Premier Artist Maples Reviews 3

I paid only $900 for some 2001 Artist Maples brand new (sn,10,12,14,16).

The color (called rosewood).

I don't give them the hype some people do because I found several problems with these drums. Pretty to look at but from a functional and gig durability standpoint they DO NOT rival Pearls high end kits or DW's (contrary to another review). In fact I got rid of them for some new Pearl Masters Series. The construction quality explains why.

They do not have stainless steel tension rods or quality lock washers plus the tom hoops aren't even 2.3mm superhoops (they're thin and not flat). Don't even let me get started on the bearing edges - ugh.. A big "on the fly" tuning problem is the mounting system. A RIMs copy that means you have to take the drum off the mount to change the top head. Pearl, Tama and other manufacturers have drums available for the same price that have shell or lug based isolation mounts to overcome this problem. Also you don't get an option on the tom mount stuck to the bass. When recording or using a rack this is an acoustic issue and I have difference in tracks to prove it. Premier should offer a virgin bass for this series.

All of these things are just signs of a mid-range drum kit wrapped in a maple price. Buy Ludwig Rocker Elites and save $200-$300 (no they're not 100% maple but still sound great). I got rid of some to get the Premier Artist Maples and it was an expensive mistake. I thought I was upgrading!

citizen782 rated this unit 3 on 2002-11-21.

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