Has Anyone Played the New Premier Elites?

Artstar said:
Not undersized afaik and usually not cheap of course but that is to be expected because of where they are made and they have a painstaking process IMO..

but funny enough I just happened to look on the drumcenter site and they have two marked down and these are specialy finish with a fade so that would be over 6k with some of the premium brands for 4 drums.. These are marked down here below to around 3k which are truly bargains IMO.

https://drumcenternh.com/products/b...ster-blue-leg-22-fs-db?variant=46114955526426

https://drumcenternh.com/products/b...ster-blue-leg-20-fs-db?variant=46114951856410
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ALL "premium" brands are not cheap- we'll all have our opinions on whether it's worth laying out the extra over say, a Gretsch Renown kit, which most would agree sound amazing, regardless of price point.
In addition, they're often "built to order", involving a lengthy wait, which some folk won't find acceptable.

IMHO, the modern Premier drums have little or nothing in common with the previous generation built at the Wigston factory, bar the name.
I'm sure the quality is on a par with similarly-priced drums as others have mentioned, but personally, as a long-time Premier owner, these "made in China" kits weren't even on my radar when choosing what to buy.
It's hard to quantify, & I've not even seen them in person (let alone PLAYED them), but they just don't appeal...

Me, I'm delighted with my new British Drum Company kit; it's beautifully built, stunning to look at & sounds awesome.
Just wish I had the talent to do it justice!:oops:
 
As far as I have could have touch them, they are just the same as the old ones, that just happen to be made in a different country.

A country/region where Premier got the hardware and shells in (later years) for a lot of their line-up from anyway.

If Premier was alive today they would be priced just has high (if not higher) too.


There is a reason they went down, and I applaud new ways of trying to revive the brand.
 
GSL said:
Me, I'm delighted with my new British Drum Company kit; it's beautifully built, stunning to look at & sounds awesome.
Just wish I had the talent to do it justice!
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I feel the same way about my Starclassic kit.
 
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Worth pointing out wrt the new Premier that they still haven’t managed to sell all of the Della Porta 100th Anniversary snares.

Given that they only made 100 worldwide that’s not very encouraging for general sales.

In contrast Zildjian are building 400 anniversary snares and I bet they’ll basically all be pre-sold before they’re released.
 
cbphoto said:
Are the "cold pressed" drums from British Drum Co. too expensive? Are they not undersized like the Premiere drums?
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Not undersized afaik and usually not cheap of course but that is to be expected because of where they are made and they have a painstaking process IMO..

but funny enough I just happened to look on the drumcenter site and they have two marked down and these are specialy finish with a fade so that would be over 6k with some of the premium brands for 4 drums.. These are marked down here below to around 3k which are truly bargains IMO.

https://drumcenternh.com/products/b...ster-blue-leg-22-fs-db?variant=46114955526426

https://drumcenternh.com/products/b...ster-blue-leg-20-fs-db?variant=46114951856410
 
mpthomson said:
Worth pointing out wrt the new Premier that they still haven’t managed to sell all of the Della Porta 100th Anniversary snares.

Given that they only made 100 worldwide that’s not very encouraging for general sales.

In contrast Zildjian are building 400 anniversary snares and I bet they’ll basically all be pre-sold before they’re released.
Click to expand...
Not saying zildjian won’t sell those 400 units like hotcakes….I’m sure they will….but it sure appears the us markets (and elsewhere around the world) are at a tipping point. People need to eat before they buy drums (and of course that’s debatable too lol)
 
I've heard a statistic that, the total number of drums sold in 2019-2021 (or was it 2020-2022?) is less than half of the number in 2018.
Even in still-growing economies like China, there's not much room for new acoustic drums. People living in tall flats or Khrushchyovkas may as well hit their neighbours' eardrums directly , which is partly why electronic drums are developing rapidly here.

Premier's not to blame - instead they fall victim. Gear4music might not be the most professional in reviving a classic brand, and their product structuring are not the best, but I don't see anything wrong with the drums themselves. They even come with some new tooling, which is a good sign to me.
Compared with them, the BDC looks to me like overpriced generic, non-undersized, non-thin, straight shells, and "made in Britain" doesn't appeal to me (I'd rather buy made in China to support MY local workers and factories), with a "pinched" sound more akin to Yamaha RC's. The Genista is practically everything BDC and then some, at half the price. What's not to like?
 
Iristone said:
"made in Britain" doesn't appeal to me (I'd rather buy made in China to support MY local workers and factories
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That’s a very good point well made mate. I harp on about Blaby Road from a place of joyful nostalgia rather than national pride…As I said before, if Ged Lynch is still playing them, they’re well made drums and more than worth a look. :) (y)
 
Al Strange said:
That’s a very good point well made mate. I harp on about Blaby Road from a place of joyful nostalgia rather than national pride…As I said before, if Ged Lynch is still playing them, they’re well made drums and more than worth a look. :) (y)
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I think what Keith Moon and Phil Collins had done on these drums is much more of a pride than the drum brand itself. I enjoy listening to British rock music, but many great songs are recorded on Ludwig and Gretsch drums - which doesn't make them any less British!
 
TheDrummerFromAmsterdam said:
As far as I have could have touch them, they are just the same as the old ones, that just happen to be made in a different country.

A country/region where Premier got the hardware and shells in (later years) for a lot of their line-up from anyway.

If Premier was alive today they would be priced just has high (if not higher) too.


There is a reason they went down, and I applaud new ways of trying to revive the brand.
Click to expand...

It's not a brand revival. A corporation bought the name. That's all. They're manufacturing drums in Asia and putting a badge on the drums that they bought rights to. There's a company that does same thing with famous old racing-oriented bicycle marques. They have bought the names and then get bikes from Asia and put the names on the bikes. You're not really buying anything remotely related to Motobecane. Or Premier.
 
Al Strange said:
That’s a very good point well made mate. I harp on about Blaby Road from a place of joyful nostalgia rather than national pride…As I said before, if Ged Lynch is still playing them, they’re well made drums and more than worth a look. :) (y)
Click to expand...

The old real Premier Made in England should be appealing. Those were well made drums with great chroming. Lots of innovation in models like Resonator. Genista. They are heavy shells which is why they appealed to rockers. I had a kit or two around here but would not consider gigging with them at my old age lol. But sound fantastic. You're not gonna get that old Premier quality from anything new made in Asia.
 
Rattlin' Bones said:
It's not a brand revival. A corporation bought the name. That's all. They're manufacturing drums in Asia and putting a badge on the drums that they bought rights to. There's a company that does same thing with famous old racing-oriented bicycle marques. They have bought the names and then get bikes from Asia and put the names on the bikes. You're not really buying anything remotely related to Motobecane. Or Premier.
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You are missing my point.
 
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