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MGR/Mercedes « Premier XPK »
Published on 10/10/02 at 15:00Bought 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
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