More Yamaha Stage Custom Love

yammyfan

Senior Member
Hey all,

There's ample love for the Stage Customs around here already but I wanted to heap a little more praise on them regardless :)

Last night, for just the third time ever, I gigged with my '03 Stage Customs and fell in love with them all over again. The venue had surprisingly good acoustics and the kit sounded amazing in that room.

They were helped by a new tuning scheme I decided to try. Rather than let an app calculate the intervals between the toms, I picked one for myself. I chose 2D (73 Hz) for the 14" tom, 2G (98 Hz) for the 12" and 3C (131 Hz) for the 10". That spread sounded great to me. I liked it so much I intend to make it the go-to for my other fusion size kits.

I learned something valuable as well: mounting a cymbal arm on the TH945B triple tom holder absolutely kills the resonance of the 12" rack tom. The toms sounded deep and powerful on their own until I clamped the accessory arm in place. The 12" went dead as a doornail the moment I added the extra arm. Thank goodness I packed a spare boom stand. Off came the accessory and back came the tone!

Anyway, I felt motivated to post (yet) another positive review of the Stage Customs. Under the right circumstances, these kits can sound incredible.
 

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I'll be honest, natural finished Stage Customs are always some of the nicest looking drums out there. Not sure exactly why but they always look professional and on point. Great sounding drums too.
 
I'll be honest, natural finished Stage Customs are always some of the nicest looking drums out there. Not sure exactly why but they always look professional and on point. Great sounding drums too.

I agree, and thanks! It was love at first sight with these things. They were my first good drums.

I'll have to get cases for them now that I'm hauling them around to gigs. They're nearly mint and I'd like to keep them that way.
 
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I learned something valuable as well: mounting a cymbal arm on the TH945B triple tom holder absolutely kills the resonance of the 12" rack tom. The toms sounded deep and powerful on their own until I clamped the accessory arm in place. The 12" went dead as a doornail the moment I added the extra arm. Thank goodness I packed a spare boom stand. Off came the accessory and back came the tone!

To open up that tom, with the cymbal in the triple to holder, shift the drum down the ball mount and tap it. Go in small increments. You will find the spot where the drum opens up. Probably an inch or so further down than you are used to.

Don't worry, the hardware is designed for it.
 
To open up that tom, with the cymbal in the triple to holder, shift the drum down the ball mount and tap it. Go in small increments. You will find the spot where the drum opens up. Probably an inch or so further down than you are used to.

Don't worry, the hardware is designed for it.

Believe me, I've been all through that. My Birch Customs are the same way. Even without a cymbal arm in the mount, the 12" tom chokes in all but one wee spot on the arm. The 10" sings no matter where it's positioned.

I also noticed while close miking the toms that having a cymbal arm in the triple holder causes a sympathetic vibration when the cymbal is played. I could probably work out these and other bugs with the triple holder but for now I'm avoiding the problem while admittedly sacrificing some convenience.

The advice is much appreciated though!
 
Beautiful kit! Bumping this thread just to extend the Natural finish Stage Custom love. I picked up a set of the new ones to kick it around the crib. I think they look and sound great!
SCB-Front.jpg
 
Beautiful kit! Bumping this thread just to extend the Natural finish Stage Custom love. I picked up a set of the new ones to kick it around the crib. I think they look and sound great!
View attachment 86995

Nice!

My house is full of drums already but I'm thinking about picking up a set of the new generation Stage Customs anyway. I'd probably go for the white ones this time.

Congrats on the new kit. They'll give you years of great service. (y)
 
Beautiful kit! I've played a green Stage Custom of the same vintage, and I agree; they're great sounding and great looking drums.
 
To open up that tom, with the cymbal in the triple to holder, shift the drum down the ball mount and tap it. Go in small increments. You will find the spot where the drum opens up. Probably an inch or so further down than you are used to.

Don't worry, the hardware is designed for it.

I should take a moment to say thanks, and that you were right. You've got to essentially balance the toms and anything else attached to the holder. It takes patience but it's worth it in the end.
 
Nice!

My house is full of drums already but I'm thinking about picking up a set of the new generation Stage Customs anyway. I'd probably go for the white ones this time.

Congrats on the new kit. They'll give you years of great service. (y)

Yeah, I have the same problem (house full of drums), but the value was too great and I couldn't resist. My other Yammies (MCA) are black inside and out, so I wanted to go the total opposite route and have a birch kit with Natural Wood inside and out. I'm enjoying them!
 
I learned something valuable as well: mounting a cymbal arm on the TH945B triple tom holder absolutely kills the resonance of the 12" rack tom. The toms sounded deep and powerful on their own until I clamped the accessory arm in place. The 12" went dead as a doornail the moment I added the extra arm. Thank goodness I packed a spare boom stand. Off came the accessory and back came the tone!
Is it just me, or are 12" toms particularly quirky anyway. After my daughter stopped playing percussion in school (that girl has a whole lotta quit in her) I found myself with 2 snare stands, so I thought I'd go to a setup where I mounted my 12" tom on the stand - I figured I could free up my kick drum that way and not have to mount toms on it. Talk about tone-sucking! That 12" tom went completely dead as soon as I tried that, and no amount of tweaking and fiddling with the stand helped it, so I re-mounted it on the tom arm off of the kick.

I'm glad you had that great experience with your Stage Customs. Those are some really nice sounding drums - an incredible value for the price.
 
Is it just me, or are 12" toms particularly quirky anyway. After my daughter stopped playing percussion in school (that girl has a whole lotta quit in her) I found myself with 2 snare stands, so I thought I'd go to a setup where I mounted my 12" tom on the stand - I figured I could free up my kick drum that way and not have to mount toms on it. Talk about tone-sucking! That 12" tom went completely dead as soon as I tried that, and no amount of tweaking and fiddling with the stand helped it, so I re-mounted it on the tom arm off of the kick.

I'm glad you had that great experience with your Stage Customs. Those are some really nice sounding drums - an incredible value for the price.

I think you're onto something. The 12" toms on my SC and BCAN kits are extremely fussy about where they are positioned on the hex rod. I've found that balancing the weight of the 10" and 12" on the mount is critical; if I move one drum up or down the hex rod, the other one must move too. Now, I mount the 10" where I want it, check its resonance and then install and balance the 12" until its resonance matches the 10". I've learned to STOP tweaking when I find the sweet spot ?

Ironically, my "cheap" YD Series drums don't exhibit this behavior. The hex rod goes right through the shell which ought to be a no-no but those drums sound damn good under any circumstances. Go figure!
 
Yeah, you can't push a tom with YESS mounts too far up the hex rod towards the resin ball or it will choke. To get the most resonance, I go at least halfway out on the hex rod, even with 16" mounted toms. Most of the time I'm at the very end of the rod (3/4 out, at least) on a 10" or 12" tom for max resonance. I don't mount anything on the BD anymore with my MCA's but when I did, I stopped putting a splash up there because every BD hit seems to cause an annoying cymbal sound. Not sure anyone would ever have heard it but me, but I moved the mounted tom and splash to a cymbal stand and prefer it much better.
 
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Ironically, my "cheap" YD Series drums don't exhibit this behavior. The hex rod goes right through the shell which ought to be a no-no but those drums sound damn good under any circumstances. Go figure!
A friend of mine has an old set of piano black Recording Customs with mounts right through the shell, and they always sounded fantastic. I asked that he leave me his drums in his will. I was only half-joking. :p
 
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