Question for Premier Drum Experts

larryz

Platinum Member
There is a local person selling this Premier drum set. He claims they're from the 1980s, though when it comes to Premiers I am clueless. The badges are without serial numbers. The lugs are unusual. Anyway, seller says his late relative was a pro drummer so I'm thinking they gotta be decent. Any help identifying these would be much appreciated. These are jazz/bop sizes - 18" bass, 14" floor, etc., includes snare. Can anyone put a ballpark value on these?
 

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The lugs are what was Premier's standard High tension lug. These look like they may have been from the 70's going by the TOM mount. The shells at this time were Birch with beech reinforcing rings. Premeier drums had a very unique sound compared to the other manufacturers of this time period. The sound is very warm, fat and resonant, probably attributed to the combination of the Birch shells, reinforcing rings and diecast hoops.
Premier's chrome was done in house and is much superior to any American chrome die to the different voltage used in the chroming process at Premier.Premier also made their own heads in-house ( Everplay) and these were really nice as well. One other interesting tid bit about Premier- for the longest time they did not make a 13 x 9 mounted tom, instead they produced a 14 x 8 mounted tom.Keith Moon's Pictures of Lily kit had 3 of these toms on it.


Value on these would be about $350.00 to $500.00 depending on the condition and series.
 
If those were $350, I'd get them in a drop of a hat. Well made drums. Looking at catalogs seem they are late 70's not 80's. But the snare looks deeper than a 'bop' size.
 
Agree on '70s based on the color (sparkles weren't popular in the '80s) and bass drum t-rods. A pretty little kit, grab em!! If they're in great condition, I don't think $500 is out of line. Just be glad they're not vintage Gretsch, they'd be a lot more!

Bermuda
 
Thanks everyone for replies so far, I appreciate it. The seller is asking $1,000, which I thought was high even though I knew little about the drums. They are gorgeous and I'd love to have them. He sold Camco, Gretsch and Rogers kits his relative also had for only $200 or so more within 24 hours of him posting the ad. These Premiers are still unsold which makes me think they're overpriced, but...
 
I don't know if this can help, but I can tell you that I played a similar kit at the end of the seventies (!!!) for several gigs, and it was a joy to play. OK, the kit I played had different sizes (22", 12", 14", 16", 14" metal snare), but I recognize the model.

The kit belonged to a friend that could not play these gigs because of some health problems, and I could not use my Slingerland kit because I was also playing other gigs in other locations. Well, from an esthetic point of view the kit looked "old fashioned" to me - at least compared to my Slngerland - and I did not like that strange 8" x 14" tom RickP mentioned above. That said, the set had a beautiful, warm, powerful, precise sound. The construction quality was also really good. No doubts, from a sonic point of view it was way better than my Slingerlands.

I have no idea about the market price of the kit you scored, but I would say that if you can get it for 350 - 400 US$, well, it seems a good deal to me.
 
Agree that a grand is overpriced. Ifyou are really after a cool bop kit, and this will be, I'd be paying about however much a new Sonor Safari/Meridian Bop/Silverstar bop is in the US. It's a nicerkit, but it is used. The way I see it, if you're paying any more, you might as well get the new one, but for the same money it's worth getting. Good luck!
 
I don't know anything about Premier drums, except for that I don't see them too often around here.

A local re-sale store has had a set for $279 (after a couple price drops), for about a year with no takers. Surprising because they're standard sizes, the chrome looks real good, and they seem to be in good shape.

Also, the local GC store has had a set for about a half year. Same situation - decent shape, the price doesn't seem way too high or anything - go figure.

Anyways, here's what GC currently has for Premiers: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Acoustic-Drum-Sets.gc?Ntt=premier#narrowSideBar
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There is a local person selling this Premier drum set. He claims they're from the 1980s, though when it comes to Premiers I am clueless. The badges are without serial numbers. The lugs are unusual. Anyway, seller says his late relative was a pro drummer so I'm thinking they gotta be decent. Any help identifying these would be much appreciated. These are jazz/bop sizes - 18" bass, 14" floor, etc., includes snare. Can anyone put a ballpark value on these?

These are late '60's or very early @70's elite drums- signified by the hi ten lugs on the small toms and BD and the single lugs on the floor tom, mahogany 3 ply shells with beech rerings and very excellent. The Tom holder I don't think was in use much after '72 and I'm sure the dishappearing spurs stopped abiout them, also.- I would guess they are late 60's though. One of these kits, in plychromatic gold, was the first acoustic kit I played when I started in the early '80's. Good drums but I don't think thy're worth the $1000he's asking. In excellent condition in the UK, you'd be looking at £400-£500 (approx $600-$750).

Hope that helps.
 
Premiers definitely don't go for what they are worth, check inside to see if they're dark mahogany or lighter birch. 18 kicks are really rare , 14 floors not so easy to find as well. Great sounding drums, my kid has a set of birch 20, 12, 14, love em. I would say 650 to 800 would be fair, especially with the snare, some of those old snares will go for 250 to 300.
PC
 
Do somebody knows were are made premier elite series? In taiwan or uk how i recognize them beacuse de badge only sais premier it not sais where is made as the old big P badge that use to sais made in england thanks folks
 
Do somebody knows were are made premier elite series? In taiwan or uk how i recognize them beacuse de badge only sais premier it not sais where is made as the old big P badge that use to sais made in england thanks folks

Hi
The uk made premier series have a little badge under the air vent grommet, that says which year the drums are made, and shows a small union jack flag.
 
Thanks so much thas a big help because the one that i want to buy sais hand made and have the smal british flag i suposse now with your answer tha this is uk made
 
I recently found this Premier kit for sale and thinking about making a purchase.

It's an older kit in good shape and I like the wrap color.

The kit is 10,12, and 14 (mounted), 22 bd, with 2 cymbal stands. brackets, snare stand, bass pedal, hi-hat stand (all premier brand)

It has the P badges that say Made in England - I think it might be an APK or XPK.
From the late 80's maybe?

They are asking $340 (+ shipping) - is this price reasonable?
 

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One other interesting tid bit about Premier- for the longest time they did not make a 13 x 9 mounted tom, instead they produced a 14 x 8 mounted tom.

The "pancake" toms; yeah, these were odd. I recently found one of these kits for sale and the previous owner converted one of the 14 x 8 toms to a snare. Didn't sound that bad, even though he didn't even put a snare bed in.
 
I recently found this Premier kit for sale and thinking about making a purchase.

It's an older kit in good shape and I like the wrap color.

The kit is 10,12, and 14 (mounted), 22 bd, with 2 cymbal stands. brackets, snare stand, bass pedal, hi-hat stand (all premier brand)

It has the P badges that say Made in England - I think it might be an APK or XPK.
From the late 80's maybe?

They are asking $340 (+ shipping) - is this price reasonable?

That's a mid 90s APK. Worth about £200 in the UK.
 
Gentlemen,
Thank you very much for your comments on the APK dumkit.
Now the fun part begins - Buy now or continue the hunt.
 
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