Bish's Beastily Blue Beeches have arrived

[Bish]

Thanks for the info, gd.

[CB700]

how are they sounding with better heads?

[Bish]

how are they sounding with better heads?

Getting better. Still not used to a 12 and 13. Seems like one will sound good but not the other. I'm a bit perplexed at the moment.

[gdmoore28]

how are they sounding with better heads?

Hey, Conrad - just happened to think about this - have you ever posted pics of your CB700 kit? I'd love to see it. As I've told you before, I used to have a six-piece "Mark Series" kit. They are much better drums than people give them credit. Check the inside of your floor tom casings and you'll see why: the were made in cooperation with Pearl.

Sorry to interrupt the thread, Bish. Carry On.

GeeDeeEmm

[Ricardo]

Beautiful color.
That tom mount could hold up my truck while I change the tires.

[Bish]

Hey, Conrad - just happened to think about this - have you ever posted pics of your CB700 kit? I'd love to see it. As I've told you before, I used to have a six-piece "Mark Series" kit. They are much better drums than people give them credit. Check the inside of your floor tom casings and you'll see why: the were made in cooperation with Pearl.

Sorry to interrupt the thread, Bish. Carry On.

GeeDeeEmm

No sweat. Conrad has his kit posted from several years ago. It's big and blue, IIRC.

[Bish]

Beautiful color.
That tom mount could hold up my truck while I change the tires.

What I like even better about it...it's the same for all Yamaha kits that I've messed with. One fits all, etc....No skimping on bd mounted tree. From the inexpensive Stage Customs all the way up to the Recording Customs. Same fixture.

[SpazApproved]

Getting better. Still not used to a 12 and 13. Seems like one will sound good but not the other. I'm a bit perplexed at the moment.

It's funny I special ordered that new 13" for my Pork Pie and I'm having the same issue. It's a tough to get to blend in.

[Bish]

It's funny I special ordered that new 13" for my Pork Pie and I'm having the same issue. It's a tough to get to blend in.

It's the Ddrums. We're spoiled. lol

[Exotic Matter]

Bish, having worked in MI for a number of years and assembling a bunch of Yamaha kits over that time, I can tell you that finding hoops with and without stickers on them was routine. No rhyme or reason - some had them, some didn't.

There is a good chance that your kit was purchased just as you bought it. During the time your kit was produced, Yamaha was doing a dramatic stock reduction sale to dealers, offering certain Recording Custom and Beech Custom individual drums at dealer discounts up to 70% off list price. Kit configurations had to be determined by the dealer according to available sizes. The Beech Customs were offered in three colors: green, yellow, and blue. The Recording Customs were available only in Tobacco Fade. (I assembled and purchased my new Recording Custom set from this lot of discounted drums.)

This is almost certainly how your kit came to be, as its makeup does not adhere to any of the pre-configured set offerings of the time. Like at our store, I would imagine that a customer was offered a great deal on a custom assembled set chosen from the available pieces. I remember that, besides my own RC kit, I was able to sell two large, double bass drum Beech Custom sets the same way - one yellow kit and one green one. I believe this was in the early 2000s? Certainly after 2001, when the Beech Customs were introduced.

GeeDeeEmm

You're referring to the original Beech Customs which is different than what Bish has here. His are a Set of Beech Custom Absolutes. Yamaha discontinued the original Beech Customs and only offered beech with the Absolutes for a short time, that's what these are. The Beech Absolutes are pretty rare, they discontinued Beech in the absolute series after only a couple of years.

[Bish]

You're referring to the original Beech Customs which is different than what Bish has here. His are a Set of Beech Custom Absolutes. Yamaha discontinued the original Beech Customs and only offered beech with the Absolutes for a short time, that's what these are. The Beech Absolutes are pretty rare, they discontinued Beech in the absolute series after only a couple of years.

So, is this a good or a bad thing? I did no research before the hoarding began.

[Exotic Matter]

Definitely a good thing. The Absolutes were a high end series. The original Beech Customs were a mid level series, still great drums but only available in a few strange colors. You could get a full Beech custom kit for under $1,500 back then, your Absolute kit was easily double that when new.

In this time period, late 90's early 00's, they offered the Absolutes in Maple, Birch and Beech. You could get the whole range of sizes and colors in either 3 woods and mix and match what you wanted. Maple was by far the most popular followed by birch and then beech, hence why beech was discontinued. Beech was always advertised as the middle ground between maple and birch.

I own both sister kits to yours, a Maple Custom Absolute (MCA) and a Birch Custom Absolute (BCA) both from the same late's 90's period. I also have an original Maple Custom (MC) kit from 1994 and a Maple Custom Absolute Nouveau (MCAN) from 2005 or so. I bought them all used. Back when the economy was bad they were practically giving them away. Since production has moved to China all the Japanese Yamaha stuff has recovered nicely price wise and has a solid collector following. They're all amazing drums, best I've ever played. There's some serious engineering in these drums. The YESS tom mounts are no joke. The nodal point that the drum rests on is a real thing. Make sure the hex tom arms are actually touching the shell, its a night and day difference. All the drums are very fast, focused and musical.

Just like you I went though a whole bunch of kits. I landed on Yamaha and have very little interest in playing anything else. I have 2 DW collector kits as well. I'm pretty sure they named them Collector because all they do is collect dust next to my Yamaha's.

[Bish]

Definitely a good thing. The Absolutes were a high end series. The original Beech Customs were a mid level series, still great drums but only available in a few strange colors. You could get a full Beech custom kit for under $1,500 back then, your Absolute kit was easily double that when new.

In this time period, late 90's early 00's, they offered the Absolutes in Maple, Birch and Beech. You could get the whole range of sizes and colors in either 3 woods and mix and match what you wanted. Maple was by far the most popular followed by birch and then beech, hence why beech was discontinued. Beech was always advertised as the middle ground between maple and birch.

I own both sister kits to yours, a Maple Custom Absolute (MCA) and a Birch Custom Absolute (BCA) both from the same late's 90's period. I also have an original Maple Custom (MC) kit from 1994 and a Maple Custom Absolute Nouveau (MCAN) from 2005 or so. I bought them all used. Back when the economy was bad they were practically giving them away. Since production has moved to China all the Japanese Yamaha stuff has recovered nicely price wise and has a solid collector following. They're all amazing drums, best I've ever played. There's some serious engineering in these drums. The YESS tom mounts are no joke. The nodal point that the drum rests on is a real thing. Make sure the hex tom arms are actually touching the shell, its a night and day difference. All the drums are very fast, focused and musical.

Just like you I went though a whole bunch of kits. I landed on Yamaha and have very little interest in playing anything else. I have 2 DW collector kits as well. I'm pretty sure they named them Collector because all they do is collect dust next to my Yamaha's.

Thank you for the excellent information. I also was not aware of the "touching point" of the YESS mounting system. I don't normally push the hex all the way in. I'll experiment with that.

[Exotic Matter]

Yeah, you definitely want to have the hex arm on the little circular felt pad on the shell. This will increase resonance and also make the drum much more stable on the tom mount.

Here's a screen shot from the Absolute Catalog for the Beech Customs. Looks like your kit made the catalog, haha.

Beech_Custom_Absolute.jpg

[Exotic Matter]

I know DC is weird about links, or at least they used to be, but this is a link to an old Yamaha catalog, probably from the early 2000's. I can PM it to you if the link isn't allowed.

http://www.jedistar.com/pdf/yamaha/y...talog_2013.pdf

[Bish]

I got it. Thanks. The one on page 8 looks just like mine.

Any idea how to date them? Another thread had information and a dating chart. However, I've heard that it isn't complete and if it was it would have meant my drums were made in like 1981.

Thanks, again, EM.

This is great information.

[Exotic Matter]

There’s two different charts out there for build date. Can you post some of the SN or pm them to me? Generally with an entire kit one of the SN will correspond with a build dates that makes sense. I’ve definintely had some issues with consistentcy and the charts though.

[slinky]

Dang those are nice! I'd be afraid to move them... road rash is inevitable.. at least when I move my stuff

[Bish]

There’s two different charts out there for build date. Can you post some of the SN or pm them to me? Generally with an entire kit one of the SN will correspond with a build dates that makes sense. I’ve definintely had some issues with consistentcy and the charts though.

I have them at home. I'll post up a couple tonight. Thanks, again, EM!

[Bish]

Dang those are nice! I'd be afraid to move them... road rash is inevitable.. at least when I move my stuff

I bought them used. They already have their fair share of "door dings" so it won't matter much. I don't think I'll make them any worse. I'm fairly careful when moving drums, be they new or used.

[gdmoore28]

Definitely a good thing. The Absolutes were a high end series. The original Beech Customs were a mid level series, still great drums but only available in a few strange colors. You could get a full Beech custom kit for under $1,500 back then, your Absolute kit was easily double that when new. . . . I'm pretty sure they named them Collector because all they do is collect dust next to my Yamaha's.

Ha! I love that line about the Collector's Series!

Do you happen to still have any Yamaha price lists from the 1995 and later period? I kept reams of dealer literature and price lists, but they were packed away years ago during a move, and I haven't been able to locate them since.

The reason I ask is that I can't remember such a huge difference in prices between the Maple/Birch/Beech Customs and the same models in the Absolute series. I think I remember that the Absolutes were approximately a 15-20% premium over the Customs due primarily to the availability of twice as many finish options in the Absolutes. As I recall, all three of the Custom series had identical shell thicknesses (10ply on the BD and 7ply on the toms????) while the Absolutes offered different lugs and thinner shells (8ply on the BD, 6ply on the toms???). All other drum hardware was identical from Customs to Custom Absolutes (same BD legs, tom mounts, hoops, FT legs, etc.) The specifics may have changed some into the 2000s.

Anyway, hope you or somebody else still has the price lists. I could be wrong, but I don't remember Beech customs selling for $1500 while Beech Custom Absolutes sold for twice that price.

Was wondering, too, have you posted pics of your various Yamaha kits? I'd love to see them. I have pics only of my Recording Customs - didn't take any of my Maple Customs.

GeeDeeEmm

Band Back Forty 001.jpg

[Bish]

Here's one of the serial number badges.

[gdmoore28]

That picture says all that needs to be said about Yamaha quality. Look at that badge and that beautiful blue finish. Wow!

GeeDeeEmm

[Russ]

Barely any scratches on it, despite it's age. Quite the find.

[Bish]

That picture says all that needs to be said about Yamaha quality. Look at that badge and that beautiful blue finish. Wow!

GeeDeeEmm

Thank you, GD.

Barely any scratches on it, despite it's age. Quite the find.

I never inquired as to the history of the drums. I'm pretty sure they were gigged but are in relatively good condition. A few surface scratched here and there. Nothing major, I'm happy to say.