply birch shells. Always loved the quirky finish too.
Great playing and great sounding drums. I'm glad to see Premier get some love from here in the U.S. The first new kit I ever bought myself was a set of Premier XPK drums along with a Premier brass snare drum, and I really liked them for a mid/lower-mid tier set. Especially considering how much and how hard I played them. So I'm not surprised at all that the Genista drums sound really good, nor am I surprised about your remarks regarding their quality. Great video as usual David!
The drummer in my old band used a Premier kit. Sounded great. Especially when he got a matching all wood with wood hoops 14"x6.5" snare. This kit here sounded incredible.
Back in the 80’s and early 90’s, Rod Morgenstein was my favorite of the Premier artists. Had one on my Sunday church gig in the late 90’s / early 2000’s (until they replaced it with a custom Pork Pie kit), and it played & sounded fabulous!
Haven't hit play on the video yet but I just need to say: I grew up with Premier, my dad was a Premier player his entire life, and when he passed in 08, I inherited his beautiful 2000 series kit. 22, 14, 16, 18, all birch, chrome over brass snare with flow beam throw. Nothing else sounds like that kit, huge, punchy, warm. I use it in the studio all the time. Premier always have and will continue to make good drums. They've had a lot of ups and downs as a company, but if they keep the spirit alive that made them what they are, I'm sure anyone who buys a Premier kit will be more than happy.
I owned An APK kit made in England for several years. It is still 1 of my all time favorite. Tuned correctly it is a killer drum set. 1 of my students is still gigging with it
First kit I bought in 11th grade was an entry line 8 piece XPK and I also own a big maple Signia kit as well. One day I’ll pick up a Genista as well. Great drums
I had a late 90's xpk english maple kit in red cherry laquer so great for a gig kit. The maple had great projection and tone. Only ever used 2 overhead mics and a kick mic. Every drummer in our area used them for recording. Now i dont play shows anymore so i have a ocdp birch kit. If you can find a orange county drum and percussion kit buy it. It sounds amazing and i dont believe you have ever had one on your channel rdavidr
I bought brand new off the shelf from Dennis in Long Island Drum Center in 1994 A Premier Signia Maple 7 piece 10,12,14,16,18 Toms 22 x 20 Bass and 14 x 6.5 Snare. After 30 years, thousands of gigs tons of recordings its still my go to kit. I have had high end Yamaha ,Tama. Pearl, Gretsch kits and have played countless other kits in studios and venues. But i always get back to my pride and joy Signia Kit welcome to the Premier Club
I have a Premier Projector kit I had shipped over when I moved to the United States. It is my fourth Premier kit. My snare is a Premier 2000 I purchased around 1969 from a small store in Wales and it still looks great!
My local shop growing up was a Premier dealer, so I saw plenty of APK, XPK, Genista, and Signia kits around town. I craved a Genista kit for years. These look awesome.
Back in the mid-80s, my high school had an old Premier Resonator kit in the practice rooms. It had a 24" kick that you felt in your chest when you played it hard. It also had thin die-cast hoops with slotted tuning rods, similar to Sonors. The main drum kit in the band hall was an early 80 Tama Superstar birch kit in the natural wood finish. My kit at home was a 60s Mahogany/Poplar Ludwig Hollywood setup. I was spoiled with nice gear back then.
That was definitely smart of Premier to send you this kit....now I really want this kit!! I love stripped drums kits, I think they are really cool looking and I really like kits with beefy hardware!!
✋ 1954 Premier Olympic pre-international sizes 1970s Premier Resonator In Ireland, UK, and mainland Europe, the availability of Premier and Sonor drums make it much more affordable, and most people even here still chase after vintage Ludwig’s, which are more rare here. On that I have this to say: vintage Ludwig's sometimes suck. Sometimes the sum of the inaccuracies don’t make a nice kit. Alas, I am yet to play a vintage Premier or Sonor that doesn’t sound amazing. If you can get your hands on a 1970s Sonor Champion (available here second hand for around €300-400) you will be blown away. I’m not sure if it’s just the one I played, but wow. Thanks for covering my beloved Premier, David. Glad you enjoyed them.
I marched primier drums in high school and now own one of the snares and the 24" bass drum from that line, I have a few friends that have and play vintage primier set. I love them and they sound great
I have had 4 Premier kits since 2003. A kit of Artist Birch, A mixed finish kit of Genistas from the 90's, a vintage pre-international size kit from the mid 60's, and the last kit I will ever need to own a 5 pc red lacquer kit of Signia Marquis. Ive loved them all. Mostly the signias and the genistas.
Great video! There were alot of Premier kits here in Norway in the 80's and 90's and I grew up with them. I've had 4 different Premier kits. My drum heroes played them back in the day; Deen Castronovo, Rod Morgenstein and Joe Franco.
I was lucky to get acquinted with Premier pretty young and I have always been a fan. When you play and hear a Premier Signia (Creed Band) you get goosebumbs! The vintage hardware was so well made and chromed. As the same chroming process was used for Rolls Royce and Jaguar/Rover.👍🏻👍🏻
I'm a big Premier fan. They sound great and you can usually get a good deal on a used kit. I have owned Powerhouse, APK, XPK, Genista, and Signa kits. Even the entry level kits sound wonderful.
Back in high school in the late 80s a friend of mine bought a Premier kit - as soon as I played it I loved the sound and when I finally saved up some money I bought one too. Great drums!
I purchased a set of these at a drum shop in Va Beach around 94-95 and it still is the best kit I've ever owned. It sounds amazing and the finish is just stunning. At the time I wasn't a fan of the snare that came with the kit and ordered a maple one instead. If you ever see a set of these for sale I would highly recommend buying them.
They sound Awesome ! I had a Premier Snare for My first Drum and I had a brass Crash on a string hanging beside it to Smash on 40+ years ago ! I love the look of your New Kit
I was always a Premier fan (Modern Drummer ads), but I never saw a music store that carried the brand. But for no reason I understand, our high school’s concert bass drum was a Premier. I was always impessed by the quality. Great to see that Premier is still making high-quality drums. More power to ‘em.
Just saw this and I still have my first drum kit. A vintage late 60's early 70's Premier kit that I have partially restored and have since played a show with them. 14-16-20 is what I play out with. Love my Premier kit and still have my larger late 70's Tama Superstar kit for larger stages
That snare strainer and butt plate are THE SAME PIECES as on my 1990 Premier Signia snare drum! I love this video, im freaking out, I want these new drums so bad!
Funny, my first drum kit was a Premier Black pearlescent (think mother of pearl),only grey, lime Ringos Ludwig. Turns out it was 1963 kit. This was 1984. We paid $400 for a 5 piece kit. Since then, I’ve owned many other brands. But have always kept that kit (customized in the late 80s with an Amron paint), and added a custom 10” Tom by Modern Drum Shop in NY, back in 86, as well. I still own that and another early 2000s Artist Birch kit, and it sounds fantastic, as well. The Genista you test drove sounds great to me, from your recording. I’m glad you got to experience it. They have always had nice stuff, and the chrome is usually top notch in their older stuff. Anyhow, I’m glad you like the Premier, and I’m very glad they’re back in the USA and are getting some play. Always been a fan. Keep putting out more cool drum content!
Hey this is an awesome video! I owed a 90's Genista set and it was litterally the best sounding birch set I have ever owned or played and that is in comparison to my recording custom set. it is very cool that you are doing this vid... Thanks!
Nothing like the old Heavy Rock Nine snare. I had one from about 88 to 91. Brass shell with a birch inner liner, parallel action strainer, big heavy diecast hoops. Premier makes good stuff!!
Played on a teacher's Premier kit back in the 80's, and it always sounded amazing. No different than any top end kit from the other manufacturers. I've always regarded the brand highly since, but you're right in that you don't see them stateside much. I would definitely have Premier on my radar if I was in the market for a new kit. Good to know they have a US distributor. Great job on the video. Your tuning and recording abilities really shine through.
I scored a Premier kit from the 80's when I lived in LA in the mid-2000's. It was dirt cheap and I only knew of Premier from 70's-80's English (punk rock) bands. It surprised me with how good it sounded, and I used to buy/sell vintage kits in the 90's when is was still a cheap and viable endeavor. The side-latching chain is also a cool thing to have. I had this amazing brass Slingerland snare that had the side-latch-thing. There was this trick you could do, where you start with the chain off and engage it with your knee (kick drum leg), mid-song.
My very first snare drum 27 years ago was a 14x6 Premier, still have it today! Really wanted a Premier kit, but they pretty much stopped selling kits in the US in the late 90s so I ended up with my vintage Ludwigs. I'd love to get my hands on a modern Genista kit though, these sound incredible!
I see used kits on the regular for a decent price. They were always cheap on the used market because they lacked strong name recognition in the states. Every kit I've played sounded great.
70's African Mahogany Prems are one of the best kept secrets if you ever get the chance - 3 ply with round over edges... unbelievable. Philly Joe Jones, Phil Collins, Clem Burke, Phil Selway, Nick Mason etc. etc. the hardware kicks international butt too. Greetings from Wales, UK
Brit here 🙋🏻♂️ My music department at high school had a premier drum set. (Like most British schools I’d be willing to bet) And that thing took an absolute beating daily but always stayed together and sounded good. We even recorded with it occasionally and honestly it was decent. A weekly tune up and bring your own cymbals and it was a great! This kit looks and sounds the business! 👌😎
owned and played Premier as far back as the early 70's-awesome for studio recording. They are well build and sound awesome. birch-mahogany and beech wood was the choice of wood in the days (lacquer shells).excellent chrome plating. Was the lowest price of the high end drums in the market. Hope the new inflation( USA price's ) doesn't hurt their sales. Good luck!!! Proud owner of 8 Premier drum sets.
My drum teacher from my first drum lesson that I took had two Premier drum sets in the lesson room in Coral Springs, FL. My drum teacher's name was Larry, who used to work at F-Sharp music also located in Coral Springs, FL then left and opened up his own teaching space/drum shop back in 1994-1995ish. Anyways, I was so blown away by the sound of both Premier kits and cannot remember the series name of either kit. After watching this video, I am definitely interested in picking up a Premier kit as the kit sounded so tight and brought me back to the first time I played on a Premier kit.
Who here plays a Premier?
A Premier Pipesnare😁
I only played a premiere snare drum that my music school had
I just finished restoring and rewrapping and old 80s era Premier APK set and it looks and sounds great!
I have a 14 by 5 and a half premier xpk
all Birch snare drum... Love it
I used to play a Premier set with Rims mounts in smoke gray finish. 22 bd, 10, 12, 14, 16 toms. Best drum kit I could afford, worth every penny.
So back around 1998 I wanted a DW kit like every pro drummer in the world at the time. Went into the drum shop and had “settle” for a dark red Premier Genista kit. Holy cow, what a blessing in disguise! The thin, slightly undersized shells are the only drums I’ve played that “sing” regardless of head age. They still sound good with some 15+ year old Remo suedes…but I changed them out for some CS dots. They are just unbelievable, high quality pro level drums. The hardware is meant to last a lifetime on and off stage. I’ve used these drum from punk, blues, hard rock, to country stages and they have never let me down. Ok, not the greatest jazz kit but that’s me. I’ll never sell them. Get yourself a kit and hold on!
I started learning to play drums in 1998 and the kit I dreamed about wasn't DW, it was Premier Signia.
That was probably one of my favorite grooves you’ve done, not to mention how TIGHT that kit sounded
you right
that kit sounds suh-weeet
holy crap! you're right! it's so tight! :O
As someone who played drums in the UK in school in the 90s it’s hard to forgive them for the Premier APK drums that lurked in every music room.
Over here it was either super cheap no name brands or Pearl Export kits. Both were usually f***ed after two years of being manhandled by us kids 😂
@@milan1200 a Pearl Export would have been unthinkable luxury!
The APK and XPK were reliable kits for low price. Much better than the lower end kits of today. I had one that had been absolutely battered in a venue for years. Cleaned it up, stuck some new heads on it and it sounded great.
@@jamescanton back then our schools were semi-adequately funded ;)
@@Yimello it certainly made me an expert in the duck tape slings needed to keep the Tom-Tom mounts in place! Glad you’re putting some love into them. Anything can sound great with some love and attention.
Let's take a moment and commend the flawless drumming here! Well done David!
Premier makes you do it.
Greetings from the UK, David!
Premier was also pretty big in the marching world in the 90's, specifically with Crossmen and Blue Knights. All those amazing Crossmen lines of the early 90s were Premier :)
Star and phantom had premier too before going pearl. I actually just bought a premier marching snare last week!
There really dropped the ball on the marching percussion and have been surpassed and replaced, not least by The British Drum Company (BDC) who now supply the bands of some branches of the UK military (most notably the Royal Marines).
@@LA7Rose completely forgot about Phantom! They still had them in 96 for Defiant Heart :)
makes sense that they had the detachable snare wires, that's usually a marching snare feature
They are still huge in the pipe band world.
I’ve always been a Premier fan. As a British drummer, I’ve grown up with this brand and it has never failed me from a £95 starter kit from the 60’s to my current XPK from the 90’s, I’ve found these to be great quality and durability and never had any issues. I was also a user of their marching drums which again have always been amazing quality and sound. Nice to see this awesome video and your faultless playing as always!
Was clearing out an old cupboard at the studio I work at and found an old Premier kit sitting in the corner and I've slowly been fixing it up. Such an underrated sound!
Love all your videos but it’s also so awesome to see how your drumming skills have progressed over the years!!
I still play my premier kit, ive had for about 6 years now, still plays like a charm and i love it. Im in the US too!!
I haven’t been sleeping on them, just next to them! I’ve owned and loved my Premier Artist Maple kit for about 20 years now! I had originally bought a 5-piece, but added 8” and 16” toms to the setup so I could swap in different sizes when I wanted them. I love that kit!
Wow, I had no idea that Premier made undersized shells! I thought that was unique to Sonor. I wish everyone did that, it really helps focus the tone and makes tuning so much easier. In the 1990s I had a custom set of drums made for me by the Eames Drum Company of Saugus, MA. They are also 100% birch and made their shells 3mm undersized, and heads just drop right on. I love those drums to this day, they have a TON of tone and sustain and a really wide tuning range.
Yes for a long time now. Concept first used on the Soundwave Mark 2 series in the early 80s, then on just about all pro ranges since the early 90s (Genista/Signia/Gen X/Series/Elite etc)
Old Camco drums are slightly undersized as t
Not to go all Riley Breckenridge on a feller, but I specifically bought my OCDP kit because of a specific thrice record. It didn't really occur to me until just now but fairly sure the shells on that kit are maybe 4 or 5mm thick, and naturally smaller than the head by a noticeable once I think about it amount. I am older now, I managed to get that kit back, I also managed to work out how sound works and the difference between resonance and sustain, and I get paid daily to make bands sound good. and all it took was listening to thrice circa 2003. So please no bully online.
My first kit was a premiere, my second was something dogshit, but that taught me the importance of tuning and head selection. my third was the ocdp, that got sold while i was playing in seattle one time, heart broken, bought a 4th kit that was a yamaha maybe something studio custom something. no one asked, i don't know why I'm still typing, but, i got my ocdp back, now I know how to tune drums it is dangerously sexual to listen to.
Will comment here once my band has recorded if anyone cares. OCDP/keller shells sing hard. Evans G12s for the balance between durability and resonance. Sometimes I need to remind myself that I actually love drumming. this is one of those times. Thanks fellow drum nerds.
One of my fav things about Premier is that you can order their kits with floating-mount floor toms and do away with the legs if you wanted.
I bought a mount to turn my floating floot tom into a standing one - takes up so much less space, allow more placement of the cymbal stands, and doesn't fall over if you position it wrong!
Those have gotta be some of the sexiest sounding toms I've ever heard
I used to own a Premier Gen-X kit and it was easily one of the best kits I’ve ever played. Very easy to tune and sounded amazing. I learned about them from seeing Scott Phillips (Alter Bridge/Creed) play them back in the day.
I recently bought a vintage Premier Soundwave kit from circa 1980. Beautiful finish with a matching beast of a 14x8 snare drum. I absolutely love them. With clear CS heads on the toms they sound straight out of the 70's to me.
A good friend of mine had one of these back in high school and I was always impressed with it. His older brother had a pearl kit and the premier always sounded brighter and cleaner.
It’s good to see that Premier kits haven’t dropped in quality. That’s apparently the main reason Nicko went from Premier, back to Sonor, before starting British Drum Co with ex-Premier Drum Builders.
He didn’t start bdc. He signed on after they had been existence for five years or so
I think BDC is probably much closer to the original Premier than anything now coming out with the ‘Premier’ name on it. I’ve just bought a new kit and was interested in BDC - but I couldn’t find hardly any kits in stock anywhere! A very few of the named stockists had snare drums, but that was all. I got the impression you had to contact them direct and get something custom built, which wa$ not only out of my price range, but likely to take months. Shame, really. Too much competition from Chinese built kits, I suppose.
Well built drums. When Premier closed the New Jersey warehouse ( pulling out of the USA), some friends dumpster dove and pulled out about 30 spare shells and additional parts. I still have a few in my shop.
Was fortunate enough that our high school, (class of '84), used Premier drum sets exclusively for every music activity offered. They had 3 different kits for 2 choral groups and band. Always played well and held up to serious abuse! Love the kit you've featured here!
My Premier Signia kit sounded so good when it was tuned up, that I ended up using the raw drum track recordings on two of my recordings back in the late 90's. Signia's to this day are one of the best sounding drums you can play.
I still play my ‘93 Sapphire blue Signia today. Killer sound
Cherry 7 piece bought new in 94 still in love it.
A Premier Soundwave 2 is a kit I would also love to own someday! Phil Collins' kit (Definitely an 80s Soundwave if you see the lugs, the early 60s and 70s had a sort of sharktooth-like lugs) in the Tarzan and George Martin sessions looks gorgeous!
I think many of those early Genesis albums he used a premier kit. The kit in this video sounds fantastic!
They sound amazing.
I once worked with a drummer with a Premier kit and a Ludwig kit. From my bass guitar position, both kits sounded great. But the Premier seemed to have more "bite" to it; a sonic clarity to them that translated better into the overall mix. You've proven the "bite" in this demo.
My best friend’s dad has an old Premier kit he still uses and it always sounds great, he lets me jam with his band when I’m there and they’re definitely one of my favorite sets I’ve played.
As a UK drummer,it's great to see you reviewing the revived Premier brand (it's pronounced PREM - I - ER btw) Always the most popular British brand especially in the 60's and 70's,renowned for their superb diamond chrome,amazing shells,full range of kit sizes ,most British drummers owned or started on one of the UK produced kits - they are still highly rated and it was only really the competition from Far East produced drums from the 80's onwards that saw them decline (production costs etc) And as for well know users? Well,Ringo started with a Premier,Clem Burke,Phil Collins,Mitch Mitchell,Nick Mason,Nicko McBrain,Keith Moon,etc,etc,etc
Great to see the quality continue and hope more USA drummers try them....Great video 👍👍
‘Prem-Ear’ always makes me chuckle
Not so great when the profits and work go to China.
I'm 52 and in High School we had a Premier drum set that sounded great. It had a Ghost pedal. You ever seen one? I've never seen one since. Here's a name drop for ya. My High School Band Director was Denny Seiwell's Brother and a hell of a trumpet player and drummer. I was a good drummer and did very well at the state orchestra level for High Schoolers. I was given a lot of attention and many songs were selected to cast attention on the percussion section. Plus Denny's brother was a great guy. Probably was the best influence on me out of any adult outside my family. He handled his business and was a great leader.
At that same time I was taking lessons from Jimmy DeGrasso BEFORE he moved out of Allentown, PA. It was through Jimmy I realized I probably wasn't going to a professional drummer. When you meet those types you realize they're just a little different. They're very good, technically proficient, and very creative. I became an Engineer - not the kind that drives trains :-( For District Band auditions you get a prepared solo usually a sheet full of junk you never seen before and you pick through it one measure at a time. This is no lie - once I looked at this thing and I'm thinking this is going to take a while. I hand it to Jimmy and he SIGHT READS it almost perfectly. It was then that I knew. Jimmy was a heck of a guy too. He'd chew your ass if you didn't practice. He would get pissed if you didn't have both oars in the water and put your back into it.
It's crazy looking back at things how two music teachers left such a positive influence on an engineer. Both those guys more than any professor.
Anyhow, I really enjoy your videos.
Take care.
My jaw literally dropped, good on you Dave!
Wow, the whole drum kit sounds awesome. The toms have so much character to them specially. Those toms sing.
Fine review. I've never had a chance to play on a Premier but that kit looks great and has a tuned classic progressive rock character. Thank you, God bless your work
Awesome Video Sir. I have been playing Premier for 40 years. Thank You For Sharing Your Thoughts and Review.
You need to try out a Premier Signia kit. Best drums of all time.
Yep; been playing my old Cambria kit for years. Constantly getting compliments on how well they sound open and live with single ply heads and punchy with double ply heads for recording; especially the bottom end.
Ive used a premier xpk since 1998. It sounds amazing, looks great and has held up better than my dw collectors or pearl export.
Same have 6 peice in rosewood from 94 it’s great
I had an XPK in the 90s. Brilliant kit. Was a dark finish that looked almost purple under stage lights.
@@typhoon-7 ye think that was called black cherry
I'm so glad you found the washer again
this has made me wanna get a premier kit! I live in the U.K. and they’re everywhere on the used market, they’ve always struck me as pretty meh and mainly for nostalgic prog rock fans and fans of the who. I need to do my research! If they’re about all over the used market, and sound this good, with such clear attention to detail, I’m gonna do my homework and try and snag a great deal!
I'm pretty sure every UK drummer used Premier at some point. Phil Collins, Keith Moon, Mitch Mitchell, Matt Helders, hell even Ringo played Premier at the beginning of his career.
Keith Moons Pictures of Lilly drum kit is one of my favourite kits, from the black light wrap to the tom mounts connecting the bass drums, just beautiful
Glad to see they've improved. I have the Maple version of this the Signia from the 90s. Sounds great and is super warm while being the heaviest and bulkiest drums I've used. However the hardware does not hold up, and makes it frustrating to tune and use. And my coworker who worked at a music shop in the 90s said the same thing about the hardware back then. Definitely stay away from vintage premier unless you want to replace most of the hardware.
Kit sounds and looks insane. My buddy had a Premier in high school and I loved that kit.
I’m stopping the video after your performance just to say damn… What a PERFECT performance to showcase the sound of this kit. Killer review man
I love the differentness between david and dankpods' drum videos.
I love the 60’s and 70’s premier kits best. Just look and sound incredible!
I've owned 3 Premier kits in the past. I still have a Premier 80's bop kit and a Yamaha birch kit. I've always liked Premier and will never get rid of the bop kit. It sounds amazing!
Sounds and looks awesome dude
Haha the bottom right pic you used at 0:37 is my kit in my old living room! The vintage original tri-band finish kits are great drums too. They were only cheap ‘student’ kits but had nice British made 3-ply birch shells. Always loved the quirky finish too.
Great playing and great sounding drums. I'm glad to see Premier get some love from here in the U.S. The first new kit I ever bought myself was a set of Premier XPK drums along with a Premier brass snare drum, and I really liked them for a mid/lower-mid tier set. Especially considering how much and how hard I played them. So I'm not surprised at all that the Genista drums sound really good, nor am I surprised about your remarks regarding their quality. Great video as usual David!
The drummer in my old band used a Premier kit. Sounded great. Especially when he got a matching all wood with wood hoops 14"x6.5" snare. This kit here sounded incredible.
Back in the 80’s and early 90’s, Rod Morgenstein was my favorite of the Premier artists. Had one on my Sunday church gig in the late 90’s / early 2000’s (until they replaced it with a custom Pork Pie kit), and it played & sounded fabulous!
Haven't hit play on the video yet but I just need to say:
I grew up with Premier, my dad was a Premier player his entire life, and when he passed in 08, I inherited his beautiful 2000 series kit. 22, 14, 16, 18, all birch, chrome over brass snare with flow beam throw. Nothing else sounds like that kit, huge, punchy, warm. I use it in the studio all the time.
Premier always have and will continue to make good drums. They've had a lot of ups and downs as a company, but if they keep the spirit alive that made them what they are, I'm sure anyone who buys a Premier kit will be more than happy.
I owned An APK kit made in England for several years. It is still 1 of my all time favorite. Tuned correctly it is a killer drum set. 1 of my students is still gigging with it
First kit I bought in 11th grade was an entry line 8 piece XPK and I also own a big maple Signia kit as well. One day I’ll pick up a Genista as well. Great drums
I had a late 90's xpk english maple kit in red cherry laquer so great for a gig kit. The maple had great projection and tone. Only ever used 2 overhead mics and a kick mic. Every drummer in our area used them for recording. Now i dont play shows anymore so i have a ocdp birch kit. If you can find a orange county drum and percussion kit buy it. It sounds amazing and i dont believe you have ever had one on your channel rdavidr
I bought brand new off the shelf from Dennis in Long Island Drum Center in 1994 A Premier Signia Maple 7 piece 10,12,14,16,18 Toms 22 x 20 Bass and 14 x 6.5 Snare. After 30 years, thousands of gigs tons of recordings its still my go to kit. I have had high end Yamaha ,Tama. Pearl, Gretsch kits and have played countless other kits in studios and venues. But i always get back to my pride and joy Signia Kit
welcome to the Premier Club
Awesome kit! I have a couple Premier kits and love them. Super nice playing and fills on that demo!
I love Premier drums used to play their snares exclusively when I was younger
I have a Premier Projector kit I had shipped over when I moved to the United States. It is my fourth Premier kit. My snare is a Premier 2000 I purchased around 1969 from a small store in Wales and it still looks great!
My local shop growing up was a Premier dealer, so I saw plenty of APK, XPK, Genista, and Signia kits around town. I craved a Genista kit for years. These look awesome.
Back in the mid-80s, my high school had an old Premier Resonator kit in the practice rooms. It had a 24" kick that you felt in your chest when you played it hard. It also had thin die-cast hoops with slotted tuning rods, similar to Sonors.
The main drum kit in the band hall was an early 80 Tama Superstar birch kit in the natural wood finish. My kit at home was a 60s Mahogany/Poplar Ludwig Hollywood setup. I was spoiled with nice gear back then.
That was definitely smart of Premier to send you this kit....now I really want this kit!! I love stripped drums kits, I think they are really cool looking and I really like kits with beefy hardware!!
✋ 1954 Premier Olympic pre-international sizes
1970s Premier Resonator
In Ireland, UK, and mainland Europe, the availability of Premier and Sonor drums make it much more affordable, and most people even here still chase after vintage Ludwig’s, which are more rare here. On that I have this to say: vintage Ludwig's sometimes suck. Sometimes the sum of the inaccuracies don’t make a nice kit. Alas, I am yet to play a vintage Premier or Sonor that doesn’t sound amazing. If you can get your hands on a 1970s Sonor Champion (available here second hand for around €300-400) you will be blown away. I’m not sure if it’s just the one I played, but wow. Thanks for covering my beloved Premier, David. Glad you enjoyed them.
I marched primier drums in high school and now own one of the snares and the 24" bass drum from that line, I have a few friends that have and play vintage primier set. I love them and they sound great
I have been playing premier for over 40 years. Premier Soundwave bought in 1981. Still sound great,
Man I dont really watch many drum videos but I like the odd stuff you do, and ive learned so many cool fills and stuff watching you. Many thanks 🤘
I have had 4 Premier kits since 2003. A kit of Artist Birch, A mixed finish kit of Genistas from the 90's, a vintage pre-international size kit from the mid 60's, and the last kit I will ever need to own a 5 pc red lacquer kit of Signia Marquis. Ive loved them all. Mostly the signias and the genistas.
Wow!! I’m very impressed by this kit.
Great video! There were alot of Premier kits here in Norway in the 80's and 90's and I grew up with them. I've had 4 different Premier kits. My drum heroes played them back in the day; Deen Castronovo, Rod Morgenstein and Joe Franco.
My sophomore year in high school I went to Jamestown high the first year it was open. All the new marching drums were Premier. We sounded great!!
I was lucky to get acquinted with Premier pretty young and I have always been a fan. When you play and hear a Premier Signia (Creed Band) you get goosebumbs!
The vintage hardware was so well made and chromed. As the same chroming process was used for Rolls Royce and Jaguar/Rover.👍🏻👍🏻
This drum kit is one of the most beautiful I've seen here on this channel😎
So glad to see you review this kit! I am the original owner of a set of mid 90s Genistas. I still gig with them regularly.
I'm a big Premier fan. They sound great and you can usually get a good deal on a used kit. I have owned Powerhouse, APK, XPK, Genista, and Signa kits. Even the entry level kits sound wonderful.
Back in high school in the late 80s a friend of mine bought a Premier kit - as soon as I played it I loved the sound and when I finally saved up some money I bought one too. Great drums!
That were some rock solid grooves and fills!
premier has hands down the best logo and badge of any drum company
I purchased a set of these at a drum shop in Va Beach around 94-95 and it still is the best kit I've ever owned. It sounds amazing and the finish is just stunning. At the time I wasn't a fan of the snare that came with the kit and ordered a maple one instead. If you ever see a set of these for sale I would highly recommend buying them.
They sound Awesome ! I had a Premier Snare for My first Drum and I had a brass Crash on a string hanging beside it to Smash on 40+ years ago ! I love the look of your New Kit
that kit is absolutely gorgeous
I was always a Premier fan (Modern Drummer ads), but I never saw a music store that carried the brand. But for no reason I understand, our high school’s concert bass drum was a Premier. I was always impessed by the quality. Great to see that Premier is still making high-quality drums. More power to ‘em.
Just saw this and I still have my first drum kit. A vintage late 60's early 70's Premier kit that I have partially restored and have since played a show with them. 14-16-20 is what I play out with. Love my Premier kit and still have my larger late 70's Tama Superstar kit for larger stages
In the late eighties, a local dude had a sweet piano black Premier kit. And it sounded amazing. That kit always stuck with me
One of the best drummers in Brasil, Kiko Freitas, used Premier drums for a while and I always wanted one cause of that.
That snare strainer and butt plate are THE SAME PIECES as on my 1990 Premier Signia snare drum! I love this video, im freaking out, I want these new drums so bad!
I’m a guitar player but dude, crisp and warm, woody and very pleasant to the ear! Well done!!
Funny, my first drum kit was a Premier Black pearlescent (think mother of pearl),only grey, lime Ringos Ludwig. Turns out it was 1963 kit. This was 1984. We paid $400 for a 5 piece kit. Since then, I’ve owned many other brands. But have always kept that kit (customized in the late 80s with an Amron paint), and added a custom 10” Tom by Modern Drum Shop in NY, back in 86, as well. I still own that and another early 2000s Artist Birch kit, and it sounds fantastic, as well. The Genista you test drove sounds great to me, from your recording. I’m glad you got to experience it. They have always had nice stuff, and the chrome is usually top notch in their older stuff. Anyhow, I’m glad you like the Premier, and I’m very glad they’re back in the USA and are getting some play. Always been a fan. Keep putting out more cool drum content!
Hey this is an awesome video! I owed a 90's Genista set and it was litterally the best sounding birch set I have ever owned or played and that is in comparison to my recording custom set. it is very cool that you are doing this vid... Thanks!
Nothing like the old Heavy Rock Nine snare. I had one from about 88 to 91. Brass shell with a birch inner liner, parallel action strainer, big heavy diecast hoops. Premier makes good stuff!!
Played on a teacher's Premier kit back in the 80's, and it always sounded amazing. No different than any top end kit from the other manufacturers. I've always regarded the brand highly since, but you're right in that you don't see them stateside much. I would definitely have Premier on my radar if I was in the market for a new kit. Good to know they have a US distributor. Great job on the video. Your tuning and recording abilities really shine through.
I scored a Premier kit from the 80's when I lived in LA in the mid-2000's. It was dirt cheap and I only knew of Premier from 70's-80's English (punk rock) bands. It surprised me with how good it sounded, and I used to buy/sell vintage kits in the 90's when is was still a cheap and viable endeavor. The side-latching chain is also a cool thing to have. I had this amazing brass Slingerland snare that had the side-latch-thing. There was this trick you could do, where you start with the chain off and engage it with your knee (kick drum leg), mid-song.
Beautiful drums, I went to the factory in the late 70,s for the tour, for me, the soundwave toms were awesome, also the stands, enjoy
My very first snare drum 27 years ago was a 14x6 Premier, still have it today! Really wanted a Premier kit, but they pretty much stopped selling kits in the US in the late 90s so I ended up with my vintage Ludwigs. I'd love to get my hands on a modern Genista kit though, these sound incredible!
I see used kits on the regular for a decent price. They were always cheap on the used market because they lacked strong name recognition in the states. Every kit I've played sounded great.
I've got a 90s premier artist Birch club kit in sparkle and it is awesome. The build quality is fantastic. Still looks newer
I had a Premier Artist Birch 5 piece back from 2000-2008 and I loved it!
70's African Mahogany Prems are one of the best kept secrets if you ever get the chance - 3 ply with round over edges... unbelievable. Philly Joe Jones, Phil Collins, Clem Burke, Phil Selway, Nick Mason etc. etc. the hardware kicks international butt too. Greetings from Wales, UK
I bought a used Premier metal snare 30 years ago and I have loved Premier ever since. I wish I had a complete set.
Brit here 🙋🏻♂️ My music department at high school had a premier drum set. (Like most British schools I’d be willing to bet) And that thing took an absolute beating daily but always stayed together and sounded good. We even recorded with it occasionally and honestly it was decent. A weekly tune up and bring your own cymbals and it was a great!
This kit looks and sounds the business! 👌😎
owned and played Premier as far back as the early 70's-awesome for studio recording. They are well build and sound awesome. birch-mahogany and beech wood was the choice of wood in the days (lacquer shells).excellent chrome plating. Was the lowest price of the high end drums in the market. Hope the new inflation( USA price's ) doesn't hurt their sales. Good luck!!! Proud owner of 8 Premier drum sets.
@rdavidr I haven’t watched one of your videos in quite a while. Your playing has gotten 🔥
My drum teacher from my first drum lesson that I took had two Premier drum sets in the lesson room in Coral Springs, FL. My drum teacher's name was Larry, who used to work at F-Sharp music also located in Coral Springs, FL then left and opened up his own teaching space/drum shop back in 1994-1995ish. Anyways, I was so blown away by the sound of both Premier kits and cannot remember the series name of either kit. After watching this video, I am definitely interested in picking up a Premier kit as the kit sounded so tight and brought me back to the first time I played on a Premier kit.
This is a great channel for drummers. There is much to see and learn