Premier Cabria Fusion Kits can someone tell me a little about them??

AndyL

Junior Member
Hello All,
Would love some insight into this kit/brand. I know very little about the "Premier" Brand so please help. I see a lot of old videos of artists using Premier who I know are now using different brands... The world of endorsements...

This gives me the impression they are less popular, but possibly because they are less wel marketed than other barnds in Australia (ie Pearl, dw, etc). But are they any good???

I have the option of buying a Premier Cabria Fusion Kit, but it seems they dont sell them anymore, at least under that name. Are they now know as something else (eg Genista, series elite etc).

Anyone who has used them, please tell me your impressions. What sort of level drummer do they suit best (intermediate, beginner etc), and also how much do they/did they retail for??

Im at that funny stage of wanting to buy a new drum kit, iv been drumming for ten years on a generic kit, and cant decide on whether to go for something intermediate (ie pearl vision etc, or similar) or something truly beauiful (gretch, pearl refernce, dw custom, etc, sonor, sleishman). I am a hobbyist, loking to buy somethng i can add to over years, and also gig with. Willing to consider all opnions, etc, I will probably pos a separet thread in regard to this but feel free to share opnins.

Thanks all, look forward to hearing from you.
Andrew
 
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Do you know what wood the shells are made from and the amount of plies and the mm. Thoughs are the questions I ask when looking into a drum set. I like maple/birch and mahogany (preferable african mahogany) I like very thin shells because I like bottom end and the thinner they are the more bottom I get without having sloppy detuned heads.
As for the Premier company they've always produced quality no matter what the lines were. Their older apk and xpk kits were better than most other intermediate kits offered by the bigger companies in my opinion. Some of those luan/eucalyptus/birch combination shells kicked butt and the black interiors that were very thin were terrific sounding drums. The bottom line is what you like if the Cabria line sounds good to you I'd guess they were good. I just bought an older Premier Signia (made in 1992) it was their top of the line back then and they can rival any kit I've ever played in fact I think their the best kit I ever played. So I think Premier has earned a good reputation and deserves a close look when shopping for drums. Doc
 
Wow, thanks for prompt reply Dr Dirt.

Here are specs, not sure how many plies.
Premier Cabria 5 Piece Fusion Kit with natural lacquer maple shells

Kit Includes
22" x 18" bass
14" x 5.5" snare
10" x 8 rack tom with RIM mount
12" x 9" rack tom with RIM mount
14" x 14" floor tom

It is really hard simply reading specs, particularly in regard to plies, number, type of wood etc. I am sceptical as to whether the ear can actually detect these subtleties (ie beyond the studio). I doubt i could tell the difference between maple, v birch, v mahogany. then again Iv never been able to compare apples with apples.

There are so many options today its just confusing. !

Thanks for your advice mate. Premier honestly never came into my consideration until this option came up.

Andrew (Melbourne Australia)
 
Premier has been around a long time. They were very strong in the 90's, but fell off due to financial problems around 8-9 years ago. For a brief time in 92-93, Premier was dominating in quality among the major brands, and forced the other big names to step up their game.

While they are still in business, they have had almost no USA presence in the last several years, so my guess is they have had no Australian presence either.

I own a Premier Signia, which I love.

The Cabria was an intermediate semi-pro line from the late 90's if I recall right.
 
Thanks DogEatDog,

Very intersting. I only began drumming in 97 i think, (?) so after their Prime.

Think this shows that the brands people know the best and have the highest opinion of are those that have done the best job marketing their brands (Pearl, DW - though i still think they are excellent quality drums to).

Where are Premier from if not the US? UK?? Shows how ignorant I am!

Cheers mate
Andrew
 
Cabrias are decent drums. They're the lower-mid segment of the market but I think they're actually one of the best deals out there. What do you play now? If it's anything 'higher' from another manufacturer, I wouldn't consider it personally but Premier do make great, great kits. I've never played a Premier I didn't instantly like - they sound great too.

Sad to see the way their market presence has decreased a great deal in recent years. If I saw a kit for sale and could justify the purchase, I would jump all over a Premier.
 
They sound pretty good to me, I'm a firm believer in thin shells made from quality timber.
The kick drum sounds a little overkill the 18 deep is something I don't like compared to a 14 or 16 deep. The reason is that the 18" slap back is not as defined and if you have backline gear (amps) near you hearing your kick can become an issue. The extended shells are supposedly for projection but I haven't heard one yet that sounds better than a traditional size, or throws sound any better. I think its just another look thats become a popular fad like the 24 and up head sized drums. The drums in the 20s thru the late 40s were big like a parade drum, then the jazz guys needed a bass drum to fit in their cars so theres the 20s and 18s. Then Bonham & Danelli & Appice start using them and the fad is back. Now the big guy that McCartney uses on drums has the oversized DW and the followers are on that too. Size instead of tone enlightens so many young drummers today its just silly. The companies love it doesn't cost hardley anything more to produce a 22" or a 26" but they do cost more hahahaha!!! If you played them and like them then its all good. Doc
 
I own an original 1998 5 piece Burgundy High Gloss laquered Premier Cabria and have been playing for 19 years now. I mean original because this was the year it was originally launched to the market by Premier. The differences between these and the newer Cabrias is pretty big. First of all the 1998 ones were made with a blend of two different woods wich are Eucalyptus on the outer ply wich is very similar to maple for good mid and high frequencies and Merranti wich is the same as Mahogany on the inner ply for thunderous low frequencies specially when tuned low and most important with a thickness of only 5.2mm on all the toms and snare drum while the bass drum is 7.7mm. This thin shell type is only found in high end top of the line kits as it gives the best sound of all for studio recording, small gigs or practice rooms while the thicker shells are more for live playing to project more volume but less sound quality due to the thickness of the shell the sound does not transmit with the same speed or pureness. All this to make a two ply sandwiched shell with not just good but a great professional sound that gives out perfect fundamental notes from each drum without any unwanted overtones obviously using the right drum heads and a fine tuning. I know this after years of playing and listening to other drum kits and definitely the thickness of the shell makes a HUGE difference on the Sound along with the blend of two different types of wood to merge the sonic features of both woods.

Apart from this they were the last ones still made in England with the Made in England badge on it. Since the 2000's they moved the manufacturing of this series to Taiwan and only the flagship series were still made in England. Nowadays the Cabria does not exist anymore, you can only find the APK series that was the one replaced by the Cabria in 1998 and the XPK, they both have 7.5mm 100% birch shells and are produced in Taiwan. They are not bad but definitely not the same as the 1998 ones.

And as if this was not enough the 1998 ones also come with high tension lugs for wider tone range and easier tuning that are finished in Premier's diamond chrome also a feature only found in much more expensive kits. And to finish it also came with quick sized toms for more definite attack and faster response than the more conventional standard giving more expression and character to your playing.

For all this said I give this kit a 10/10 without any second thoughts and to anyone out there who has the chance to purchase one of these, don't hesitate on it for a second and just buy it, I guarantee you won't regret it ever.
 
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