My 1989 Premier APK (Advanced Power Kit) MkII drum kit

[@peterross6389]

Hi sir, this video caught my eye tonight. I just purchased a 1989 Premier kit just like yours in a vintage white finish from Cherry Hill Guitar Center. Now l can appreciate it that much more after watching your video. I'm so looking forward to receiving my Premier drums!

[@peterross6389]

I also appreciate your insight on the head selection you've chosen. I will most likely try your same selection. I really like the Super kick 2 heads on my kick drums. I've never tried them on Tom's, but l can trust your judgment on what it will take to "tame" them. I have a 10 & 12 power Tom's on my Ludwig kit, and l use coated emperor on those, however they have thicker shells on those l believe.

[@CheapDrumsGuy]

Hi there good for you. Please do not call me sir. When somebody calls me, sir I turn around and look for my father. I hope you enjoy that kit. I really like mine and she really likes to sing out also. Hopefully yours is in as good as shape as mine was.

[@CheapDrumsGuy]

@@peterross6389 I’ve tried four different types of heads on that kit, and for some reason those really just sound the best out of all of them. If that’s what you try, I really wish you good luck and I hope you enjoy them as well.

[@iorijones6351]

That’s a fabulous kit Todd. In excellent condition too. I have an 84 Royale kit - which was their budget kit of the day. Black wrap, wondering if they have the same mix of woods you went through. As you say their chrome is second to none. Appreciate you showing and going through it in detail. Hope your joints are on mend too. We have some of your (snowy) weather over here today. We are right on the coast but the land rises steeply behind where the hill roads are bad. All the schools are closed. Have a great week, and thank you for your channel !

[@gregwonhoff7161]

Good morning to you, Mr. CDG, I just finished watching this latest video of yours and really enjoyed it. That power tom set you have is pretty darn cool, I agree with your thinking when you say that you will be holding on to that set. To have a power tom set is cool. There is something about your Commando set that really catches my eye also. That color combination is so cool. To have the best of both worlds, I would really love that power tom set in the same color scheme as your Commando set. You are the best, my friend, and I am so happy to hear that you are on the mend. Oh, I am going to try something new with my set. I’m going to take all the bottom heads off of my toms and then might even take the reso head off my bass drum. Not sure about that one though. Anyway, thank you for being here and take care of all your loved ones.❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️

[@CheapDrumsGuy]

Hey buddy. Taking those resos off eh? Concert tom set! Now that you mentioned that, I've never done that to my set before. I should just to see what that APK would sound like. I can't believe I didn't try that.

[@gregwonhoff7161]

@@CheapDrumsGuy CDG, I took them off today and was very disappointed. One of the drums made rattling sounds because the part of the lug the tension rod goes in rattled. I watched another guy do the same thing, and he got rattling too but said it wouldn’t be heard above the drumming. The biggest disappointment was the sound. I might mess with them a bit more, but I just thought the sound wasn’t full enough, if that makes sense. Now those big power Tom’s might be a whole different story. They might have great sound.

[@CheapDrumsGuy]

@@gregwonhoff7161 when I first got that kit it had Remo emperors on it, and I was really almost startled by how loud and bright they were and it really intimidated me that’s why I ended up getting the hydraulics for it. But the hydraulics deaden them to the point where they didn’t have a lot of tone I am so glad I got the heads for it that I did because those aquarians are just simply awesome.

[@gregwonhoff7161]

@@CheapDrumsGuy Might try new heads. Thanks for the insights.

[@CheapDrumsGuy]

@@gregwonhoff7161 Be sure and tell me what ones you get. Still a lot I haven't tried

[@dav2145]

Current Tama Starclassics are made at Tama's own factory in Guangzhou, with production overseen by Japanese Tama staff, not outsourced to third party manufacturers. I bought an ex-display model recently and overall the quality is very good, sounds great, although I admit there was some ply separation in a small section of the inner walnut layer on the bass drum. Not sure if it came from the factory like that or happened in store. Nevertheless, it was such a good price I can live with that. I understand that for an extra price mark-up, it can be requested for Starclassics to be constructed at their Japanese factory.

[@CheapDrumsGuy]

I've always thought it was funny that you could take basic beginner kits from each of the different companies and compare them and most share the same lugs or hardware. Even Premier now, if you buy one of their new hardware sets from Guitar center, it is exactly the same as my DDrum equipment. Same look, style, parts etc. Only difference is the stickers. If I was a Ludwig fan and I wanted to buy only Ludwig items, one would struggle to even find basic Ludwig stuff unless its a high end kit. Every thing is so generic now and I wonder why they bother to even put the stickers on.

[@Spagz]

Nice kit Todd!! I love it. I keep eyeing two sets of Premier by me. One an Insignia (wow!) and one a Resonator set. I really like everything, except they are power toms. I kind of started with my first "real" kit Tama Rockstars. Similar color to your Premier kit, a shade darker. But I hated having to reach up so high! I was brand new to the drums. Might be different now. I hope so because my dream kits are big drums, like the Bonham kit. Glad you are feeling a bit better brother! Good to see you back on. And I watched you (and your pretty little dog!) on the big screen today. 😂😂 Keep on drumming and keep the cameras on. Waiting for the leftist video! Hope I didn't miss that one somehow. Take care!! 🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁

[@CheapDrumsGuy]

I haven't set a kit up in the lefty way just yet. Sort of dreading it actually but I'll give her a try soon.

[@Spagz]

@@CheapDrumsGuy No worries. You'll probably still be better than me! 🤣

[@CheapDrumsGuy]

@@Spagz You go ahead and think that, and I'll do my best to prove you wrong! I have a positive attitude towards it though..... I'm positive I will suck

[@edwardkaminsky8142]

Time is perfect. 32nds on the hats perfect. I can not keep that beat continuously on the hats. Great work. Looked up those Yamaha Power v. ( Vee ) not 5. Made in the same manufacturing plant as your APK. Same sizes, hardware is the same as well as stands that match the APK from that era. The kit I viewed was " Italian red." Looked sharp. First lesson song-- Seven Nation Army, by the White Stripes 💁‍♂️. I ask for Karen Carpenter... problem is most of us could not keep up with her. Rain here, poxitommy didn't see his shadow, so the story is NOT 6 more weeks of winter! 🤔 I think LOL.

[@CheapDrumsGuy]

Stupid groundhog- I can never keep that thing straight on what it sees or doesn't see. Karen Carpenter- holy crap- most people don't know much about her other than she was a 70's era singer but man, she could really play the skins too!

[@JFKDrummer]

Nice video! I have an APK and a Yamaha power V...both awesome sets!🔥🥁😎

[@CheapDrumsGuy]

Lucky guy. I think it's time to sell some stuff just so I can pick up a new set.

[@JFKDrummer]

@@CheapDrumsGuy 😀 I live in Seattle

[@davepounds8924]

Enjoyed your video! I have to take issue though with one thing you said! That if a set is under 5000 it’s probably made in Asia I own a Ludwig 4 piece that I bought new for 2000 and a Gretsch Broadcaster kit for under 3000 and that was brand new Plenty of American kits can be had for well under 5 grand and a lot for just under 2000 Thanks

[@CheapDrumsGuy]

I was a little tongue-tied and stated a lot higher dollar amount than I should have. I have seen Thomas star Classics made in China and I was told that the Ludwig Centennial which are really nice sets and I considered for my first brand new set at one time was also made in China, somewhere on my video searches I had watched a video on Pearl drums on how the only ones they make now are they very high-end kits the rest are made overseas.

[@APdrums77]

Bad ass kit Serg.! Saw two premier kits in my local shop the other day and thought of you. I think I’ve heard you say before that they don’t make premiere kits anymore (could just be me miss remembering) but the owner of the drum shop was telling me they still produce and sell kits in England, but they’re just harder to get in the US (or at least more expensive) because their US distribution channels went south years ago. Does this jive with what you know? Also why do you say the Tama Starclassics are likely made in Asia? My understanding is that the Starclassics are actually one of the lines (if not the only line) they make in Japan. I stole a 2004 Starclassic kit on Craigslist for $400 a while back and the badges say “made in Japan.” Lastly, regarding waxing the bearing edges - I watched your other video about that and that was my first time hearing about. How you explained it and the logic behind it made sense. Haven’t done it myself yet as I’m too lazy to change the heads and retune (plus I don’t have any candles or chapstick)….but next time I’m changing heads, I’ll probably go ahead and get some chapstick to give it a shot. Can chapstick damage the wood in any way? Is there any risk to it?

[@CheapDrumsGuy]

Premier does still exist but the company has their drums made overseas in Asia now. Their Factory in England closed down in the 90's. It is hard to get their new kits here but I've seen them on Reverb and that's where I bought my brand new snare. As far as kits being made in China. Company's find it cheaper to have them mass produced there. The beginner Pearl, Ludwig, Tama etc are made there. There's like two big company's there that build them pretty much for everyone and I heard at one time, Pearl owned one of them. US drum company's usually only make custom drums now. With the way things are now, it's too expensive to make them here. I said 5 grand or lower but that was a little high. Tama sets I've seen all said made in China. It's the mass-produced sets mainly. I like watching videos on drum company factory's and all of them usually only have a couple dozen shells on the racks. Seems to me if you were making thousands of kits, you'd have a lot more. On that same note, when taking to the employees there, they would talk about building a custom set for so and so...... With that and reading drum badge print, it's easy to put to and two together. As far as putting stuff on the bearing edge like chapstick, I haven't heard anything negative about it. I wouldn't use it myself but the wax will add a bit of protection to the wood itself- mainly against moisture. By filling in the tiny imperfections, it would also be making the bearing edges smoother.

[@CheapDrumsGuy]

Ok what I should have said was, all of their beginner to intermediate lines are made in China. Just found some more pictures and these say made in Japan. So, I've seen both now.

[@clevelandrum]

Did you ever play the cavernous toms in the video? Lost interest

[@CheapDrumsGuy]

I have a lot of videos of playing that set. You're welcome to look elsewhere too

[@lilianblack3953]

P R O M O S M 🌹

[@ronaldzeoli7528]

You should jump on that recording drum set. Its a great kit high end birch. I had a birch stage custom a year or two ago and that was great but not as good as the recording customs

[@CheapDrumsGuy]

You're right, I should but my Brother seems to be playing a game with me. It's something he can try and hold over my head.

[@ronaldzeoli7528]

@@CheapDrumsGuy i get it my younger brother likes to be coy from time to time.

[@NintenDub]

I got stage customs a year ago and I love them