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MGR/Ade Downing « Premier XPK »
Published on 09/11/02 at 15:00I'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
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