Old Premier APK's sound as good as anything

evans_69

evans_69

Silver Member
Of all the kits i have owned, My 1990's Premier APK sounds as good to my ears and many people who are drummers comment on the sound of my kit. I have owned Masters, Starclassics and Ludwigs. Maybe it's just a great one off kit i don't know.

What are your thoughts on them ?
 
Couple of pics, not setup though. Blue diamond pearl i think.
 

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No man, I think your correct. There is something about those 90's premiers? All of them. I had a Genista for 17 years. It was a fantastic sounding and looking kit. I recently purchased a classic maple and traded my genistas as part of the deal. I definitely don't regret getting my Luddys but I wish I had kept the premiers. Great ,great drums.
 
Nice to hear and know.
Where are APK's in the Premier hierarchy for the 90's? And wood type?
 
evans_69 said:
Of all the kits i have owned, My 1990's Premier APK sounds as good to my ears and many people who are drummers comment on the sound of my kit. I have owned Masters, Starclassics and Ludwigs. Maybe it's just a great one off kit i don't know.

What are your thoughts on them ?
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I think PREMIER made those shells a little undersized (you could measure to verify).

I had a YAMAHA era PROJECTOR set, 3 ply scandinavian birch. What really impressed me most (and I didn't realize this till they were replaced) were the PREMIER drumheads, a different MYLAR than US made heads, they sounded the best on the PROJECTORS.
 
I still have mine from 1986. Mine say Premier Royale but the front head said APK. They are painted black on the inside. I keep mine as a beater kit, and I gig them sometimes, when I'm playing in a tight corner or questionable bar. I enjoy playing them as much as anything else I own. They are real deep, fat sounding toms with a good punchy bass drum. Their metal snare drums all sound really good too. I also really liked the styling sensibilities of their drums. They just look very good to me.
 
evans_69 said:
Of all the kits i have owned, My 1990's Premier APK sounds as good to my ears and many people who are drummers comment on the sound of my kit. I have owned Masters, Starclassics and Ludwigs. Maybe it's just a great one off kit i don't know.

What are your thoughts on them ?
Click to expand...
Absolutely 👍 l have an old APK kit and l still play a 13" rack Tom and a 16" floor Tom which really sounds so deep and big people think it's an 18" floor 🤣l play pearl masters and l just have to play my premier Tom's in my configuration set up!! They sound awesome!👍
 
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evans_69 said:
Of all the kits i have owned, My 1990's Premier APK sounds as good to my ears and many people who are drummers comment on the sound of my kit. I have owned Masters, Starclassics and Ludwigs. Maybe it's just a great one off kit i don't know.

What are your thoughts on them ?
Click to expand...
They went thru a number shell wood combo's, during their production ...... best info I've found is ..........


"There generally is a lot of misinformation regarding The APK( and XPK) lines from Premier.
The APK line has been produced in a number of different varieties over the years, both in England, and in the later years made in Taiwan.
The misinformation being passed out orginates from people mixing up the different varieties, and also sometimes dragging the Cabria series into the whole mess.

There generally are 3 varieties of the APK line that show up often.
The MKI APK Royale from the early 80's. Speedboat lugs. These had nice shells with re-rings. Available in laquer(xpk wasn't around yet) and wrapped finish.

The MK II Apk from the late 80's. Long hi-tension lugs.These had ply shells (yamaha style) made out of meranti(also known as Luan or Philippine mahogany) black stained interior. Wrap finish only."

MK III APK from 94. Small low mass lug, later used on the Artist series. Wrap finish only. These had for a short time a shell made out of mdf (mostly found on kits with the crazy abalone or satin flame wraps). After a year or so the shell changed back to a ply lay up made out of meranti and eucalyptus with interior birch ply.
The easiest way to tell the difference between a kit with mdf shells and a ply shells is that the mdf shells were black inside, and the ply shells had natural interiors. This only applies on post 94 low mass lug APK
The made in England production of APK seized in 98/99.
 
I had the black diamond wrap on mine in 3U/1D configuration and natural maple snare. I loved that kit. Amazing quality for bottom of their line.
 
AzHeat said:
I had the black diamond wrap on mine in 3U/1D configuration and natural maple snare. I loved that kit. Amazing quality for bottom of their line.
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They were and a few Premier endorsers used long lug APKs in the studio as opposed to whatever else they had (Charlie Morgan for one, but there were others).
 
XPK 97 black and gold raised badge I had from new.
They were a "strong average"..
The hardware was as good as the shells. I still have and use the cymbal stands.
 
evans_69 said:
Of all the kits i have owned, My 1990's Premier APK sounds as good to my ears and many people who are drummers comment on the sound of my kit. I have owned Masters, Starclassics and Ludwigs. Maybe it's just a great one off kit i don't know.

What are your thoughts on them ?
Click to expand...
 
I still use/play my old APK 13" and 16" Tom's with my PEARL MASTERS kit purely because of their sound! 👍Birch wood grain running north/south to the bearing edges! 👍
 
When I was a kid I wanted one of those 80s XPK kits so badly. Compared to everyone else's entry level kits Premier's looked so much more classy.
 
I remember having entry set from Premier called Cabria. Tuned well and with a good heads they sounded surprisingly good. Great drums. Rod Morgenstein plays (or used to play) Premiers and they sound awesome. But I heard Signias are heavy to carry around.
 
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