Premier Genista

[Jules]

I know they have outsourced production, and are using some once high end models names, but does anyone actually know what is going on with Premier? They had issues for quite a while, and they carry on, largely in name only, it would seem. Interestingly, the Genistas (and maybe the other lines) have under sized shells.

It's really interesting stuff, really. Not anything I am going to sell of some Sonor to buy, but I do enjoy keeping a pulse on the rest of the market.

I looked at the Artist roster, and the ONLY name I recognized was Bob Richards. I don't know if he has any other claim to fame, but he was in a couple of AC/DC videos when Phil Rudd didn't show up for the video shoot. Actually, this is another case where casual observers wouldn't realize it was a sub.

[krusher74]

After the went bust , i heard the name was sold to china. (dont know how true that is)

The name is now owned by the Gear4music which is like a EU sweetwater. They have just put the Premier name on some drums they have speced out of a asian manufacturer.

Its basically like sweetwater/drum centre making their own range and using an old brand name to sell them.

Gear4music have a youtube channel you can see them demo the kits, but in my opinion Premier as a brand does not really exist.

Keith Keough was the main designer at Premier and after they went bust he started The British drum company, with UK comedian Al murry, but recently Keith Keough has also left that company.

[ShawDdrums]

Love Premier! Still rocking a terreverdi green 6 piece that I will probably never part with. As a teenager I lusted after the Genista's and finally purchased a fusion sized kit..to then add an 8 rack. I stupidly had a thought that a mapex mars pro could compete and traded up at a local music store in Hamilton, Payne Music..same store I purchased from..how I wish I was talked out of that..lol,
And many years later..after owning Signia Marquis..bought from Paul D of Udrum Waterdown..played at a cinic by Virgil D...a sweet kit indeed! Also a kit of regular Signias...I found another green terreverdi kit from a local seller and grabbed them and the sound and ease of tuning all flooded back, and love the kit. Alongside a 1968 Premier 505 set up with some extra drums..I feel I can now rest easy with what I own and use them in any context that comes up.
For me it has been Premier and Sonor all the way!

[Jules]

Nothing cheap and generic looking about this. It's sad that Premier isn't deeply rooted in Europe as it was most of its existence, but I think they are still building viable products. If I was going to step out on Sonor, I may give Premier a serious look. This wouldn't be my configuration, but still...

[DaveInNZ]

The modern era Premier were sold in NZ and then dropped, largely because when they broke (and they did) there was zero support from them at all. No spares, no help whatsoever. Obviously NZ is an outlier kind of market but still, you'd think you could get a lug through the official importer.

[Frank Godiva]

I think this is before the Genista era but still a great insight into Premier.

[Jules]

The modern era Premier were sold in NZ and then dropped, largely because when they broke (and they did) there was zero support from them at all. No spares, no help whatsoever. Obviously NZ is an outlier kind of market but still, you'd think you could get a lug through the official importer.

Really sucks that you live in what almost sounds like a vacuum with drum gear. Also, not that I was trying with getting anything from Premier, but it looks like Guitar Center and Musician's Friend are the only retailers in the US. That could make it a real pain if there were issues.

[DaveInNZ]

I think in this case, it's more just that modern Premier drums are just not backed up by support. As you know I have nothing against drums made in Asia, as when they're done right (current AQX/AQ1/AQ2, pretty much anything Yamaha make, pretty much anything Tama make, the vast majority of Pearl products) they're really good. There's no real reason that a Premier shell made in Asia today couldn't be as good as, if not better than a Premier made in England in the late 90's/early 2000's.

As someone who worked in production line manufacturing in the UK in the late 90's/early 2000's let me tell you, there's more bad than good hiding in there - engineering as an industry in the UK was in decline during that period. Workforces everywhere jaded and suffering from one downsize after another, no investment in machinery... It was a period post 60's-80's where the UK made some great stuff and a period moving towards when Asian factories (led by the Japanese originally) were investing in ways the UK couldn't compete with. Engineering in the UK now has somewhat of a renaissance, but in highly specialised areas such as motorsport and aerospace etc.

So while UK made Genista and Signia were a high point of Premier drums, I refuse to believe that behind those doors, the factory wasn't living the same story of decline in UK manufacturing. Along with that would have come plenty of 'Friday special' drum kits and slipping quality control I'm quite sure. The company, and employees, absolutely would have still cared and been very proud of their products though...

Maybe that's the difference? A modern, ruthlessly efficient factory producing stuff in Asia could totally produce something better than the original Genistas, but they don't. Maybe that's because the pride in the name isn't the same, the pride in customer care/ownership isn't the same. And maybe the parts are built to cost in a way the originals weren't. In itself that's probably one of the reasons the UK manufacturing stopped.

Until current era Asian made Premiers are being made with quality first, not cost, and until they back up their product with service, they're not going to cut it. And when they do, is an Asian made Genista going to cost the same as a Yamaha Recording Custom? Even when it all comes together, they've then got 20+ yrs of bad taste left to wash away.