I purchased a Premier Signia kit. Great quality sound, strong hardware.

I've been playing Premier drums since the 70's. I passed along my 70's kit to my grandson a few years ago, but I have owned my Signia hit from around 1997. My Signia's are Premier Blue, which actually look purple depending on the light. The maple shells produce a big, but warm sound I've not experienced playing other kits. They are easy to tune and sound good using a variety of heads. I've never been a fan of Premier hardware, so I run with DW all around. I find the DW hardware supports my style of playing better. I play a Premier wood snare and Sabian AAX's all around.

I bought a Sapphire Signia kit new in the early 90's after searching for my ultimate kit and not finding everything I wanted in one. But the Signia kit had everything I wanted! Thin Shells, reinforcement hoops, lacquered finish, maple, small lug contact, non drilled tom mounting, shells put together at an angle vs. straight, offered 18" deep kick drums with stand receivers which I needed for my Voelker style rack, undersized toms, beautiful color, and sounded amazing!! My other options were GMS, Noble & Cooley, Yamaha Maple Custom. The Signia encompassed all the features I liked in all these makers, and didn't come with a 6+ month wait time. GMS only offered virgin Kick Drums, Yamaha only offered 16" kick drums at the time, and Noble & Cooley had a huge wait time and cost. I still paid a few grand for my kit, but I wanted the best kit I could find! I ordered x2 - 22x18, 10", 13" 16" and matching Snare. In hindsight, I would have ordered all the sizes. Since, I recently found a couple orphan matching drums in England which I bought and brought back to add to my kit. I scored a 12" tom and 14" tom. Now if I could just find an 8" and 18" I'll be set! (Not that I'm not already) I've recorded and toured with these drums many times, and still love them! Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden (who used to play the Signias) told me "Some of the best drums ever made! Never get rid of them!" So I will take his advice! I turned a friend on to these shortly after I bought my kit and he also bought a set of Signia's which he still has today as well! Too bad Premier has gone in the toilet, but I am happy to say that I own a piece of their greatest masterpieces!

made a good living for many years playing drums. Been retired now twenty years in that iturum I have taught myself to play piano dobro guitar now working on fiddle and mandolin I am 66 years young now. If i would have hand the luxury of a kit of premiers when i was first garage banding it before i turned pro and spent my life on the road there is no telling where i would be now.Simply put i learned one thing about all the instuments iI have learned to play .Make your job as easy and as effortlessly as possible make it secound nature get your hands on premier signias and never let go. .i still say i boughtem and i still gottem

I read loads of poorly informed comments on Premier Signia drums posted on the internet,let me put a few things straight for you. I bought a Premier signia kit in around 1994 (new) and I played it professionally for about 15 years before (stupidly) selling it. The Signia was Premiers greatest triumph and it's top of the range pro kit. All maple, very thin shells, with support hoops, I preferred to fit Remo Ambassador clears to the toms and a Remo Powerstroke 3 coated bass drum head.It sounded wonderful and as I was lucky to be playing it in big venues, it got the best chance to sound at it's best. Sound engineers often marvelled at it and it was capable of being so loud (if required) that often it was not miked up when lesser kits would have had to be. The Signia Marquis which came afterwards was not better (I had one)and by that time, the build quality at Premier's Leicester England factory, was in it's death throws and the workers were obviously trying to kill the company themselves!. I understand (as I had long suspected) that the later Premier Series drums(where the quality improved again for a while)which also had thin shells with support rings (as one of the options) was the same shell as the original Signia's. Premier signia drums were showered with awards when they were first launched. I've tried other drums since including my present Mapex Saturn, but none sound so great as a signia. I'm always on the look out for a replacement set, but as mine were immaculate when I sold them, I'm struggling to find some as good.

These druns look and sound like they were made for Kieth Moon but they are too good to be trashed at the end oof the set. I bought and still own a 7 piece Sapphire set that as close today as looking just the way they did 91 years ago right of the box. 24" Base Drum, 18"Floor Tom and the 8, 10, 12 and 14 rack toms will shake house off its foundation. I am moving ito a condo from a house that had a dedicated drum room and I am having a hard time putting them up for sale. I know that I cannot play them in the condo and need to get an electronic set but the SIGNIA Sapphire Drums not only sound great but the are beautiful to look at. I knew after looking at and playing these drums I would never own another set. And now that I soon will be retire and move away from my home to a smaller place and others below or beside me I will need to purchase an elecrtonic set if I wand to continue playing..I ddo.

I too have the priviledge to own a pristine Silver sparkle Signia Marquis kit with a 22,8,10,12,14 and 16 with a 5.5x14 snare. I will never let this kit go for any reason. It has the warmth, depth, projection and round tone that we all look for. Especially with coated heads. It stays in tune and records beautifully. When I go. I want to be buried inside the bass drum. What a shrine eh? The weakest link is the snare which has no distinct tonal quality. I am ready to sell it alone. As a compliment this kit I use a 6.5 x14 Pearl, Steve Ferrone signature snare. The best of both worlds.

i purchased a signia kit in 1994 in white,2x22" bassdrums,10,12,13,14,16 toms and a topaz coloured snare. i was extremely pleased with the kit,it sounded as good played at quiet volume as it was loud. very sad to see it go when i exchanged it for a ludwig ringo starr kit!! (change of band),and have missed it ever since. the good news is that im slowly purchasing another one,drum by drum!!! pisses over half the kits you can buy these days, its my ultimate first choice of drum,hats off to premier in the 90s..

Bought em' new in 1993. If you have Signia's, keep them! Couldn't be happier. Beautiful to look at and wonderful to play. I made a woofer for the 22"...You wouldn't believe the sound.LOW LOW LOW BD. Peace out, Barry Clark Omaha,NE

I have played them all. Honestly signia tones are the drum sound that we all look for in playing the drums in our head. I currently have 5.5x 14 snare, 22 x 18 kick, 8,10,12,13,14,16 Tom and must say that they are amazing. I sold a DW kit after realizing that it was not necessary to
have two drumkits when signia is one of them. Dw is good but WAY TO EXPENSIVE! Your paying too much for the name.

I was surfing 'Overhear.com' a band site a few years back looking for musicians and in my haste pressed a wrong button. All of a sudden there was an ad in front of me saying 'Premier Signia Marquis'maple drum kit for sale only $1500.

I almost fell over!,as these drums used to retail from many thousands of dollars,I got a few quotes between $4000 - $7000, so this was the deal of a lifetime.
Immediately I called the guy and got the directions and was at his home in just over 1 hour.

I walked in and fell in love, Sigina are one of the most beautiful looking kits ever and this baby was in silver sparkle.
He let me play them and the sound was HUGE and very loud.The bass drum is one of few I've encountered in my playing life that actually 'thumps your chest' unmiked from across the room!

I have recorded with them and get constant compliments from other drummers and sound engineers,they are easy to tune,have a great tuning range and sound rich and beefy!

The funny thing is I got them used in great condition for just slightly more than what I paid for my Premier Artist birch kit a few years before.

Would highly recommend this kit as it can easily stand up to ANY pearl,Yamaha or DW kit out there if not blown them away!

Best sounding drum kit I have ever owned...
Have had them all... through the years several other Premier kits, Ludwig, Pearl, Tama...
Currently own a DW collector series birch, Yamaha Al Foster Hipgig Sr, and Gretsch Catalina Club series Mahogany.
Consistently has a warm, punchy, fat tone with great sustain that is also VERY friendly to close miking.

Closest kit I own to the sound in my head...

Just balance things a bit - a few negatives:

1. Due to the tube lugs, heavy duty spurs and tom mount, the bass drum is quite heavy. Also, the minimum depth of 16" helps to make it awkward to lift/move around.

2. I found the rims rusted easily. I replaced them with American made rims.

3. The original die cast snare drum hoop choked the drum. A triple flanged hoop much improved the drum.

Superb drums! I have the Premier Signia Topaz clear finish over the maple wood with a 24" bass drum, 16" floor tom and 14" rack tom set up.

The drums are extremely well built. It's certainly one of the best sounding kits I've played, if not the best. Bought mine second hand, piece by piece and managed to find a non varnished premier signia maple snare drum a few months after collecting the other drums.

Buying a Signia second hand represents UNBELIEVABLE value for money and should hold its value for many years to come i.e. they don't make 'em like this anymore.

Only downside is tracking down kits for sale, as most people that own them, wont sell them. I was lucky and bought several drums from two ex-premier endorsees, who happened to have some spare drums!

These drums are also very powerful in sound. I have not yet recorded with them and still at the time, experimenting with different heads. The bass drum sounds incredible, as do the Toms. If I'm being honest, I haven't quite managed to get the sound out of the snare drum that I was hoping for, having previously had a 5.5 inch Pearl Masters MMX snare drum, but I'm working on it!!! I suspect its just my tuning capability (always had trouble with snare drums).