The HR9 (Heavy Rock 9”) was introduced in 1987, Premier’s self proclaimed ‘Year of the Snare’ and was considered the flagship drum in their snare range at the time, appearing solo on the front cover of their 1987 brochure.

The drum measured 14” by 9” deep and the unique design included a lacquered brass shell and a thin core or liner of  birch wood fixed inside the shell, allegedly combining the brilliance of brass with the warmth of wood. The wood liner was fitted to cut down the overtones common with deep, brass shells and the drum was also fitted with a couple of inch wide felt strips at the top and bottom of the inside of the shell. An external tone control was also supplied as standard.

Premier supplied the drum with heavy duty aluminium ‘stress rings’ as opposed to die cast or steel hoops, these stress rings were designed to take the extreme tension needed by pipe drummers. The strainer was the tried and tested Flobeam parallel action that found fame on the long serving 2000 snare amongst others and there were 10 of Premier’s elegant hi-ten lugs fitted.

The first version of the HR9 was a great success with Premier selling their first year’s estimated sales in just 6 weeks !

By 1990, the HR9 was subjected to a couple of ‘updates’ having now been tested in studio and live situations, namely; the birch inner liner was dropped, the Flobeam strainer was dropped in favour of the more conventional 0642 lever strainer, new, thicker ‘tone belts’ were installed inside the shell and the model number was changed from ‘2029’ to ‘2039’.

The drum remained unchanged until 1993 when further updates resulted in the 0648 lever strainer being replaced by the then new, Signia 610 quick release mechanism which allowed the drummer to change the resonant snare head, without dismantling the snare wires from the mechanism. The heavy duty stress rings were also replaced with 1.9mm steel hoops and the model number was revised to ‘2019’. The 1994 Premier brochure was the last time the HR9 was listed.

In recent years, there has been a groundswell of interest in the HR9 as more and more find their way onto the open market. Many unfortunately have suffered from ‘lacquer rash’, probably due to having been stored in less than ideal conditions. Worse still, some well intentioned owners have attempted to clean the blemishes off and simply made the drum look even more unattractive by removing the lacquer itself ! Not unlike the much revered Ludwig 400 which is prone to pitting, but still loved by enthusiasts, the HR9 is best left alone to age gracefully.

This is not a drum for the faint hearted and really does ‘what it says….’, it is best set loose on bombastic heavy music. On many occasions I have taken mine to rock sessions along with a selection of more sensible snares, which are invariably immediately returned to their cases once the HR9 is soundchecked !