YAMAHA: Beginner's to PRO kits, we tested four - you'll be surprised! - GEAR GEAR GEAR 

Yamaha are absolutely a star.

I also have a stage custom birch kit. Sounds wonderful!! 10, 12, Tom's, 14, and 16 floor toms. 20" bass drum. Great stuff!!

I bought a SCB snare on an impulse a year+ ago to see if it would be a good workhorse to use with my RCs (it was), and I went all in and grabbed a full SCB kit a month or so ago, and wow this kit really is fantastic, independent of price. Yamaha nailed it with this kit, I'm super impressed. I bought it to be a gigging workhorse so I could leave my RCs home more, and I'm so glad I did. I also grabbed the 5.5 steel snare and am loving that too. You are correct, Yamaha has the best stuff! I love this kit, can't wait to get it on stage and under some mics.

Well done, you just can't go wrong with Yamaha, at any budget or level. Kind regards Tony

Thanks Roy, we always like receiving your comments. Cheers Tony

I actually work at a service station in Cairns.

Absolutely.

Yes I agree! Been too long 😅

Good suggestion Jay, will do, as soon as we learn how to do it. Really appreciate the comment. Have a great day, Tony M

Update: Hey Jay, thanks for the suggestion, we've now added time stamps to this video and will work on adding them to previous ones!

Thanks mate, I appreciate your ears to notice that we try to keep the capture as natural as possible. Thanks for saying.

Yes they do.

Thanks David, we appreciate the comment and hearing about your experience with a Yammy Stage Custom.

Spot on mate.

What are the better drums? DW? NO WAY! Tama or Sonar its opinion as well as Gretsch… but better? And BTW, I like the Stage Customs as much or better than the Tour Customs but the Absolute Maple Hybrid and the Oak Customs I think are my favorites, although I have never played the updated Recording Customs but the 1994 RC kit I had had a lacking bass drum sound.

Thanks for your thoughts mate.

He sure is and super nice human. Cheers Tony

Absolutely. I’ve never heard a bad Yamaha anything.

Very nice!

Yeah, I know right!

@@KillerDrumsTV 😃 👍 👊

Barry, that's awesome! It's a bargain hey!

Good hear. I've never come across stage customs in backline; always recording customs.

Yamaha make great drums

Good thinking there. I love how you are using your ear to pick gear and not mostly your eyes or brand locality. All the best

@fartpooboxohyeah8611 Agreed! One's genre of music, playing style, etc., all make up personal preferences and the need for a variety of musical options.

Thanks for sharing!

Cheers too!

Thanks mate! It’s good to be back doing what we love

Their 14" rack Tom is great.

I’ve never seen a SC with a 24” BD. 😮

Sure does.

Actually I do prefer euro birch to maple in most drums and can hear the difference acoustically or more to the point my ears prick up when it’s birch as I like it more.

I love 18's. Sounds like you e got yourself a keeper there.

2 years wow..I'd be afraid I would never get it.

Love those

It arrived 3 months ago!! Sounds absolutely incredible!!!

Hey mate, yeah it's a typo. Thanks for the pick up, all fixed.

Craig, I'm pretty sure that you can custom order one. Maybe email them and ask.

Hey mate, it's really hard to beat Yamaha, Pearl and Tama really. I have my 80's Gadd RC in our studio atm and it's just killer. It often makes me wonder why I'd need anything else. But like a holiday revives you, there comes a time to try other drums so that when you return home, you know why you love it so.

Hey mate, all examples are mixed as genuinely as possible with minimal eq/compression (if at all) and no effects. So what you hear is what they sound like out of the box, no tricks. But thanks for the complement.

@@KillerDrumsTV 😎

You're right it kinda becomes an Illusion. We are so programmed to see toms descending in size that wehen they are reversed or different we still see the same thing. I have two kits with factory double 13" toms and the other with factory twin 14" toms. Every time I set them up the second tom always looks bigger even though it's the same size. Crazy I know. The great drummers illusion! However if I put a 2nd bass drum on the other side. They look the same size.

Yeah. Good heads make all the difference.

Loved that hot red finish. That's a great story and good ears deserve good drums. I have my 80's Gadd recording customs set up atm, and man do they make me smile every time I play them... like every stroke. Just love them.

cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0111/2175/4171/products/20211125_174546_1024x1024.jpg?v=1638547148

@@KillerDrumsTV that's a bad ass set. I'm trying to figure out how to send a pic of these

I don't think it matters what drum shells, heads, or brand of drums you use, if you just want dead tones. Even a cardboard box kit will give you that sound, though a little bright. So maybe carpet squares over different size plastic buckets would produce a melodic dead tone. But if that's what you want just use Evans hydraulic heads and glue thick foam rings around the underside of the head about 3" x 3" like a donut and tune low. The Beatles just threw a tea towel or actual towel over the kit to get that sound.

If you play drums on your own, you notice the overtones but in a musical situation with other musicians playing, it usually isn't noticeable at all. Get out and jam with others.

Hey mate, yes you are correct the UT are pretty poor heads, all drums come alive when they have quality heads on them. As far as reverse toms, a lot of people do it. Not to copy but because they prefer a larger Tom in front of their snare and use the small Tom to the right, more percussively. In my early days I played 1 up 2down; and three up, and a FT either side. But after 30 years I play all my toms chromatically in reverse, with exception of the floor toms, one each side… my smaller toms now are all reversed from the right to the left: 10, 12, 13 and then 14 on the left of my hi hat above my left hand floor Tom. It’s the oddest thing, but I’m hearing fills and groves more in those terms now, likely more orchestral.

Back in the early 2000's we compared 10 kick drums, tuned the same, with the same heads, same mic and played by the same player. Three producers in a blind presentation all chose a Peavey radial pro 1000 bass drum first with a combined score of 95/100, then a masters and Yamaha recording 80/100, then a DW 75/100, the rest fell to between 40 and 60/100. Now they were producers, but from my perspective as a drummer, once I heard the Peavey in comparison to the others, I bought a Peavey. We'll make a video of it soon.

Hey Ralph, thanks for the question. It's complicated as I always prefer an old Yamaha recording custom to a new anything, because the build quality, components, timber and design are so hard to beat or compare to modern drums and what you have to now pay for them. Out of your list I'd look for a second hand starclassic. All the best. Tony

Starclassic anyday over all these

A true old thin maple starclassic is a pro kit, on another level. Not those blended wood ones they fool everyone with.

What we learnt in this Yamaha review was that at any budget, all drummers can be winners. Thanks for your comment. Tony

All mics are the same mate.

Hey butter, the Yamaha tour custom is an awesome player's kit. You won't be disappointed . Cheers tony

@@KillerDrumsTV thanks Tony, been looking at a few. Likes of Tama super classic and others. Just didn't know what people thought

Of all the $1,000-$1,500 USD maple kits, I love/prefer the sound of Yamaha's maple Tour Custom. The tone just sings with a beautiful punch. ...The color selection and satin finish leaves a lot to be desired - probably my least favorite. ...wait. Pearl's Decade Maple color choice (regardless of their shiny lacquer finish) is worse. If Yamaha would juice up their colors a bit, just give them some vibrancy, they could own this segment.

See Yamaha’s yt channel, I forget the guy’s name, but famous jazz drummer playing tour customs with a big side bass drum. They sound mind blowing and the solo is like nothing you’ve heard. Great kit for any situation

Yes! Technically it's CuSn8 Bronze, or B8.

The judge need to be JUDGED!!!! Sorry bud…

I dunno whether to give that a thumbs up or thumbs down. But please, start drumming again. You will play different after a long break, the mojo will come back and the bad voodoo will simply wash away.

So sad. Buy another kit.

Not really. A drum also gives off "presence" that energise the drummer and the room. Some drum set have no presence, others have so much that you feel like your in a bath tub of sound. Similarly, each kit we review could be ranked on the presence scale also. I've proven many times over now that even two toms in the same brand/size/timber and tuning can have different "presence". This is also true for drum heads. Pick up two 13" ambassadors and just hit them with your finger, often bright, moderate or dull is their tone. Then add to this a drummers touch and/or technique, and some drummers have a touch that make certain kits come alive and others' sound dead and dull. These days a lot of drummers have learnt their grip from RU-vid and are choking the tone of the stick at its source or playing into the heads not off the heads. Both of these "techniques" (loosely) have a negative impact on a drums tone. Some players who use these techniques, are known by that sound. So there really are no rules these days, it just comes down to does your technique, stick tone and feel get lost in your drums or is it amplified. Have a great day, Tony Moore - KD.TV

@fartpoobox ohyeah I have a pdp kit that sounds much worse than my Yamaha in same room, same heads. It doesn’t have the warm resonance. Some drums do have something different going on. Not to mention it’s way faster to tune and stays in tune way longer.

@@KillerDrumsTV Tip top sales chops 😁🤘

No way dude. Especially in person. Not to mention better parts, finishes, ease of tuning and the hybrid plies make them more aggressive. If your dumb statement was true we’d all be playing stagg drums, right?

@@toddcapiton6285 ok. You know best.

Hey Joseph, love the Paiste cymbals too. Good pick!

Ha ha, wait til I review a DW kit; eye wateringly expensive and over priced for the sum of its parts. It kinda like buying a signed photo of someone famous. It's value is what people are willing to pay.

It's likely not only the dollar but physical location and associated shipping cost and possibly tariffs too. Australia likely has tax like us in Canada. We have tax for most provinces and federal tax. In my case, BC has total of 12% provincial and federal. It's rough being a consumer in Australia. Prices are high for everything.

Yes they do

It's an open handed linear style of set up for a righthand lead player so a simple 4/16 note fill like 10, 12, 16, 16 is played R, L, R, L with out crossing sticks. Bernard Purdie Kenny Aronoff Don Famularo Jimmy Chamberlin Billy Cobham Mike Mangini ...and many more all play reversed toms. In my opinion it is a more musical approach (like chords) than ascending tones (like scales).

Because he wants to, douche. What do you care?

Yes, 14"

Hey David, yeah it's Australian prices. On the surface poplar may seem not as good as maple, but the quality of the timber regardless of the type of timber goes a very long way to produce the tone. I've been a cabinet maker (drum maker) for 35 years and one thing that has held true all this time; that is, even the highest quality materials in the hands of fools turn to rubbish, but the poorest quality in the hands of a craftsman is often prized. But check this kit out ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ix_11UeGwYY.html

@@KillerDrumsTV you make some very good points

Mapex drums are lame af. I’d buy used cb700 instead

Hey mate, to be blunt, we actually don't have the time during filming to swap out hardware to match the drums, and it's makes zero difference to the sound we are capturing. On this shoot we could have used Yamaha hardware but intentionally chose to use what we want instead. I personally have several Yamaha kits one since the 80's, which I love, and so had some of their hardware, it's excellent gear, but moved away from their hardware mostly because of a period there that their cymbal stands failed frequently. So over the decades I just preferred other brands for different things. I see hardware and even snares like cymbals, completely seperate to the drums I choose to play. I don't even keep all my hardware matching. I like two brands and models of hi hats stands and my cymbals stands are in another brand, bass pedals another brand and snare stand from another brand yet again. All because they each do that thing the best, and although I could use the matching pieces of hardware as a set. I just choose to use the best piece of gear for that purpose regardless of the brand, so sometimes my pedals don't match either. The new yamaha direct drive bass pedals look worth a try. Thanks for you comment, it raises a good conversation to have on one of our next shows perhaps about what hardware to choose and why. Thanks again.

Hardware does not impact sound fool but Yamaha hardware is the best, true

Man yall get some dumb ass comments on here FFS

Maple tour custom has killer bass drum sound. I have the snare but don't like it, I prefer a birch snare with my maple kit.

Cheers John, it sure did.

Camera guy here, thanks for noticing me 😍

And maple bass drums always sounds better than birch bass drums.

@@ivanbajovic3476 Thats just a matter of preference

@@samumutka9236 Do you like birch bass drum sound more than maple?

@@ivanbajovic3476 I personally don't like one bass drum sound more because it's maple or birch:D It all depends on the combination of the shell, heads, tuning, bearing edges and the mic placement. There are very good birch and maple bass drums and maple can sound better on another day and birch better the next day. And you really can't say that one sound is better than the other sound and it's just a matter of preference.

TC has North American maple. SC has Asian birch. Thus, the price difference. Heads aren’t the difference.

Quality heads are 70% of the sound and everything else just makes them better or worse, more sustained or more choked. The yammys were a lot of fun. Keen to get some more on the show.

No you can’t idiot, without studio magic. When you sit behind a kit that’s when you can tell

Yes

Hey mate, the ’80s Tour Customs were birch/mahogany shells, but the 2017 incarnation features 6-ply, 5.6mm all-maple shells. So you’re bang on.

@@KillerDrumsTV was just pointing it out as you may want to edit your description because it says “birch” after Tour Custom :)

Cheers, done. Thanks for the pickup.

Ha ha. Glad you got something out of it.

Hey Scott, these are in AUD and the kits are from www.mooloolabamusic.com.au (on the Sunshine Coast, Australia). Which currency are you referring to?

@@KillerDrumsTV Oh I see. I was referring to USD in the states

They’re in QLD, I think Brizzy, not Dallas.

@@sharper9009 Everything is always so much more expensive here in AUS compared to USD!

We're in Australia mate. Tmes by .6 and you'd be close to USD.

Yeah, the Australian dollar is worth only 60 cents American. So something $1000 here is only $600 there.

Never traveled out of town Joe? They are on a damn island fool

@@toddcapiton6285 yes I know where they are jackass I'm just saying it's cheaper in the US

Hi Colin, you're right, "the higher the price on a Drum kit the better the skins provided". What we're actually trying to accomplish is giving the viewer an out-of-the-box representation of each kit including the skins that are provided however bad or good they may be. It's about sound for the price point! Thanks or your comment, feel free to check out some of our other videos

Not a shootout numbnut! Why pose $5k kits against a Rydeen? Oh, cause that would be stupid

My late 80's RC kit just has that extra something every time, a little extra voicing, more low end and a bit more punch on the kik. I hear ya mats. Thanks for sharing. Tony

Hey Sheldon, thanks for your comment. The comparison is out of the "out of box sound", as in what you are actually buying. A comparison with the same heads over different drums (an A/B is only of use if it happens to be the head combination that you like and they are tuned precisely the same between kits. Here the goal was to present each kit's "out of the box" sound so that you can hear exactly what you are buying at each price point, not the potential of what you're if you also buy a couple of hundred dollars of heads too. That said we have some A/B's of same drums with different head combinations and the head winner will be used as the basis of an A/B between a few competing pro kits, like all maple, all birch comparisons. Thanks for watching.

@@KillerDrumsTV Thank you. In my opinion, the owner will replace the heads within days or weeks after purchase. So I would still prefer to an A/B comparison as you described. Love the channel!

@@SheldonKreger Not necessarily! I have the white Stage Custom like that one they demoed, with the stock heads UC still on after two years ownership and I've recorded two albums and an EP plus weekly rehearsals and gigs. About to record a further album with them. They still tune up well and there are no pitch bend issues. The snare is the one exception, and has had about four heads in that time, plus two snare wire sets.

Achtung

That's Australia!

Thanks Paul, this was a departure from our normal style of Gear Gear Gear films, being that we had four at a time and only a few hours. so although I appreciate your comment and suggestion, it is what the time and space allowed. Please appreciate that there is a massive amount of time and setup required to film and move all these drums as well as cost, equipment and crew and yet we ask nothing of you, nor are we selling you anything, just sharing our passion with you for free, and yes normally we do. Feel free to watch our other films and let us know which ones you like the best. Regards Tony

Ha ha, never let an underwhelming finish get in the way of a great drum sound. TM

@@KillerDrumsTV …And I remember selling their product when they were able to pull off both…

Try a different pair of sticks.

Ok bandit. Stick with your stagg. With the hybrid shells several lines sound different especially in person. But you probably never played any

Is it now? LOL

Possibly.

Thanks for your comment. If you're new to the channel, this segment "Gear Gear Gear" is about discovering new or old gear and having a chat around that. As such, We value the talk as much as the playing and also realise that there are many drum channels out there that are all play no talk. And that's not us. We are about a conversation. We do however understand that as the attention spans and patience of some viewers gets less and less, that a few may not like it and complain, but we also know that most drummers like to talk, listen and play. This channel is for them. Have a great day.

Ha ha… much like reading your comment I guess. I’m sorry if you think you can only tune a small Tom high and a low Tom low, this is not true at all. A jazz 18” bass drum is generally tuned super high, compared to an 18” rock floor purse. Equally a snare can be tuned super high and super low. But by your complaint, a tympani for example should only be tuned to one note, its fundamental most resonate pitch. Technically higher pitches resonate faster and shorter anyways, so a “most resonate” pitch in a small tom won’t be as resonate as the most resonate note in a larger Tom. That produces a problem for your theory. The truth of the matter whether you know it or not, is that drums operate as a set. Furthermore, a head diameter places a drum in a range of pitches, but that drum’s tension can lift or lower the pitch quite a range, with many sounding great. Equally a super thin shell (and also some timbers) can lower the pitch of a drum well below its range, and equally a thick shell, or a shell with re-rings and harder timber will raise it’s pitch. The reality is that any drum has several resonate pitches, not just one; and necessarily a higher pitch. Food for thought. Thanks for you criticism. Happy tuning.

@@KillerDrumsTV you’re comment doesn’t really compare apples to apples. A 18” drum can get low frequencies /sound but it’ll never reach low enough like 22” 24” etc… even if the shell was thin I down to drop the pitch down. Now if you look at a piano scale the timpani drum is at the far low end of the scale and no matter what you’ll never tune it to the high note of the other end of the scale because the design and large capacity the of the timpani shell is not design to and is beyond it’s capabilities. It’s very poor example you’re trying to point. The only thing that you mention that makes any kind of sense is a thick shell vs. a thinner shell but that’s only part of it. You forgot that the depth of the drum affects the pitch and as well as a drum having smaller diameter like a 13” vs 14” diameter can changed a note higher too. Then you didn’t mention how type of wood can affect the tone of the drum. Not a very good argumentative point from you. My comment still stands as is. Example you can’t get a 8” diameter drum to sound like a12”/13”/14” drum even if you increase the depth of the drum cause now the drum will sound more like “octabon” drums and you’re not gonna get a 13” drum to sound low like a 16” floor tom ,so just stop doing it that just sounds horrible. I’ve got 40 + yrs playing drums so it’s not an opinion it’s an observation of real application.

Sure it does. As a drum maker I can make a 20x8 sound deeper than a 24x20. I have bass drums here from 30” down to 16”, in a variety of depths and the bass drum that is the lowest pitch by far (not because of the heads) is one of my custom 20” x 8”bass drums. You see there are factors at play here that few even have realised, because most drum makers just assemble and make drums designed for profit. Few make drums for sound. Given that, generally you are listening to only the same limited examples of drum made for profit and not instruments, so I can’t expect you to know of other possibilities even with 100 years experience playing drums. I make drum prototypes to test all these notions, so I can manipulate these “fixed ideas” and know how to master their influence. Here’s one experiment you can try yourself at home to raise many points. 1.Get a length of clear 10mm (approx) pvc tubing and squish it into your floor Tom hole air hole. Make sure it tight. 2. Now place the tubing in your mouth. 3. start to play, keep playing, 4. blow as hard as you can and for as long as you can; tell me what happens to the pitch of your drum and why that’s happening. Now ponder how can a drum maker (not assembler) remove that pitch impact from a shell to lower an 8” Tom to sound like a 12” Tom? Maybe watch a few acoustic violin and guitar making videos as they often are showing you exactly that. Remember we are not talking about the feel of a drum as in the difference between playing an 8” Tom to a 16 or 18” Tom, but pitch shifting with in the bounds of a drum heads range. Also, I have not forgotten about the depth of a drum in relation to pitch, depth does not exclusively lower pitch as my 20 x8 is lower in pitch than my 20 x 18, but do you know why? We all have 40+ years experience these days, and observations galore, but many with little understanding about physics and the elements. but I think you may just like tuning drums your way and being rigid is ok if everyone one else likes that too, but on this video you appear to be one in 50,000 that don’t like the sound of the tuning. That likely suggests something worth pondering before you reply. But if you reply please put up some actual audio examples of what you do and don’t like and I’m happy to consider a challenge that make end up in a video for others to compare and comment on. Have a great day.

Stfu tune your stagg kit the way you want. Some like low dead drums, it’s preference. Gadd often played his top notch kit very low and muffled and you can’t touch his turds.

Thanks Felix for your encouraging feedback, are you a guitarist? Anyways, feel free to post a link to an example of your work so any other "guitarists" can blindly and ignorantly critise. LOL,have a great day, kind regards Tony

No. It's purely conditioning that we do this.

@@KillerDrumsTV What do you mean, conditioning?

There is no musical or even practical reason that a small Tom would be closest to the hi hat. A piano is chromatically arranged from high notes on the right, to low on the left; which musically would be opposite to how a drummer arranges their drums. So by conditioning, I mean classical conditioning - as in automatically pairing something unrelated together and holding to that thinking as fact. If you think about a drum set logically, and physiologically, then our hi hat would be centre of the kit; our toms and cymbals arranged left and right, based on effiency and musicality as in most used, closest; and those drums used lest go further away. Their position should also be influenced by the tones or order in which you want to play those tones. So if you want to play snare/small Tom/2nd Tom/ floor Tom. Then a conditioned set up is fine. But it is very limiting as you add more drums and even just considering the hi hat position off the one side, when you play that 90% of the time. That said, I have a set of drums set up in an ergonomic manner of thinking and have done so since the 90's and they are so efficient to play. By breaking away from condition or breaking away from automatically assuming something should be set up in the same way as everyone else, limits our progress as it limits our thinking and physical options. Have a great day. Tony

@@KillerDrumsTV I'm absolutely going to try this and when I can afford the extra drums I'm also going to try the conventional set up, but with sizes 8 - 12 - 14 -18 if I can obtain the SCB 18'' in Polar White. 10'' toms..who needs 'em! ;)

Ok drum lawyer. Did you hear his explanation? Millions set their toms up out of sequence for fun, you should start a class action lawsuit. You probably call it the “high” tom. What about righties that lead with their left? Are they safe from the rules?