Wow that's a beautiful kit! I really like natural finishes on drums! Welcome to DrumChat!
I have this ysc it is from 98, before the all birch series I beleive it has falkatta mahagany and outer plies if birch. This kit with evans g2 coated and g1 clear, emad2 and unknown reso head with a custom 10" port hole by Gillespie himself who had this kit shells only from his church before my buddy got it who sold it to me. Tunning was an issue when i first got it but once i figured out it's quark's it is a very good sounding kit, especially the bass drum, is this true for any one else...?
22 10 14 16
meinl byzance 14" medium hi hats
meinl byzance 20 sizzle ride
meinl byzance 16" china
meinl soundcaster fusion 14 medium crash
meinl soundcaster fusion 10" splash
meinl classic 17 medium crash
dw 9000 double bass pedal
dw 3000 hi hat pedal
vater h-2220 josh freese's sticks
Last edited by Derbis; 01-11-2011 at 11:33 AM. Reason: add a photo
Wow that's a beautiful kit! I really like natural finishes on drums! Welcome to DrumChat!
I just bought one
Cymbals
14" AA Fusion Hats | 8" Max Splash | 10" HHX Evolution Splash | 16" AA Bright Crash | 21" AA Raw Bell Dry Ride | 18" APX Crash | 14" Wuhan China
Tama Hyperdrive 5 Piece Kit
Ludwig Black Galaxy Acrolite 5x14" Snare
Tama Iron Cobra Jr. single bass pedal
Four Of Spades Facebook Page
Want advice on upgrading your cymbals?
Click here!
I don't know anything about the drums, but BOY do they look nice! You also have an excellent taste in cymbals.
- Zack
Beautiful kit!
Matt
the finish on that kit is amazing! seriously beautiful drums, man. welcome to DC!
Beautiful kit, Derbis.
Thanks for posting the pictures.
Signature here
It must be ten years since I've seen one in that finish- I forgot how beautiful it was! I also had no idea that they offered a 22"x18". Those are some great actions shots as well!
I've heard great sound come from Stage Custom kits, old or the new all-birch. It took me a while to get my head wrapped around it, but while shell material and construction influence sound, so do heads, sticks, tuning, confidence, room acoustics, and technique. I found my perfect kick sound with the 22"x16", a Remo PS3 batter, and a smooth white Remo Emperor (?) reso with a 5" or so port. I have Maple Custom Absolutes and this Stage Custom kick sounds better, although to be fair the dimensions are a wee bit different and the heads aren't the same.
I got mine I *think* in 1998, or maybe 1997. It's the same shell construction.
Mine are black; I've sold off some of my toms over the years and now this is my practice/travel kit: 12"x9", 16"x14", and 22"x16". I have a 14"x12" tom, I just rarely use it.
I've tinkered a little with it, mostly by using the Gibraltar take on RIMS mounts. I also had to replace the kick spurs with Gibraltar ones.
I did sell a 10" tom from this kit which unfortunately the plies were just beginning to separate. I did make sure to point this out to the guy buying it, who was using it as project experiment anyway.
They've served me well. What a finish on yours, though- keep those looking sharp!
Last edited by MrB; 12-20-2010 at 12:50 AM.
A simple, elegant design is good engineering.
Axis | Ayotte | Evans | Gibraltar | Ludwig | Pro-Mark | Remo | Roc-N-Soc | SKB | Taye | Vic Firth | Whitney| Yamaha | Zildjian
nice stage custom too what kind of snare is that, looks deep..I am thinking of taking the rack tom off the bass drum like yours. I think Yamaha makes something to fill that bass drum tom mount if you take it out, I am not sure though I am going to look into it. I tightened all the screws on the inside of the shell that hold all the lugs, made a big difference. Also swapped out the metal washers on the tension rods with plastic ones. My bass drum might be a 16 too been a while since I measured the it. I am really pleased with the sound the bass drum produces as well, overall a great kit I have been debating selling it to help pay for a new kit but it is going to be really hard to let it go... Thanks for the pics and nice ysc...
Why thank you!
Yamaha does make a plastic/nylon/somthing cap that plugs up unused holes. They generally come for free with the three-hole mounts that sit in the kick, or the 900 series three-hole tom stands. They are useful in preventing the wing nut from rattling around.
The snare in the photo is a 12"x7" I had Ayotte make me in 2001. It's actually a copy of a Pearl Soprano, which has identical dimensions, is also maple, and is also 8-ply. They usually go new for around $280-300.
I only went with Ayotte because of the lug design, the option to have soundrings on mine, and the strainer. I wouldn't recommend Ayotte now as the prices have jumped considerably, it's very hard to reach anyone now, and there are quite a bit more options in the custom field than there were ten years ago.
I'm actually going to do an in-depth review of that drum soon; hopefully it will be useful to anyone who sees a used one pop up on the market.
...
What new kit were you looking into?
A simple, elegant design is good engineering.
Axis | Ayotte | Evans | Gibraltar | Ludwig | Pro-Mark | Remo | Roc-N-Soc | SKB | Taye | Vic Firth | Whitney| Yamaha | Zildjian
I have the Stage Custom Standard from 2002 ish(??)....in a translucent forest green satin finish. Nice drums. I bought an extra 22" Kick and 10" Tom shortly after I bought the kit. I like it but the snare leaves a lot to be desired.
My Stage Custom Kit was purchased in 1997 I believe. It is made with 9 ply falkatta and the outer shell is Maple and some had a outter layer of Birch.
Setup as a 5 Piece
Last edited by TxDrummer; 12-22-2010 at 04:56 PM.
I have a five-piece Yamaha Stage Custom in Marina Green lacquer. I really think these old Stage Customs represent the sweet spot in drum set value. They sound great, come with real nice hardware and seem to last forever. My kit is tuned up for a jazzy sound but I used to play an identical kit in church when I lived in Edmonton, and with clear heads tuned low, the toms where absolutely thunderous. Even in a sanctuary that seated 1500 people, I still had to play behind a sound shield! Crazy!
The only thing I didn't like about my Stage Custom drums was they didn't hold their tuning very long. I fixed this by retrofitting self-locking tension rod lug nuts from the high-end Yamaha drums -- now they hold their tuning very well.
Here are some pictures:
The basic kit w/ 20" bass, 10", 12" & 14" toms and a 14"x5½" wood snare:
Here's a shot of the old (left) and new (right) tension rod lug nuts. Note the nylon insert on the right:
Drums stacked out of the way to make room for new jazz kit:
Most important - the snare-buzz-eliminating bunny:
What new kit were you looking into?[/QUOTE]
I am looking into a custom set by dark horse percussion...
Greetings, first post.
I have a '97 model set that was my son's Christmas that year. It sort of ended up being mine for a few years (he migrated into DCI and orchestral). My thoughts on it, for the sake of discussion...
I frankly didn't expect much from this set, and was very impressed with the kick drum. I never liked the snare at all. I wished the toms were bigger, but for the price, I can't complain. The toms are an exercise in frustration - even with judicious tuning, they just don't sound good to me. The middle tom I could never, ever get to sound okay. But again - we're talking a decent, serviceable drum set for a few hundred bucks.
I was impressed with the stock hardware, and have grown even more so as the years go by. The kick and hat pedals are very respectable. I have my eyes out for a major upgrade, and just might get top-end Yamahas since I already have the hardware.
It actually sounds better! Also I do not have any problems with it staying in tune. In fact I brag about its ability to stay in tune.
This kit is two kits put together. My original kit was a 5 piece jazz. with the 10, 12,14 and 20" kick. December 09 someone put up the Rock kit (12,13,16 and 22" kick) and I snagged it for 300 I believe (remembering) You can find the old post on here. The only bummer for me, was the person did not love his kit as much as I did and it had a few dents and scratches on the toms. I have always wanted a big kit to play around with and with this addition it gave me a option of creating many different setups with the same finish. I usually play between a 4 to 6 piece setup.
Welcome to drumchat Derbis. Looks very nice, probably the finish I would have gone with if I had bought one! From what I understand, the older gen Stage Customs were mahogany/birch/falkata shells- and a different generation of them was birch/mahogany back in the 90's/80's called the Rock tours if memory serves(not the rock tours you see of today that are mahogany w/ ash outer layer). The current Stage Customs are third gen and have made the change to a pure birch shell, which I understand are lacquered and sound very good. No surprise there, their drums have always sounded awesome.
ZildjianLeague/LP/Aquarian/Mapex/Pearl
Snares: 4
RIP- Frank, Wolvie, Les Paul
Forum Rules
DrumBum
No metronome?
The Rudiments
I have a 5 piece stage custom which I really love. I am trying a new configuration and want to add a 16x14 tom but I am having difficulty finding one to match my kit. I can order a new on in all birch but I want to keep it more consistent with my current drums. Does anyone know where I can get my hands on one in cranberry. Any help would be appreciated. This is my first time on the site but the people I have seen on it seem cool. thanks
Do what I did, and keep your eye on CL and EB. Eventually a whole kit or pieces show up on line. Generally you have to be fast at picking them up, because they don't last long when they are up for sale. Good luck in your search.
TxDrummer- Nice kit and great flexibility on the different confg. I like the 5pc. with the ride over the bass drum! The double bass kit his huge!
Rstange1- Very clean set up! Nice job! Cool pic showing the nylon bushing inside.
MrB. Nice! I like the dark finish....
I have a '96 set of Stage Customs in a cran/cherry red and I love the way they sound. I have had good luck with my middle tom and like the sound it puts out. My floor tom, on the other hand, I am having trouble getting good sound out of it. I am chalking it up to my older drum heads and am going to replace them soon..
yeah I changed the heads batter and reso, changed tension rods and put nylon washers on the tension rods, made a huge difference. The bass drum is the best drum on stage custom deep rich low end sound. acoustics of the room play a major role in the resonance and sound projected from the drum, some rehearsal studios I have to move the drum set to all kind of different spots and angles to get the best sound, and in attempt to rid the most annoying thing of all, snare buzz. I recently tried the SWAT snare muffler, I do not muffle my drums in any way but one rehearsal room i just couldn't get rid of the buzz so i tried one (swat) and it actually worked with out deadening the snare. I have an extra snare in the same finish (chestnut) I am looking to sell and a stage custom standard 12 rack tom matte black virtually new with g2 coated and g1 clear. I really like the stage custom series especially the older ones, maybe they weren't all created equal but mine sure does sound great, maybe some shells are like wine and get better with age, idk...lol... oh the snare buzz bunny, that's pretty funny..lmao...Thanks for the pics and comments everyone keep em coming...
thanks for the heads up Derbis! (haha)
Are those nylon locking nuts a standard piece I can get at my local drum shop, or are they Yamaha specific? (I've never done anything like that before)
Bookmarks