They let me play them. That really was a bad move. No one wants 'em now. Actually, every 5 to 10 years it seems that Premier has to pull and regroup their US distribution and sales. It's odd 'cause they are seriously nice drums. From what I understand, we are in that zone again. Think back and you will see this is the case. The last time this happened, I was in Florida getting ready to move to NY. The time before that, I was in Louisiana heading to Michigan. The California-Washington move was the first time I noticed. Very odd. I remember these "shifts" quite well 'cause people I happened to be working with at the time ended up joining the Premier team. Seriously strange set of circumstances. My guess is this is what is beginning to happen...again. Thank goodness I'm a teacher now. The Arkansas music industry is safe from a small exodus.

I think it has a lot to do with who's endorsing them too.......if no big names are seen using them, then why would they sell well? Unfortunately the best endorser Premier ever had was the late Keith Moon......no one has been as larger than life than him before or since......and not many drummers in recent years have been seen playing Premier.....thats my 2 cents anyway

It's your fault, STOP MOVING!LoLoLoLo

It's a management issue. The company has no direction. The lack of Leadership and goals is the kiss of death fro any company.

Hi,

The Dolbear forums are a great source of info on Premier and other UK drums.

It seems their distribution in the UK fell apart, and that they do not have a US distributor at all these days. Here is a link to a recent Premier press release, stating:

"We can confirm that Premier Music International Limited was placed into liquidation as part of a financial restructuring of the business," said company spokesman Sven Parris. "The Premier brand will be carried on by the new company which will facilitate the shipment of all backorders and ensure that product supply for the future will be free-flowing.

http://www.pipesdrums.com/ViewObject.aspx?sys-Portal=57&sys-Class=Article&sys-ID=17912

They have been shedding endorsers at a perilous clip this last while; Steve White, Jim Kirkpatrick among the more stellar losses.

Patrick

That is so sad. A well constructed drum and company that cant stay together. I have a Rosewood XPK kit from the late 80s early 90s long lugs and black painted insides. And it sounds just as good as any pro kit today, but that is just my thoughts. I am sure others will disagee, but thats what makes America so great.

Actually, it's our ability to simultaneously read a map, eat a taco, adjust hair, and drive a car that makes America so great. But I digress. I absolutely loved my Premier kits. One of them was a wonderful xpk. Great sounding kit.

I bet it was the spirit of lily kits that broke them.....great tribute to their greatest endorser, but EXPENSIVE!

I e-mailed Premier and this is the response :

I love your email address

Antony thank you very much for your kind words and supporting Premier, ofcourse we totally agree with your views.

We will be back in the USA very shortly, unfortunatley we have not been able to find a suitable distributor, as you may be aware since Fender bought the Karman group, distribution of Musical in the USA is getting difficult

I will however drop you an email once we have a new distributor which will hopfully be within the next 3-4 Months.

Thanks for playing Premier and your great support.

Kind regards,

Mike

Mike Bufton