Originally Posted by
late8
8 year old son gets a kit like this? Wow! Way to go dad!
Here's where the Yamaha Beech Custom kit falls within the Yamaha professional line drum kits from wiki:
Yamaha Professional Line Drum Kits
Yamaha Maple Custom
The elder of Yamaha's Maple drums lines. The company's professed Flagship Maple Drum kit, featuring 100% Maple wood, and the "Yamaha Enhanced Sustain System" (YESS) which mounts the drum at its nodal point, a technique developed by Noble and Cooley. Maple is perhaps the most widely used wood in drum construction, rivaled only by Birch. Maple is desirable for producing a warm tone, full sustain, and outstanding projection. Toms are 7 plies thick, while the bass drums are 10, making it exceedingly heavy in the opinion of some reviewers. The series is easily recognized by the pairing of square brass lugs and steel hoops, the only of Yamaha's lines to do so.
Yamaha Recording Custom
The longest-running series Yamaha makes, in production for some 30 years now. A professional series of drum kits which is known as Yamaha's Flagship Birch Drum kit, featuring 100% Birch wood and YESS mounts. Birch is punchy with a low fundamental tone and short decay. Also features a large, high-mass lug that extends the length of the shell. The series features a small, rectangular badge with rounded corners.
Yamaha Absolute Series
Founded on the idea of creating a Maple and Birch hybrid kit (such as a Maple bass drum with Birch toms), the Absolute series debuted in the late 1990s offering a full Maple and Birch line with six identical finishes and low-mass, teardrop-shaped lugs. The series has now grown to 30 colors and finishes.
Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute
One of two series of drum kits designed for the Absolute series of the late 1990s. The shells are 100% Maple wood and include YESS mounts. There are two major revisions from the original Maple Custom line. First, the hoops and the lugs have a consistent appearance (early MCA kits featured brass badges, while today's are chrome in line with the rest of the kit). Second, the shells are thinner (MCA bass drums are 7 plies opposed to the Maple Custom's 10, and MCA toms are 6 plies versus the Maple Custom's 7). With all other factors equal, a thinner shell will resonate longer. However, the thicker shell will have greater projection, volume, and structural integrity. Many custom drum companies install a reinforcement hoop inside shells thinner than 6 plies.
Yamaha Birch Custom Absolute
Identical in finish and construction to the MCA, with the exception of using Birch instead of Maple. Birch tends to have a more focused tone and higher pitch. It differs from the Recording Custom in its use of smaller mass lugs, which do not constrict the drum's resonance.
Yamaha Beech Custom Absolute
After the success of the MCA and BCA lines, Yamaha revamped its Beech custom line to similar specifications. Like the MCA and BCA, 30+ colors and finishes are available, and the drums come standard with YESS mounts and low mass lugs. Beech has a low fundamental like Birch, but has the projection of Maple.
Yamaha Absolute Nouveau Series
The offspring of the original Maple and Birch Custom Absolute series, the Nouveau designation signals a change in lug design, which for the Nouveau line does not require the removal of the tension rods in order to separate the head from the shell. Although first introduced in the Absolute Nouveau series, Yamaha has incorporated the design into its semi-professional offerings, creating the Stage Custom Nouveau. Yamaha offers the new lug design on all of its professional Absolute series, which are denoted ** Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute Nouveau, ** Yamaha Birch Custom Absolute Nouveau, and ** Yamaha Beech Custom Absolute Nouveau.
Yamaha Oak Custom
Yamaha has not only recently experimented with Beech wood, but Oak as well. The Oak custom line is not considered to be part of the Absolute series, and offers a narrower range of color and finish options (4), as well as shell sizes. Crafted from 100% Oak wood and equipped with YESS mounts, Oak is loud, powerful, and carries plenty of attack. They are less expensive than the Absolute series counterparts, but are more costly than either the Rydeen or Stage Custom lines.
Bookmarks