Premier XPK

I bought my 6 Pce XPK in 1996 for about £700 from a dealer in the UK near London.
It is still in immaculate condition.

Versatile kit, reliable hardware (no stripping threads), all designed to last if you are prepared to look after it.

I recently added ISO mounts and had the tom blocks removed,shell holes filled, and bearing edges re-finished. The kit sounds really toneful and fat. It now sounds like iut was always supposed to.

Due to undersizes shells these drums work best with Evans heads, as Remo heads need to sit tighter on the shell.

Evans also remain in tune on this kit better than the Remo I used.

At the time I bought this kit, it was definitely the best kit on the market for the money. The Birch used in the shells is premium Finnish(Finland)Birch and is the same used on the Genista.


Although many new kits have come on to the market in this range, I might get another kit one day, but I will not replace this characterful little set.
If its good enough for Radiohead's drummer its sure good enough for me (his studio kit).
I have also bigged up my bass drum with a new front head (with no hole cut) this gives a nice warm fat wallop.The whole kit has a nice balance to it,including the nice crisp musical snare.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Bought on ebay several years ago for $585 US. 4 piece no hardware, no snare.

The sound is excellent, especially with aquarian coated studio-x heads. I still have yet to replace the premier resonator heads but they will have to go soon-they are pretty crummy. The finish is beautiful. My kit is a tobacco fade laquer. It is also easier to play (for me) as the sizes are smaller-20" bass drum, 10 and 12" rack toms, and 14" hanging floor tom. I like the hanging floor tom because it gives me a little more versatility in where I can place it, and opens up the sound more. I am also not worried about it tipping over as long as I have it mounted to a boom stand.

At first, I liked the low mass lugs but upon closer inspection and tuning I realized that they seemed to be "buzzing" a bit. I am planning on removing all of the hardware from the shells to isolate the noises and then dampen them so this shouldn't be a problem. I also don't like the tom mount shaft. It is way too long for me and goes down into the bass drum for about a foot. The tom arms are ok, though, with a ball and socket joint to provide the most minute adjustments.

The construction is very good. The XPK's are made up of about 40% birch (outer and inner plies) and about 60% eucalyptus (middle plies). At first this bothered me a little but after doing the research I found that some custom drum makers use eucalyptus as a tone wood and attest to its strength and durability. The construction of the individual plies themselves is also very well done; looking at the drum from the bearing edges and the inside, the drums look and feel very solid. I have no worries about playing this set for a very long time.

This is an excellent kit for the money. Yeah, there are better kits out there, but you might have to sacrafice an arm to get one. If you need to stay within a budget (under 800 used is the current price), Premier is the way to go. I only think they are cheap because not a lot of people know about them and I don't think guitar center carries much premier stuff if any. I see a lot of premier kits on stage as well so I am confident they would hold up to gigging. 4/5 for value, construction, and sound.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I've had my Premier XPK 6 piece kit now for about 7 years and used it regularly now pretty much once or twice a week for rehearsals and gigs. I bought the Rosewood finished kit new from one of the UKs top retailers in the south of England called Poole Percussion. The guys there are fantastic, they're really supportive and have always been helpful when it comes to good honest advice - no pushy sales guys talking the talk thank god.

The drums themselves are a fairly well built semi-pro kit and are ideal for the sort of work I'm doing, my theory is, why spend thousands on equipment at this level when all that happens is that it gets knocked, kicked and scratched by psycho guitar players and pulled and shoved by equally mad soundmen - the drums stand up well to most of it. The 10" tom is great, it's my favourite for tone and sustain - quite slack Remo pinstripe to thank also. The 12" is not so exciting but the 13" and 16" are great for sustain but again the head has to be fairly slack to allow the ring - try not to be tempted to muffel the skins with tape as the projection from the shells is reduced dramatically. It may sound poor from where you're sitting but have faith and take no notice of the sound engineer - you're the drummer - you're the daddy.

The hardware supplied with kit is VERY standard so consider a replacement bass drum pedal straight away and always steer towards double braced hardware (4000 Premier range) although the hi-hat stand is very robust. The double tom holder is way too heafty and very cumbersome - it also lacks in the adjustment area too which can be a real pain to find a nice setup but like the hi-hat is robust.

Firstly, look out for the lacquer finish going milky. This will be a sure sign that the kit's done the rounds and may have had stage lighting placed close to them regularly. Secondly, consider a different snare to the supplied XPK - it's not too bad but lacks power and projection and is difficult to get the tuning right. Thirdly and the most major problem I've had is the lugs on all the shells - due to the poor construction and quality of metal used on the lugs, they're simply popping away from the shell. This is not down to over tension but I'm sure down to the casting and design of the unit although this has only started to happen recently so it could be an age thing... something to be careful of with second hand XPK's?

Overall, a good kit for the price when new and perhaps underated in some critics eyes. My top tip is to keep skins slack to retain depth from the shells, consider Remo pinstripes (unmuffled) and my best investment yet was replacing the Bass drum heads with the Evans EQ system - it's gone from a flabby thump to a deep rounded thud with a tiny bit of sustain. Don't be afraid to buy but ONLY buy if you feel the price is right - second hand prices should be cheap.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com