Premier going under?

[slinky]

Keith Moon held the flag during his whole career I believe.

Pictures of Lilly re-issued kit

[Ricardo]

Keith Moon held the flag during his whole career I believe.

I thought the Lilly drums were so unique and beautiful.
Too bad Moon would delight in their destruction.

[Pearl MCX Man]

I would love to own a Lily drum kit but for 15,000 I will just dream about owning one.

[slinky]

^ yeah me too. It would be fun to see the originals up close. They must be still around somewhere. Scattered throughout Hard Rock Cafe's maybe? I suspect that they were wrapped? I'm not sure but that's the earliest theme kind of wrap I know of that any drummer ever used.

There's a Moon rack tom on the wall of the Atlanta Hard Rock Cafe. I think it's a silver color if I remember correctly

[Russ]

The labor is cheaper in the far East, so the move would allow them to stay in business and not be forced to fold as a company. It's not necessarily a bad thing, they just need a less expensive way to do what they've been doing, so they can keep doing it. Even though it isn't direct in-house labor, i'm sure they'll have some employees from the UK on an oversight committee, making sure things are up to standard. Outsourcing your labor saves money, and for big businesses that's generally one of the bottom lines. It's worked for numerous high name companies - Pearl, Tama, Yamaha, Mapex.. They did pretty great(still are) with overseas factories, so I think Premier is probably trying to do the same thing to stay competitive.

[Pearl MCX Man]

Russ those companies you mention have always been overseas ( Asia) and have distributed to the rest of the world.

[Russ]

Isn't that what Premier's gonna do?

[late8]

Isn't that what Premier's gonna do?

They've been doing that...now they are going to call it quits...

[pgm554]

I think they're going the way of Slingerland /Rogers and just going to relabel generic sets with the brand name.

So you'll get like Cosmic Percussion and Gammon crud with a Premier moniker.

C'est la guerre!

[Pearl MCX Man]

I found this interesting

In 1987, Yamaha acquired the Premier Percussion factory in England in an attempt to establish the Yamaha name in the tougher European market. Yamaha placed machinery and trained the Premier craftsmen in the "Yamaha-way" of making drums, resulting in Premier producing a large number of Yamaha drums "made in England". In 1992, Yamaha withdrew and sold their stock shares back to Premier

[pgm554]

I found this interesting

In 1987, Yamaha acquired the Premier Percussion factory in England in an attempt to establish the Yamaha name in the tougher European market. Yamaha placed machinery and trained the Premier craftsmen in the "Yamaha-way" of making drums, resulting in Premier producing a large number of Yamaha drums "made in England". In 1992, Yamaha withdrew and sold their stock shares back to Premier

Pretty much the reason why at those points in time all the Premier hardware looked like Yamaha.

[MattDrums]

I own a '97 APK made in the UK. Great chrome work during that era.

Indeed, but that's what happens when Jaguar does your chroming for you.

[pcs90]

I've sold a few Premier drums. All were very nice, even the lower level lines. I was impressed with the XPK line. Too bad.

[Warren Wright]

My 1992 Yamaha Power V Specials are actually "Premiers" with "Made in England" on the Logo's - from the days when Yamaha owned Premier and the toms are all the extra-deep concert toms and they sound marvelous. I play em every week~!

[N2Bluz]

Indeed, but that's what happens when Jaguar does your chroming for you.

Since the '50s, the original family that started Premier also owned their own chrome plating factory. I believe they also did the chrome work for Jaguar and Rolls Royce as well.

[late8]

Since the '50s, the original family that started Premier also owned their own chrome plating factory. I believe they also did the chrome work for Jaguar and Rolls Royce as well.

Yes, this is correct. It was Premier that did the chrome work for Rolls Royce and Rover/Jaguar. During WWII, the Della-Porta family (Premier factory) forged many parts for tanks and aircraft.

Quoted from Premier Drums

"In 1940, World War II sees Premier’s skills employed in the production of precision-engineered metalwork for the War Office who instigate a move to a new site in Leicester".

Quoted from Wiki

"When World War II (1939-1945) broke out, Premier was engaged in the manufacture of gun sights for tanks and aircraft, but the factory was bombed out in 1940 and the company was relocated to a new Leicester facility shortly thereafter"