Premier 2000 vintage.1971

sonormapex

Senior Member
Picked up a dusty, dirty, old 2000 today, that has everything there, so a good bath and new heads are in order.It does not say what the metal shell is made of be it aluminum or brass or steel, and I know the magnet test, but it doesn't always prove accurate. Just look at Sonor shells!! Anyone know for sure what these shells were in 1971?
 
I had one, its Aluminium, and it is a SUPERB snare drum. Very underrated, and I think it out duels its competition (Supraphonic) in many ways, it is certainly better built.
Good find!
 
Weight is another test you can do: if a metal shell is surprisingly light, it's aluminum (or rarely, titanium). Steel, brass and bronze are so close in density, they're indistinguishable from each other.
 
Its a seamless shell and quite light so I'm going with aluminum. This is quite a superbly built drum as I finally get at it!!
 
There are some steel 2000s out there but they're all 1980s drums. If your is from 1971 then it's ally. The vast majority are. There are now only a few that aren't pitted, same issue as Ludwig had with chrome plating aluminium.

If you haven't had one before be very careful if you alter the mechanism. If it sounds ok DON'T TOUCH THE SMALL ADJUSTER SCREWS THAT THE WIRES ATTACH TO!!. I repeat, DON'T TOUCH THEM! You can remove the wires without altering these screws as the keyhole bit of the snare wire end will fit over them if that makes sense? They were set at the factory and not only are they very hard to get settled again if you move them, the screws themselves are extremely fragile and have a tendency to snap if you twist the screwdriver even marginally too hard. If you do have to move them make sure they've been liberally treated with penetrating oil/WD 40 type stuff to give your self a better chance of them not breaking.

Fab drums if they're set up right.
 
Great info, much appreciated. It sounds like this is perfect for jazz!..Anyone know where I get those tiny screws were not supposed to alter, because mine are missing? LOL~
 
I've owned 3 of the 2000s and they are absolutely the BEST aluminum snares around. Replacing the wires is no big deal and are available from Nick Hopkins drums in England. The chrome plating is what Premier calls Diamond Chrome and is done by the same company that does all the chroming on Rolls Royce cars. Most recent 2000 I got from a guy in town who was selling off his fathers drum stuff when he passed away. I paid $125. The drum looked like it had never been used. NO pitting. No rust. ALL original heads, wires, etc. AND the flowbeam was as smooth as butter. Loved that drum, but out of curiosity listed it on Ebay and a guy bought it for $450!!! It was truly collectors grade and belonged in a museum. Even though I made a big profit, I wish I hadn't sold it.
 

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I've owned 3 of the 2000s and they are absolutely the BEST aluminum snares around. Replacing the wires is no big deal and are available from Nick Hopkins drums in England. The chrome plating is what Premier calls Diamond Chrome and is done by the same company that does all the chroming on Rolls Royce cars. Most recent 2000 I got from a guy in town who was selling off his fathers drum stuff when he passed away. I paid $125. The drum looked like it had never been used. NO pitting. No rust. ALL original heads, wires, etc. AND the flowbeam was as smooth as butter. Loved that drum, but out of curiosity listed it on Ebay and a guy bought it for $450!!! It was truly collectors grade and belonged in a museum. Even though I made a big profit, I wish I hadn't sold it.

I've no idea where this myth about the chrome being done by a Rolls Royce parts supplier comes from, I've seen it loads and it simply isn't true.

ALL Premier's chroming, until they moved production to China, was done in house by Premier in Leicester, there was no out-sourcing. Indeed, it's allegedly the reason (or one of them) that Yamaha wanted to buy Premier in the late 80s as they wanted to transfer the tech over to their own chroming, both for drum and motorcycle purposes!

Incidentally 'is' should be 'was' as Premier aren't currently producing any drums at all as far as I can gather.
 
I long to find one !
It's known as a very good snare.
What is it worth (price / value) ?
 
Depends on condition, but I,ve seen them on reverb for 400-650 US, and I,ve seen the somewhat neglected ones for 175-225. Find one in decent condition should be about 250+...They are special once you get them set up.
 
I long to find one !
It's known as a very good snare.
What is it worth (price / value) ?

I bought mine 3 years ago for $100. Perfect condition, chrome, wires and all.
It was worth far more than that ($250) at least where I live.
 
Thanks guys,
250/300 € seems to be the average price in good condition, 100$ you've been lucky !
 
I've no idea where this myth about the chrome being done by a Rolls Royce parts supplier comes from, I've seen it loads and it simply isn't true.

ALL Premier's chroming, until they moved production to China, was done in house by Premier in Leicester, there was no out-sourcing. Indeed, it's allegedly the reason (or one of them) that Yamaha wanted to buy Premier in the late 80s as they wanted to transfer the tech over to their own chroming, both for drum and motorcycle purposes!

Incidentally 'is' should be 'was' as Premier aren't currently producing any drums at all as far as I can gather.

Thanks! Great info on a myth I've believed forever. I looked at some old catalogs online and the Diamond Coating chrome procedure is/was an in-house process. http://www.vintagedrumguide.com/premier_drumsets_1972.htm

The 1937 catalog also specifically mentions that Premier did all work onsite and later catalogs from the 50's are still careful to say no subcontracting was used at all.

BTW, I still think Premier's English-made chrome is stellar...I heard another reason Yamaha bought Premier in the 80s had to do with better shell roundness, but someone could've just been blowing gas.

...
 
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Depends on condition, but I,ve seen them on reverb for 400-650 US, and I,ve seen the somewhat neglected ones for 175-225. Find one in decent condition should be about 250+...They are special once you get them set up.


If you can get someone to post one from the UK to the US they routinely come up for £125-150GBP (up to $200) over here as they're much more common. Scabby ones a bit less, good condition ones a bit more.

Be wary of anything with no pitting, I've seen very very few aluminium drums that are pox free now (though there are a few out there, see the pic above) and pitting free drums are more likely to be the last steel ones.
 
Been searching for one of those for some time now, and finally today I got my hands on this Premier 2000 aluminum snare in good condition for a reasonable sum of money. Very well built, excellent chrome, no flaking, but some scratches. It will be put up to test next week. Don't have a drum key for it yet, they seem to be scarce, so a coin will have to do for now.
 

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The above works if the ends of the tension rods are a little splayed through age and use, if they're still tight then a Sonor key won't fit.

However if you look at the Stdrums.de website in Hints and Tips they'll show you a method of filing down a Sonor drum key so that it does fit.

Alternatively just buy some square headed rods and keep the slot head ones for if you want to sell the drum on.
 
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