I have been asked by an older man (who doesn't speak English and doesn't use internet) to try to find out how much his vintage drum kit worth.
It is Premier drum from the mid sixties (he says 64/65) and I'm talking about wood (which is rosewood) only - other parts are bought separately here and there.

Any info/suggestion is appreciated.
I can not tell you much more about this set except to show you photos so here they are:
(If its worth mentioning, the owner claims that this drum was the first drum used by the very famous progressive-rock band from the 70's and let's just say that the band is from south Europe country - I guess that is adding some value to the price if the potential owner is a bands admirer).
Oh yes, he wants to sell the whole set - not just wood.

 

A few more details - couldn't add them in the first post.

 

vintage... made in England.. hmm $$$

depends, what model, the snare doesn't appear to be much special, cymbals too
at this point $750 - $1000

6994 doesn't come up with much in my search

you'd probably get better guidance/questions on a drummer's forum tho

 

Last edited by a moderator: Mar 19, 2017

Without provenance it's just an old well-loved drumset worth $250 max. The condition of the chrome fittings is quite poor and it would be nice to have a confirmation that all of the rings and hoops are straight. Also, a photo of the heads, throne and cymbals would be helpful.

For comparison, there is a Premiere rosewood set for sale on Gumtree right now for £150.
https://www.gumtree.com/p/drums/immaculate-full-premier-drum-kit/1207948468

 

Last edited: Mar 19, 2017

It is difficult to say but you will find far more concrete information by people that really know their shit here http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/index.php

If it is a great sounding kit with hats and cymbals all sounding cohesive and it has that more characterful voicing which is typical of kits from such a period oppose to the clinical or extremely characterful that is available today, Pending it is marketed/viewed by the right people that appreciate and value such qualities, Like a studio owner that keeps a quality inventory in house, A collector that is either a fanatic of the band that it was once owned/used by or a player that collects vintage Premier as a brand or a player that is looking for an authentic vintage kit oppose to a new but manufactured to sound more classic...etc. then the owner will likely receive the correct kind of offers he has in his mind.

An example being one of my closest friends and former band-member whom plays in The Virginmarys (English power trio with classic rock, prog and post-rock influences yet modern and quite catchy), He went through numerous as good as it gets kits before finding "the kit" or in his case the shells as he already had a snare that suited as close as possible plus hats and cymbals that work/suit exactly what he wants. It went from a huge Pearl kit with a rack to hold a lot of kit pieces on to his setup to a Drum Workshop kit with a lovely custom finish, Still a lot of pieces though, Then a Noble and Cooley which was missing a high rack tom and an extra deep second floor tom but for a recording/studio kit it's one of the best that I've heard, It makes it's case for being quite a damned pricey brand as for working for almost any style it always answered/delivered, Finally it was a 1970's Gretsch kit that was even more compact but it was exactly what he'd been searching for, I can not really picture him nor his style and sound without the Gretsch shells and Ludwig snare to be honest. Just to give an idea of what I am talking about to give it context/a sound to what I'm attempting to describe:

Hope that helps, All the best

Dean

 

which doesn't even have a floor tom or crash (?) and could easily add another 50 - 100 £ to round out the kit..
and I'll wager at 150 £ it's a MIC ( China made ) The bindings don't look too bad at all for everything but the snare..
which looks crap

here in the US if you want to spend $350 the thing will be some beat to crap recent model Chinese TAMA,
unless you somehow got lucky
I have a MIC Ludwig kit that came with an extra piccolo snare for $450, was in like new condition

agree, without the provenance that this was used by some "famous" band, that undercuts the value substantially,
and also depends on the market where you're trying to sell....

 

Well spotted @Herr Durr.
That Gumtree offering does look a lot like a supershiny MIC fingerprint magnet.

That Maxwin snare, tho'. Gosh. I had one of those. It was insanely awful. Forked out some extra moolah for a Premier 2000 and saved myself a trip to the looney bin.

 

correction I do see it has a floor tom now.. Firefox is doing me wrong lately on images...

really the only way I could value it is by finding another one in the same era of production
and comparing the condition and price, no expert here for sure...,
but yes I agree with you on the finish of the Gumtree one @DarthFader

@Death Thash Doom 's site would probably get him much closer to an educated evaluation

 

This looks promising as in similar configuration and possibly colour, Obviously I am not sure it is the same model, series/range or year but definitely worth looking at so you can inspect to narrow it down as best you can to determine what range/series the kit is and then put out feelers for demand, I'm a guitar and bass pedal, amp and so on nerd gear wise along with microphones and outboard hence why I'm not able to even speculate: http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=58652
@Herr Durr and @DarthFader You gent's seem to have better knowledge than me so that also why I thought I'd post what I found just routing around.

It still would not necessarily give you an idea of what it will or will not sell for obviously.

Interesting to see something a little different on here, Cheers to you all

Dean

 

@Death Thash Doom now that you mention it... which clone klon overdrive is the best?

@DarthFader the set in his link is mahogany, is that a sought after wood for drums?
Seems like maple is the preferred one these days, and birch is the low end ?
Is that what most of the Chinese drums are made of ? Where does rosewood fall in the scale?

just asking since you are a now confessed rhythmatist...

 

Last edited by a moderator: Mar 20, 2017

+/- 350 Euro

For a good used set, You will have to spend about 700 Euro

 

African mahogany produces a deep resonant fundamental tone to the shell. Much more so than the more common birch or maple laminate.

If they truly are 100% AM shells and not an AM wrap over a birch shell, the Premier kit will pack some serious power. A significant game changer imho. If OP can confirm that the insides of the shells are the same colour as the outsides, we're talking not circa £150 but something closer to £500+ for the set. I would go higher if the chrome plating were not as blistered as it appears to be in the photos but, y'know, we're talking 50 years-old vintage chrome and it doesn't last forever.

 

Thanks guys. Lots of useful info. I'll keep investigating. If anyone else have an idea where to look, bring it on. Cheers

 

The badge looks like the 1980's version so I would start looking for kits around that time frame.

 

About that badge, IIRC Premier started putting serial numbers on the badges starting in the 70's. You could email Premier with one of the serial numbers and they might be able to give you an exact production date.