Premier Guitars

Premier Guitars

Also known as: Premier, Multivox Premier, Multivox/Premier

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Premier is an American guitar and amplifier brand originally launched in the mid-1940s by the Peter Sorkin Music Company, a New York–based musical instrument wholesaler, together with its manufacturing subsidiary Multivox. Sorkin moved into electric instruments around 1946 with the Premier 27, a flat-top acoustic fitted with a pickup, and most Premier-branded guitars that followed were built fo...

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Premier is an American guitar and amplifier brand originally launched in the mid-1940s by the Peter Sorkin Music Company, a New York–based musical instrument wholesaler, together with its manufacturing subsidiary Multivox. Sorkin moved into electric instruments around 1946 with the Premier 27, a flat-top acoustic fitted with a pickup, and most Premier-branded guitars that followed were built for the company by United Guitar Corporation in Jersey City, New Jersey, while amplifiers were produced in-house by Multivox. Some models used DeArmond pickups supplied by Rowe Industries of Ohio.

The brand is best remembered for its late-1950s and early-1960s solid-body electrics, particularly the distinctive "scroll" models with a carved violin-style upper horn, alongside hollow- and semi-hollow-body guitars such as the E-723, E-726 and E-727. Premier amplifiers from the same era — including the Twin 8 and the Model 50 — have developed a following among blues harmonica players who prize their compressed, distorted tone, and the amps were played on stage and in the studio by artists including Link Wray and Mickey Baker. Premier-branded instruments have also been reissued overseas on and off over the years, with more recent runs reportedly built in Korea.

Premier Guitars has 3 products cataloged on Equipboard, including Electric Basses, Semi-Hollowbody Electric Guitars, and Hollowbody Electric Guitars. Their gear is featured by 3 artists, with the strongest followings in Rock, Blues, and Funk / Soul. Notable users include Mark Sandman, Bo Diddley, and Jon Brion.

Artists Who Use Premier Guitars

Mark Sandman uses 1 Premier Guitars product

Mark Sandman

Singer, Bassist · Morphine

Bo Diddley uses 1 Premier Guitars product

Bo Diddley

Guitarist · The Louisiana Gator Boys

Jon Brion uses 1 Premier Guitars product

Jon Brion

Guitarist, Composer · 'Til Tuesday

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