Yamaha Drums

It is. And if i'm right, the last one (new old stock) from the Japan factory too.

And a sneak preview ;)

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Only needs the custom Red Oak Remo head. I want to upgrade the bassdrum claws and hoops to die cast too eventually
 
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Well - I'm a little late to the MCAN party, but I picked up a well used set yesterday.

Spent about 8 hours trying to get it cleaned up, and about 8 hours trying to explain to my wife why I got another set when I already have 4.
And why the used, corroded one cost more than any of the new ones I got - LOL.

One of these turned up locally, and amazingly enough in my preferred sizes - 10,12,14,20.

I see one of the disadvantages of chromed aluminum rims - they're subject to the same type of pitting as Supras.
You can see some of the cleaned up pitting on the snare rims in the pic below.
The snare and the top of the floor tom were the worst. The tom I could switch upper/lower, but I'm going to have to live with the snare.

It came with the matching snare, snare stand, 2 heavy duty CS845 boom stands, a hi hat stand, a throne, and a set of 13" New Beats - for under $1,000.
Asking price was more, but he wanted to include some cymbals and a pedal - we bargained down with the pieces I didn't take.
Even given that I had to put a lot of elbow grease into it, I'm pretty happy with the deal.
I've got the drums cleaned up pretty good, but haven't started on the stands yet.
It's going to need new heads - the only one I changed so far was the snare.

Not sure how I feel about the lugs.
Only defects other than the pitting were one bent tension rod, and one scratch on the bass where it looks like a tom fell. Not too noticeable though.

OK - enough talk - time for some pics:

Great drums WB! And regarding explaining to your wife: Just let her know the formula for how many kits a person should have is: a + 1 (where a = # of kits you currently own). ;-)
 
They're useable, but I would never have ordered them on a new set.
Going back on, the rods turn easily until they hit the part of the thread that retains the rods.
At that point, I have to use a key to turn them down until they hit the rim.
I usually change heads on my other drums with an electric drill driven key, so these lugs are
actually a bit slower for me to work with.

I prefer standard lugs where I can spin the rod down with my fingers till it hits the rim.
It makes tuning easier for me.
They don't make me dislike these drums though - good god, they sound nice.

Anyways - I like the look of the newer hook lugs too.

.

I recently bought a copper Yamaha snare with the nouveau lugs and I feel the same way. They are much harder to work with IMO.
 
Great drums WB! And regarding explaining to your wife: Just let her know the formula for how many kits a person should have is: a + 1 (where a = # of kits you currently own). ;-)


We're good. I sold two sets, two days after I got the Absolutes.

Down to three acoustic kits now.
Gonna' try and stay on the straight and narrow for a while, but you never know what tomorrow might bring - LOL
 
....Only needs the custom Red Oak Remo head. I want to upgrade the bassdrum claws and hoops to die cast too eventually


Looks good. Do you always keep your tom mounts upside down like that?

I think the claws/rods/lugs and other hardware are where the major portion of the up charge for higher tiers comes in.
Cost of the raw materials and construction methods are probably very slightly higher. But they sure do get a large premium in price for it.
Some of their designs are pure genius. I'd imagine initial R&D costs of some of that recurring hardware were paid off long ago though.
Then it can gradually filter down through the lines.

One example is the claws. The new Oaks and even the Stage Customs now have die cast instead of stamped.
Stages have Absolute style lugs now.
No filtering down of those glorious T rods yet though. Edit: just saw an older stage custom kit that had those t rods.
Don't know if they were added a some point, or if Yamaha decided not to use them on the stages.
They've got to have something to differentiate the lines, but consolidating construction costs also makes sense.

.
 
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I think the claws/rods/lugs and other hardware are where the major portion of the up charge for higher tiers comes in.
Cost of the raw materials and construction methods are probably very slightly higher. But they sure do get a large premium in price for it.

Raw material cost in the higher tier lines is definitely higher...the wood is just a higher quality material...also, higher cost used to be attributed to "made in Japan" (I.e., labor cost)... Not sure how they do it now (i.e., do they use different craftsmen for higher tier lines?)... The PHX is now the only line made in Japan and only 3 craftsmen build it...pretty exclusive, hence, the very high cost..the source material for it is probably much higher as well..
 
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... The PHX is now the only line made in Japan and only 3 craftsmen build it...pretty exclusive, hence, the very high cost..only source material probably much higher as well..

Ya - I don't know anything about them, but the PHX appears to be a rare breed - indeed.
 
I am a proud Yamaha drum player, I have been playing Maple Customs since 1991. Bought a second identical set to merge the two into one for a double bass set up. Lots of very nice drum sets here, would like to own Recording Customs in the near future.

Mike
 

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Wow - that's a whole lotta' Yamaha there, shaker.

Great first post, pics and everything.

Is that a Roland SPD off to your left side?

.
 
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Some updated shots of mine...

Sorry, I took the photos with my phone, some are a little blurry.
 

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That's the kit in this post, right?: http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showpost.php?p=759238&postcount=1

Nice looking stuff. Is that Black Sparkle a lighter color like that?
On my laptop it looks kind of grayish or dark silver instead of black.
Very sharp looking though.

Do those hook lugs work similar to the earlier nouveau style?
Or do the rods screw all the way out, and then the hook drops down.

Yup, that's the same kit. The lighting in those older photos wasn't very good, they were taken in a very dark room with one small window. Where as in these latest photo's, the room is well lit with natural light from two big windows. I'd say the latest photos are more true to what the finish looks like in person, though it does depend on the lighting.

The Hook lugs work exactly the same way the Nouveau lugs do.... three - four turns and the hook lug comes straight off.....Brilliant!
 
Yup, that's the same kit. The lighting in those older photos wasn't very good, they were taken in a very dark room with one small window. Where as in these latest photo's, the room is well lit with natural light from two big windows. I'd say the latest photos are more true to what the finish looks like in person, though it does depend on the lighting.

The Hook lugs work exactly the same way the Nouveau lugs do.... three - four turns and the hook lug comes straight off.....Brilliant!

The one difference between the hook and the nouveau lug is the hook has a self aligning feature (based on the hook shape), which IMO makes it an overall better design .. Both are nice though...
 
The one difference between the hook and the nouveau lug is the hook has a self aligning feature (based on the hook shape), which IMO makes it an overall better design .. Both are nice though...

The NOUVEAU lugs are self aligning yes, but proven only in theory... they'll 'self align' sometimes, maybe, if you get lucky.
The new hook lug is the upgrade.

The NOUVEAU lugs will catch tension on an angle, not straight, which can put uneven tension on the shell, to get them straight you have to use your hands, which YAMAHA (thankfully) deemed as lame. The hook lug goes on straight, no aligning guess work.
 
The NOUVEAU lugs are self aligning yes, but proven only in theory... they'll 'self align' sometimes, maybe, if you get lucky.
The new hook lug is the upgrade.

The NOUVEAU lugs will catch tension on an angle, not straight, which can put uneven tension on the shell, to get them straight you have to use your hands, which YAMAHA (thankfully) deemed as lame. The hook lug goes on straight, no aligning guess work.

You need to re-read what I wrote.:)..I never wrote that the nouveau lug was self-aligning ... I stated that the hook lug was self aligning (by design), which makes it a better overall design..."both are nice" in that they both make head changes quicker; however, the nouveau requires a little more effort, because you do need to ensure that lug seats correctly (alignment); that isn't a concern with the hook...
 
When putting mine back on, I didn't notice until I went to tune it, that one wasn't seated right - it was at an angle to the shell, instead of flat with it.

I can see that this might be where some of the complaints about the composite nouveau lugs on the Stage Customs breaking came from.
 
You need to re-read what I wrote.:)..I never wrote that the nouveau lug was self-aligning ... I stated that the hook lug was self aligning (by design), which makes it a better overall design..."both are nice" in that they both make head changes quicker; however, the nouveau requires a little more effort, because you do need to ensure that lug seats correctly (alignment); that isn't a concern with the hook...

The NOUVEAU lugs 'are' self aligning, or can be.

NOUVEAU lugs 'were' designed to be self aligning.
 
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