Reviewer: Tim Heuer
e-mail: not available
Date submitted: April 7, 2006
Purchase Price: 700 (UK pounds), purchased used
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Sound & Tone
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Rating:
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8
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Comments:
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My Premier sounds very bright and full. The intonation has always been great and, as I've been cursed to play with guitar players over the years, it forces them to keep in tune to me. The low end of the instrument could/should be beefier but the sound is warm and crisp and there's nothing like leaning over the instrument and hearing it come back at you.
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Design & Construction
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Rating:
| 4
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Comments:
| The best thing about the frame is that it is all metal. Easy to set up and take down and the glamorous part of being a musician (hauling your stuff - why wasn't I a violin player?) is easy with this instrument. But, it is noisy! and squeaky and shaky. Its also been dropped out of vans at 3 am with no ill effects. Motor is English and removed when I returned to US
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Appearance
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Rating:
| 7
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Comments:
| I like the silvery look of it, and the blue reflectors on the corners are pretty cool as is the big "Premier" sign on the front of it.
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Customer Support
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Rating:
| no opinion
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Comments:
| I can't say as I'd buy another Premier, simply because I'd rather have the graduated bars but, for the level of musician I am (bars, pubs, church, outdoor gigs), its been perfect. I like the sound better than the Musser I played in a band (an 80s graduated bar instrument - the premier sounded richer to me) but not as much as the 60s Jenco I played in school (warm, responsive, with great sustain). I've never been concerned the instrument was going to be ruined during its life and it hasn't!
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Overall Rating
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Reviewer: Oli Mayne
e-mail: olimayne@stayfree.co.uk
Date submitted: March 4, 2003
Purchase Price: 600 (UK pounds), purchased used
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Sound & Tone
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Rating:
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5
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Comments:
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Having seen Premier vibes be the brunt of a few jokes on the messageboard, I thought I'd try and redress the balance a bit by providing this review of my old Premier 701 (I think thats the correct model, anyway its non-graduated, with an old Citenco model motor). Now by no stretch of the imagination is this a world-class instrument, however for my purposes (over 18 years of hard gigging and rehearsing), it has done just fine, and at the price I bought it for, I can't complain. Sound-wise, yeah its not the best overall quality I'm sure, but in many ways its tone is still valid, to my ears less hollow than the Mussers I've heard, but bright enough to be audible in a band or orchestral context. Acoustic volume levels are acceptable (currently using Balter mallets), but as with every vibraphone ever made, you get problems when trying to mic it up in a louder situation. Overall I'm reasonably happy with the sound (although as with all non-graduated vibes, the lowest half-octave leaves a lot to be desired); although I'm no real expert, intonation also sounds fine, and there's never been a tuning issue when its been in a recording studio. This model has appeared on a few albums and sessions, and nearly everyone I've played with (who of course don't have such exacting standards as vibes players themselves !) have all fallen in love with the sound; in short, when played in context, most laymen would be hard pressed to tell the difference between a Milt Jackson style Deagan Aurora and a Premier, for most people a vibraphone is a vibraphone is a vibraphone...
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Design & Construction
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Rating:
| 7
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Comments:
| This Premier has been shoved, kicked, fallen down stairs and off stages, and generally given a very hard time (mostly by accident, sometime by design), and still it won't die ! The frame is metal (rather than wood), and although full of scratches, is still in one piece, with no bits falling off. The resonators fit snugly at each end of the frame into holes in the metal legs, no wood involved - simple design, very hard-wearing. Another thing I like about the frame construction is the footbar: why oh why do vibe companies insist by and large on using foot pedals (the Pro Vibe foot pedal in particular is far too small for the instrument), with this vibe you get a proper footbar which gives you comfortable access to the dampening system wherever you are on the instrument. And with two connecting rods from the footbar to the dampener, you're likely to get more even dampening than by just having one rod... again, simple and intelligent design. Having said all that, most of the rest of the construction is very poor indeed. The motor (three speed pulley system), emulates a jet engine despite regular cleaing, and there are numerous frame noises which I've spent hours trying to rectify, often with limited success. I replaced the original cord which had frayed with some tough sailing-type cord from a hardware store over ten years ago, no subsequent problems... Transporting is pretty simple, similar amount of parts to most of the 'portable' vibe models, 5 minutes to put together and take apart (less time if the audience are looking nasty...)
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Appearance
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Rating:
| 6
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Comments:
| Basic silver vibraphone appearance, bars are matt, frame is black, nothing much else to say really.
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Customer Support
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Rating:
| 4
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Comments:
| Proving I'm not on a mission from Premier (!), their customer service is adequate at most. As with all companies they don't want to deal with you directly, so you have to go through a third party (and in the UK there ain't much choice !!), you end up waiting weeks for overpriced parts to be supplied by disinterested dealers, ho hum... I just ended up buying a job lot of spares a few years ago (rubber posts etc), so when one breaks I've got an immediate replacement
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Overall Rating
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Rating:
| 6
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Comments:
| Not sure if I've ever been truly happy with the instrument, but as my first ever vibraphone it has sentimental value, and its weaknesses have now actually become fundamental to my sound in certain musical contexts. I would say that its primarily a student-quality instrument, perfect for a beginner or someone who just wants to have a fiddle about. I'm in the process of upgrading to a better vibe at the moment, but the Premier will still get a few outings now and then. And I would never consider selling it.
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