Identifying Premier kit

iCe

iCe

Gold Member
Hi all!

For years I've been searching for info about the gear Pete Kircher used when he was with Status Quo (1982 - 1985) to no avail. Even e-mailed Paiste about it, but sadly all info was lost. The only thing i know are the things on the pics: Premier drums and Paiste cymbals. Anyway, the topic about Scruffy Kits and the comments about vintage kits led me to this...
Still would love to have a 'vintage' Premier kit like this and similar cymbal setup (i owe it to my younger self drooling over it haha)
Is this a Premier Resonator kit? I assume with big toms (12, 13, 14, 16, 18)

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Based on the lugs in the photo, I'd say you were on the right track. It certainly looks like a resonator setup. Premier drums still exists in the UK (according to their site) yet no one seems to be home to answer anything (I've tried, repeatedly).
Guitar Center seems to be the best place to find used Premier kits and they're relatively inexpensive.
Random Premier trivia: Did you know Ringo Starr was a Premier player and only switched to Ludwig because Premier didn't offer an oyster sparkle wrap and that's what he wanted?
 
arpic75 said:
Based on the lugs in the photo, I'd say you were on the right track. It certainly looks like a resonator setup. Premier drums still exists in the UK (according to their site) yet no one seems to be home to answer anything (I've tried, repeatedly).
Guitar Center seems to be the best place to find used Premier kits and they're relatively inexpensive.
Random Premier trivia: Did you know Ringo Starr was a Premier player and only switched to Ludwig because Premier didn't offer an oyster sparkle wrap and that's what he wanted?
Click to expand...


Thanks! I was thinking about e-mailing them, but read a lot about how it is going down the drain with them.
I live in Europe so if i find something at GC the shipping costs will be huge ?
 
Thanks, going to take a look on that.
Sometimes i think it's better just to order some shells and make my own kit to save some costs hehe
stdrums.de have some great shells
 
arpic75 said:
Based on the lugs in the photo, I'd say you were on the right track. It certainly looks like a resonator setup. Premier drums still exists in the UK (according to their site) yet no one seems to be home to answer anything (I've tried, repeatedly).
Guitar Center seems to be the best place to find used Premier kits and they're relatively inexpensive.
Random Premier trivia: Did you know Ringo Starr was a Premier player and only switched to Ludwig because Premier didn't offer an oyster sparkle wrap and that's what he wanted?
Click to expand...
Liners?
 
I've done some homework and I'm now 99.9% certain it's an Elite kit but the larger drums have different lugs so possibly it's a mash up of Soundwave or early Projector too.
The 1980/1 brochure lists 3 professional level kits, The Resonator, Elite and Soundwave. I know it's not a Resonator because it would have inner liners giving the interior of the shell a smooth and screw and washer free appearance. The only caveat to that is that he MIGHT have bought a Resonator and had the liners taken out but that's unlikely. The Soundwave has got the different lugs, one top and one bottom of the shell.
By the time you get to the 1985 brochure the kits were still Resonators and now Projectors which again had lugs top and bottom of the shell so perhaps it's those and the Elite. The one piece bridge lugs didn't appear until the late 80's/early 90's.
 
Thin Shell said:
They have the speedboat lugs and triple flange hoops so they are Soundwave. At least one of Phil Collins' Premier kits had the same lugs too. Same shells were used for Resonator, Soundwave and Elite. Just different Lugs, hoops and for the resonators, liners.
Click to expand...
I'm with you, the only doubt in my mind was that "to me" the smallest tom looks like it's got one piece lugs but that could be my eyes and the limitations of the photo. If it's got the speedboat lugs too then definitely Soundwave.
I Googled Pete Kircher and found a more recent photo of him with a blue Premier kit with coated heads that looked to be perhaps a Soundwave in a 5 piece configuration but the jpeg size and the angle of the photo make it tricky too
 
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iCe said:
Hi all!

For years I've been searching for info about the gear Pete Kircher used when he was with Status Quo (1982 - 1985) to no avail. Even e-mailed Paiste about it, but sadly all info was lost. The only thing i know are the things on the pics: Premier drums and Paiste cymbals. Anyway, the topic about Scruffy Kits and the comments about vintage kits led me to this...
Still would love to have a 'vintage' Premier kit like this and similar cymbal setup (i owe it to my younger self drooling over it haha)
Is this a Premier Resonator kit? I assume with big toms (12, 13, 14, 16, 18)

View attachment 96321 View attachment 96322 View attachment 96323
Click to expand...
Like the pics
 
Woolwich said:
I'm with you, the only doubt in my mind was that "to me" the smallest tom looks like it's got one piece lugs but that could be my eyes and the limitations of the photo. If it's got the speedboat lugs too then definitely Soundwave.
I Googled Pete Kircher and found a more recent photo of him with a blue Premier kit with coated heads that looked to be perhaps a Soundwave in a 5 piece configuration but the jpeg size and the angle of the photo make it tricky too
Click to expand...

Which pic is that? I assume the Live Aid pic which does look like a different kit.
Hard so find some (recent) pics since after Live Aid he quiet the music business.
 
iCe said:
Which pic is that? I assume the Live Aid pic which does look like a different kit.
Hard so find some (recent) pics since after Live Aid he quiet the music business.
Click to expand...

Hi iCe

it wasn’t Live Aid, it was a photo that was little more than a thumbnail on the Discogs site.

www.discogs.com

Peter Kircher

Explore the discography of Peter Kircher. Shop for vinyl, CDs, and more from Peter Kircher on Discogs.
www.discogs.com www.discogs.com
 
Woolwich said:
Hi iCe

it wasn’t Live Aid, it was a photo that was little more than a thumbnail on the Discogs site.

www.discogs.com

Peter Kircher

Explore the discography of Peter Kircher. Shop for vinyl, CDs, and more from Peter Kircher on Discogs.
www.discogs.com www.discogs.com
Click to expand...

Yup, that pic was taken at Live Aid ;)

 
iCe said:
Hi all!

For years I've been searching for info about the gear Pete Kircher used when he was with Status Quo (1982 - 1985) to no avail. Even e-mailed Paiste about it, but sadly all info was lost. The only thing i know are the things on the pics: Premier drums and Paiste cymbals. Anyway, the topic about Scruffy Kits and the comments about vintage kits led me to this...
Still would love to have a 'vintage' Premier kit like this and similar cymbal setup (i owe it to my younger self drooling over it haha)
Is this a Premier Resonator kit? I assume with big toms (12, 13, 14, 16, 18)

View attachment 96321 View attachment 96322 View attachment 96323
Click to expand...

Straying a bit off topic, how the f... have I never heard of this band? Looking on Wiki these guys were huge all over but a tiny to non existent band in the USA.

I grew up in the 70s and am a HUGE consumer of the decade’s music. Wow.


 
Peedy said:
Straying a bit off topic, how the f... have I never heard of this band? Looking on Wiki these guys were huge all over but a tiny to non existent band in the USA.

I grew up in the 70s and am a HUGE consumer of the decade’s music. Wow.


Click to expand...

Yeah for some reason it didn't take of across the pond. But that was back when there wasn't YouTube and bands were at the mercy of record labels to release and promote albums. If i look on setlist.fm the last US tour was in 2003. But it's also the other way around. Styx for example hardly tours over here and are huge in the US.

Anyway, glad to introduce you to them ;)
 
Currently doubtful they’ll make a set list. What I just heard makes me think they never left 1958.

Kinda like a Johnnie B Goode fest, Hendrix’s version that is. That type of music was short lived in the U. S.
 
That’s a harsh view to voice Peedy :) Pre lockdown we put Paper Plane on our set list. It’s as driving a rocker as you’ll come across and it went down well at every gig. Speaking as a Briton where Quo is revered as opposed to in countries where they never made a splash, I’m constantly surprised when doing a top line Google Search or a look on a Spotify playlist at how many hits they produced that I as a non fan know, never mind the album tracks that were equally as good but were never released as singles. They kicked off Live Aid with John Fogarty’s Rockin All Over The World, a song most people think they wrote due to the success they made of it. That alone cements their place and even though the line ups have changed and Rick Parfitt sadly passed away I defy any audience not to smile and start bouncing when that song, Down Down, Caroline, Roll Over Lay Down, Whatever you want etc strikes up.
 
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Woolwich said:
That’s a harsh view to voice Peedy :) Pre lockdown we put Paper Plane on our set list. It’s as driving a rocker as you’ll come across and it went down well at every gig. Speaking as a Briton where Quo is revered as opposed to in countries where they never made a splash, I’m constantly surprised when doing a top line Google Search or a look on a Spotify playlist at how many hits they produced that I as a non fan know, never mind the album tracks that were equally as good but were never released as singles. They kicked off Live Aid with John Fogarty’s Rockin All Over The World, a song most people think they wrote due to the success they made of it. That alone cements their place and even though the line ups have changed and Rick Parfitt sadly passed away I defy any audience not to smile and start bouncing when that song, Down Down, Caroline, Roll Over Lay Down, Whatever you want etc strikes up.
Click to expand...

Man, I coulda been a lot harsher. Kindergarten lyrics. The same guitar riffs used OVER and OVER again etc. I confess that my takeaway after listening to their highest charters was: THIS band was huge in the UK?!? Seems like they just use the same Chuck Berry formula in EVERY SONG. Just listen to the Down Down video. Berry shoulda sued their asses.

Of course Led Zeppelin never did reach the same kind of rock god status back home that they did in the states.

To each their own. And before anyone goes batshit crazy on me . . . one word: skiffle.

Pete

Edit - Wow wow wow. Just checked the charts for Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love. Top 5 all over the world in 1969. Didn’t even make the charts in the UK . . . so, yeah. Edit II - see next two posts.
 
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