What do you guys think of the Yamaha Stage Custom?

[Drummertist]

Just wondering what the sound and quality is like

[Vintagedrummer]

They are discontinued but sound great. I see them going for $575 new right now. Yamaha's are the cat's meow when it comes to sound/quality. You rarely hear anything bad about them. I doubt the new Tour Customs will sound "better" but hey, they're Yamahas!

[aceman]

I have owned a Stage Custom Advantage now for about 2 years and I bought the kit to keep at home simply for practicing purposes. I can't say enough about the sound and quality of this kit. I immediately threw away the stock heads and replaced them with Coated g2 batters and g1 resos. These drums actually sound their best at a med. low tuning and with the heads mentioned above they will sing with the best of them. The kick drum head was replaced with an E-Mad batter and the snare with a Genera dry batter. If they are going for the price as mentioned by the previous post then I say snatch them up pronto!

[rendezvous_drummer]

I own a kit and very happy with them. Great sounding kits indeed. Can't say enough about them, although the snare drum isn't that great. Could do with a different snare, but it still works for ye.

[drumzilla]

I have an SCA (10,12,14,20,14). Tuning requires a bit of patience especially on the snare and I'm still experimenting with the whole kit. However when it is tuned to how I want, it sounds excellent. Definitely no complains on quality either.
Always glad to see other Stage Custom owners here.

[YamahaDrummerAus]

I have a stage custom advantage too (14x5 Snare, 12 x5 Snare, 10,12,14,18 Toms and 22 Bass). They are fantastic drums, good sound, and Yamaha quality hardware.

A definite buy for a mid-range kit!

[That Guy]

Ya, Stage Customs are nice. The Tour Custom is a step up, as mentioned. But, if you find a Stage Custom for $575 as Vintagedrummer stated, GET IT!!!

[Drum_Till_I_Drop]

I've had a stage custom advantage nouveau for about a year and a half now, IMO it is a fantastic sounding kit, i have the 10" 12" 16" tom combo and the 20" bass and 14" snare. When tuned right the kit sounds awesome, it sings. I have evans g2 coated on the toms and an evans power centre snare head on the snare, i managed to tune the snare to give it a real skull cracking pop. You can't go wrong with the Yamaha, and at the price snap it up quick smart!

[gish]

I picked up a Stage Custom Nouveau a few months ago to use for gigs. 8, 10, 12, 16, 22, along with the snare (I paid $550 at GC for this kit). I play a four piece, so I haven't used the 8 or the 10, and I'm still using my trusty Pearl Sensitone steel snare that I've had for years, so I can't comment on that drum either. Here's a short review, after using these drums on gigs and at rehearsal, mic'd and un-mic'd:

Lacquer finish- I have the cranberry red finish, and I have to say, the lacquer job is pretty nice. The drums have a really nice grain pattern, and they look much more expensive than they are. My guitar player and bass player didn't believe me when I told them what I paid for the drums, based just on their appearance.

Shell Hardware- The toms have thin triple flange hoops, 1.6 mm I think? The hoops are my only gripe, I'm going to order some 2.3 hoops for the two toms, when I get them I'll post whatever differences I find. The YESS mount works just fine, very solid, my 12" resonates wonderfully. The bass drum claws are also a bit on the cheap side, but they work just fine so far ( I would like to line the claws with rubber, one of these days when I have the time...). Same for the kick drum spurs, not the fanciest, but so far they do their job just fine, and I have no doubt that they will continue to do so.

Sound- I replaced the stock batters with coated emperors, which have been my go-to heads for years (I have yet to change the reso's, when I do I'll post on the difference). The drums resonate very well, these are very "live" drums. I've had the chance to hear them played by my bass player at soundcheck at a few gigs. Un-mic'd, they projected well, and sounded very full to the back of the room. At a larger venue, mic'd, the drums were a little TOO resonant, so I used some Remo rings to clean them up through the mics a bit. Again, I was very satisfied with the sound out front, very punchy and clean. Now, when I'm behind the kit playing, I do notice a slight lack of warmth (I've been playing top line maple drums for years, Tama Artstar II and a Pearl Masters MMX) so I may try a different head when the emperors get tired, like the Evans EC1 or EC2, something to cut the highs and warm the drums up a bit. Again, this is just my perception from behind the kit (and remember, I've yet to change the stock reso's, maybe that's what I need to do first).
For the bass drum, I put on a Remo powerstroke 3 clear batter, and an Aquarian Regulator reso with the pre cut hole. The bass drum sounds great, punchy and deep, I'm completely satisfied with the bass drum sound I'm getting.

Nouveau lugs- Okay, we've all heard the rumors about them stripping out and being problematic... I've had the drums for about 6 months, and I've had absolutely no problems with them. I can say that they make head changes insanely fast and easy. You literally can remove an old head and have the new one on in 60 seconds if need be. They also make the drums very light, which is great for load out at the end of a long night (the Yamaha bass drum is lighter than my Artstar II floor tom!). I specifically recommended these drums to a friend of mine who has some back problems because of how light they are. The only drawback is that you can't really tune by feel. The Nouveau lugs do make tuning a little trickier IMO, but its not a big issue, for me at least.

Sorry for the long winded response, sometimes I just start typing and away I go! I'm very happy with these drums. They're well made, they sound very good, they look very good, and the light weight is a big + for those of us that gig a lot. I'm not sure why Yamaha discontinued them, unless they're ready to introduce something new at this price point. They have the Tour Custom to compete with the new Maple Exports and the Mapex Pro M's, maybe they're working on a new cheap birch kit to line up against the Superstars, Visions, and M Birch.