It was in March '83 that I did my original Black Shadow review, so I thought it seemed to be a good idea to view the changes. Well, there aren't many major alterations, but obviously as Premier have progressed with their manufacturing certain things have been improved. On first viewing certainly the finish appears even more impeccable than before!

Some of you will be aware that 'Black Shadow' is based on the Resonator principle but with full length nut boxes on the bass drum. The main difference is in the finish which is a black lacquer allowing the grain to show through. The interiors are painted black too but not to the same standard as the exteriors. The outsides, once they've been stained, have up to 10 coats of polyurethane applied carefully to them. This process can not be rushed, and takes a week or so.

Resonator and Black Shadow shells have their exteriors built from 4mm of Birch with solid strengthening glue-rings, whilst the interior liner is a single ply of 1.5mm Birch. There are no moving parts in the Resonator system; it uses regular, thinnish shells which are made stronger by glue rings hammered into each end. The fittings are then attached and that single ply I mentioned is cut precisely to the internal drum dimension and sprung in. No glue or other fixing methods are utilised, simply super accurate cutting. Should you need to get to the fittings for any reason, the liner may be lifted with a penknife. Premier go to all this trouble to streamline the shell because they know that anything which penetrates the shell and protrudes inside it will have an adverse affect on its resonance. It simply won't 'speak' so well. The liner also creates a chamber between the two walls and this tends to colour the sound even further. Black Shadows are all extra deep and premier were quick to introduce a very good, very deep wood shell snare drum to complement the set.

As per usual this month's set is a five drum one. We try to stick to this configuration so we can compare the prices; of course Premier can supply sets of up to 10 pieces if that's what you have in mind. Anyway, what you get with this set is a 'power' bass drum measuring 22"x16", 13"x11", 14"x12" and 16"x16" tom toms and the aforementioned 14"x8" snare drum. You also get a quantity of stands, pedals and accessories which we'll discuss at greater length later in the article.

The Bassdrum

Since my last review, Premier have developed solid wooden bass drum hoops which really look the business. They're sprayed exactly the same as the shells themselves and replace the earlier ones which were inlaid with plastic. I don't suppose for a moment that it changes the sound but it certainly helps the look! This medium sized bass has 20 full-length (9¼"), double-ended nutboxes, cast claws, and old style, 'T' handled tension screws. I have to say that l was never an advocate of the old 'L' shaped ones and found them slightly awkward. However, I confess I prefer them to these new ones.

Premier are now fitting four square headed tension screws to the very bottom of the bass drum where it sits on the floor. Aside from the fact that it allows the drum to sit better, it also allows the 252 bass pedal to fit without fouling the screws. The usual outrigger-type spurs are fitted with optional spike or rubber ends which are self levelling. A large knurled washer holds the desired end in place. The spurs themselves are made from substantial, double-bent rod and are angled forwards for optimum penetration. They located into the usual cast blocks with 'O' bolts inside which bolt to the shell.

Premier fit a damping strip to the batter head (which is a 'Twinskin') while the front head has a hole cut out and is damped with a very, very thin circle of plastic foam which finishes about an inch from the hole and the same distance from the hoop. As I said last time, the Black Shadow's sound is rounder and louder than any other Premier bass drum. The only other thing the Black Shadow has is a medium size square cast receiver block to locate the new tom holder's downtube. (It's set roughly dead-centre.)

The Toms

All the toms have the same single nut boxes. They're sort of pointed bullet shaped and the smallest drum has a total of 12 of them, whilst the other two toms have 16 each. All three of the toms have cast hoops and square headed tension screws. None of the drums are equipped with any internal dampers, but Premier make a very good one which fits to a tension screw and on top of the head. All three drums are fitted with those cast blocks the bass drum spurs locate into.The two smallest drums have one each to mount them to the double tom holder, whilst the floor tom has three to locate its double bent legs. These legs are now fitted with the same self-levelling spike or rubber feet as the spurs. The set I saw had Premier's 'Twin Skins' fitted to the batter head with a see-through Clearplay below. This configuration I felt gave a much clearer sound. (The original BS sets had a pair of Twinskins on every drum; the resulting sound was far too thick and it made the drums unresponsive too.)

Snare drum

The snare drum with the set is numbered 2008 and has an 8" deep wood shell; it isn't actually a Resonator since it doesn't have the interior liner. Otherwise, though, its shell is the same. (Premier's R and D department did a lot of research on Resonator snare drums a few years ago, and it was felt that the inner liner was not particularly effective in such a small acoustic chamber.) The 2008 has 10 double-ended nut boxes measuring 5¼" and 20 square headed tensioners. A pair of those cast hoops which were developed for marching drums are supplied as standard now with this drum as well as the Project One instruments. These are much more solid than before and have the tensioner holes drilled straight through them without any 'ears'. They definitely colour the sound of the drum and give it some zonk.

The snare mechanism is Premier's well known and reliable parallel action one. It's been around for years and has thumbscrews to tighten its 24 strand snares horizontally before it touches the drum head (because it works on a sort of cam action it does pull the extra-long snares against the head a little, but four smallish screws actually take care of moving them vertically) Once set, the plastic-buffered mechanism simply holds them in position under the snare head. Both sides of the mechanism are linked through the drum by a thin, lightweight beam; it ensures that both sides of the snare make contact at the same time. Hence parallel action. A similar, but smaller beam makes certain that both sides drop at the same time when the snare release is activated. There's a slight indentation in the bottom bearing edge to enable the snares to 'touch' properly over the whole diameter.

I noted last time that the 2008 had a decidedly military sound about it. This was hardly surprising since it's only a couple of inches shallower than a parade drum. Even so, it has a certain crispness too which should satisfy the player searching for a Funky sound. Headwise the drum I played had a brush-coating on it. I'm not convinced about this, and would rather go for something a little less brittle. A see-through head would (for me) give a little more resilience.

The Accessories

ProLock stands are, of course, the big news from Premier and needless to say are supplied with this Black Shadow set. With a five drum set you get two straight cymbal stands, one snare drum stand, one hihat pedal and one 252 footpedal. You will also be able to get (by the time you read this article), one of Premier's new double tom holders.

I first saw these new stands early last year when they were to be called Dual-Lock. Since then they seem to have changed their minds and dubbed them ProLock. They have double-braced tripod legs with a Premier refinement; a moveable and lockable strut collar. (Struts are the short pieces of flat metal which join the actual legs to the centre tube. The moveable collar allows you to change the spread of the legs without significantly changing the height of the stand.) All ProLock stands have a new height adjust/arrest system which locks a control block to the tube inside itself. The actual block, which is cast and massive, has a drum key-type screw to lock it to the tube whilst it also has a large 'T' screw to lock it over the top of the lower section. A spigot sticks out at right angles near the top of each tube to locate the block the same way each time, so there aren't any screws to penetrate and squash the tubes, and there's a loose shaped metal block in the way.

The feet of all the stands are wedge-shaped and another spigot is fixed to the very bottom of the stands near the floor. This effectively stops that strut-collar from leaving the very end of the stand. There are three different sorts of cymbal stand — two booms and one straight. Each has three vertical stages with the cast blocks I mentioned to maintain height.

At the very top is a substantial cast tilter which has much larger splines than usual. It also has a unique position marker which is simply a 'U' shaped piece of wire which pushes between the splines and locks them. It's simple and effective. The tilter rod itself is thicker than the average and longer with a wing nut to keep the assorted washers in place. One boom stand is counterweighted, the other has a ratchet tilter block for its boom. These tilters have given rise to a new development for Premier. It's a Multi clamp to enable you to attach various bits and pieces to your set. The clamp will accept rods or tubes from 7/16 to 3/4". It will prove to be very useful I'm sure. It will hold anything from a tom arm to a cowbell post and will be available in double configurations too.

There are also two snare drum stands in ProLock. Both have exactly the same base, but the holding mechanisms are different. 2322 has two fixed and one moveable arm with an angle adjustment which is arrested by a collar ring that runs up the down tube. The other end of this is fixed via a strut to one of the cradle arms. Thus as you move the collar so you change the playing angle. A large nut and bolt lock this position solid.

The other stand is much more sophisticated. It grips the drum on the adjustable-basket principle but has a splined rod sticking out at right angles to its centre section. This fits into a hole in the basket section with some sideways movement and, of course, the basket is free to rotate on the rod and this sets the playing angle. (There's an eye-bolt to locate and hold the piece of rod securely which is locked with a large wing bolt.) This particular stand is very useful if you plan to use an 8" deep snare drum because it is capable of going very low.

There are also two different models of hi hat available in the ProLock range. They both have the double-strutted legs, twin spring spurs tapped into the bottom of their framework and a common top cymbal clutch and bottom 'cup'. The real difference is in the actual mechanism. One has twin external expansion springs which are housed in tubes and grafted to the bottom section, and finally a two piece footplate. The other has a single internal spring for its centre pull which may be adjusted externally by a lever which locks with a drum key. The one with the two springs has a footplate like the 252 bass pedal's with a metal strap.

Premier's new double tom holder is really something special. It's based on a well tried principle which utilises a 'ball and cage' to hold the playing angle of the tom. One part of the cage is fixed to the top of a down tube and is shaped to retain part of a plastic ball. This ball has an 'L' shaped arm fixed into it and the other part of the shaped cage fits over the top of the ball. A pair of bolts keep the cage together and these are, of course, adjustable to move the ball (thus the angle of the 'L' shaped arm and ultimately the drum attached to it). Small teeth are set inside the cage pieces to grip the ball securely.

Now, the diameter of the holder tube is such that you could put it into the top of a cymbal stand to make a free standing tom support, or you could use one of those Multiclamps I mentioned early. These arms fit into the top of a triangular block which is fitted to the top of the circular down-tube. Three reducing holes are provided to give you the opportunity to mount three toms or, more realistically, two toms and a smallish cymbal. A screw makes the holes smaller and locks the actual arms into place. Memory clamps make sure that the fitment is always set up at the right height and facing the right way. This holder is more or less a direct replacement for the old Premier one. All you need to do is ream out your bass drum mounting holes a little and the whole thing will fit securely.

The only other piece of machinery to comment upon is your actual 252 foot pedal. A couple of years ago Premier replaced the strap on their top-of-the-range pedal. It used to be made from man-made fibre, but is now a piece of metal. The pedal has a single post with a compression spring concealed inside it. A pair of sprung spurs are tapped into the framework and they face forward to really dig into the floor. It has what used to be called an accelerator cam action which serves to 'throw' the beater at the drum head once it passes top dead centre. Sensibly the jaws of the pedal may be set from a seated position and they are wider than usual to ensure that they really hang on to the hoop. The 252's footplate is more or less alone in being made from one piece. It's a very substantial affair with a slight curve in it. I've always been partial to this pedal and find it easy and smooth to use. It actually isn't as heavy as it looks.

Conclusions

Last time I wrote that the sounds were deeper than usual but with a certain amount of thickness which I hadn't expected. At the time this was undoubtedly a result of fitting two Twinskin heads to each drum. However, I'm pleased to say that since they've re-thought the heads the sound has got clearer and breathier. I described the fact that they made a 'Bonk' sound instead of a more acceptable 'Bong'.

Premier have spared no expense to produce these sets. They sit at the very top of their range and are without a Shadow of a doubt the equals of any comparable luxury priced drum set. They are designed for a particular kind of drummer — the guy who hits really hard! With a power shell the soundwave has to bridge a greater distance to stimulate the sympathetic head and round out the overall sound. What I mean is that it's your Rock, or Jazz/Rock player who will be most suited to Black Shadow.

I can only say that the overall finish is very, very good and as far as I can make out, reasonably permeable. (It must be said that any lacquered finish requires extra care when being assembled or put away.) As I said last time, you get what you pay for and, taking that into account, these drums are not overpriced.

RRP: £1450 approx.