Yamaha 100th anniversaty.. worth pursuing?

so... got it somewhat setup.. i have always had my ride where the 13 inch is.. it feels weird.. tuning is better, the 10 and 12 sound awesome.. the 13 is ok at best.. will get there :) Best part of all of this is the sabian thin crash that came with the kit.. it sounds amazing and matches my current cymbals perfectly :)

P.S. the tom mount is backwards intentionally..
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Wow..loooong story short..if it's possible. I ordered a piano black kit 80's. 22..10..12..14..16. Got them. Set them up..tuned for half an hour and my heart nearly stopped. No length to the tone..brittle sounding...no low end. I heard Larrie London's kit on Steve Perry's street talk CD. Much different than my kit...MUCH different. I wrote Larrie a letter and told him of my dilemna. He wrote back and couldn't have agreed more with my assessment. Sent me a cassette of what the late AL Duffy from Pearl did to the bearing edges. They looked at the yamaha R.C. edge which was thee problem. A new edge was put on all of his toms which Larrie said brought a rich..warm..low end sustain to the toms. He left the bass drum alone..the deafness in that drum was fine. Larrie tried to call me but I was gone at the time so a lengthy cassette was made and sent my way. Unfortunately I'd sold the kit befor I got the edge work done. Larrie also informed yamaha of his thoughts and they disagreed with his feelings on the drums. How do you disagree with at the time..one of thee most sought after Nashville studio drummers of the time. Anyway..thats a looping story as short as I could make it.
 
so... got it somewhat setup.. i have always had my ride where the 13 inch is.. it feels weird.. tuning is better, the 10 and 12 sound awesome.. the 13 is ok at best.. will get there :) Best part of all of this is the sabian thin crash that came with the kit.. it sounds amazing and matches my current cymbals perfectly :)

P.S. the tom mount is backwards intentionally..
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My kit came with 10,12,13 also. I tried it for a while, but the 13 is on a shelf now. Hope you like yours better. :)
 
My kit came with 10,12,13 also. I tried it for a while, but the 13 is on a shelf now. Hope you like yours better. :)
haha i feel it might end that way, but i'm going to give it a try for sure,.. got them tuned decently...

I think i like tuning too low, i was watching one of weckls weekend streams last night and his drums are tuned inanely high to me.. like his 16" sounds higher than my 10..
 
Very nice kit, I like the bird eye finish. About the set up, it's generally fine to play 10 12 13 16 with the racks tuned higher than you would normally do. Some power toms don't like much high tuning though. I did the same with my tom post, reversing it, on my Signia which have the same layout - otherwise I had my toms on my knees !
 
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The kit looks great. You did a good job restoring them.

Interesting to hear how much you like your DW Designs. I'm the same way with mine... they sound kind of perfect to me. I put pinstripes on them and they're beautifully round and warm. Seriously good sounding drums.

It does take a while to acclimatize to new sounds. I've bought cymbals that sounded strange to me at first (triggering buyer's remorse) but after a few hours of play time, I end up loving them as my ears adjust. I hope this kit grows on you the same way.
 
The kit looks great. You did a good job restoring them.

Interesting to hear how much you like your DW Designs. I'm the same way with mine... they sound kind of perfect to me. I put pinstripes on them and they're beautifully round and warm. Seriously good sounding drums.

It does take a while to acclimatize to new sounds. I've bought cymbals that sounded strange to me at first (triggering buyer's remorse) but after a few hours of play time, I end up loving them as my ears adjust. I hope this kit grows on you the same way.

Yeah... the design series is just an amazing value... i'm gonna see if i can get 1k outa mine... if not i will make a huge kit out of the 2 :)
 
So.. a customer of mine has a full set of the 100th anniversary in birdseye maple that he bought brand new in 87, and it's been sitting ever since.. He plays a different instrument and bought these on a whim (which is insane... since they were at huber and breese, i won't even walk into the place.. it's crazy high priced stuff)

Anyway.. I may be able to snag them.. but am curious if anyone has actually played a set? They have my all time favorite lugs but i can't find much info bout them let alone reviews.. More of a museum/collector piece? Don't wanna buy something i won't play is all.. hoping someone will have experience with em.
It's pretty much this exact kit.. finish and all..

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yup :) wish my badges were in that good of shape though.. they aren't bad but not perfect..been playing them as much as i can (had a shoulder replaced 5 weeks ago) and don't think i can go away from 3 up again, loving that more than i thought i would.

P.S. only played 80 mins tonight :( the pain is too intense some nights... it will get better..
 
Have you thought about putting Pinstripes on them? That could bring a little warmth and thickness to the birch.

Maybe try just getting a 16" Pinstripe and see what it does to the 16" floor, then upgrade them all if you like the results.
 
Have you thought about putting Pinstripes on them? That could bring a little warmth and thickness to the birch.

Maybe try just getting a 16" Pinstripe and see what it does to the 16" floor, then upgrade them all if you like the results.
I might try that sometime, but i am very happy with the tuning right now.. just took some playing around to get it right and i love my aquarians :)

I still haven't tried the yammy snare, need to do that eventually.
 
Try put the ride cymbal above the 13" tom. I tried it and it find it super comfortable.
have been thinking bout it... never had one that high before.. will try this weekend.. plus that would open up room for a bank of cowbells
 
have been thinking bout it... never had one that high before.. will try this weekend.. plus that would open up room for a bank of cowbells
Awesome! Let us know how you get on. Also, I like that you're adding not one, but a bank of cowbells! hahahaha. That's great
 
Awesome! Let us know how you get on. Also, I like that you're adding not one, but a bank of cowbells! hahahaha. That's great

Well yeah..... 3 toms up... 3 cowbells up.... just common sense really. plus that makes me 2 cowbells better than weckl :)
 
So, ended up on sunday moving the ride up over the 13" which is a little high cause power toms (if you are going to have toms.. make them powerful... as everyone knows.. size matters)
Honestly.. i wish i had done this when i started playing, my arm is straighter (not straight but not near as much bend at the elbow) My rebound and control feels better.. The cymbal under it is where the ride used to be and i was pretty much almost reaching backwards to hit it. The thing in it's place now is a Boshphorus 18" thin crash which i can ride on lightly or crash a little.. (plus while i get used to the new position it keeps me from throwing sticks on the ground when i go for the ride that isn't there anymore) :)

All in all pretty happy right now with it all.. still need a cowbell though..

P.S. that is a empty Tates cookie bag under my easel... Tates cookies are AWESOME. :)
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