Can you help identify this Yamaha snare?

G

Gerk

Guest
FIrst of all, hello world.. great to find this forum and hopefully I can beg of some of your collective expertise ...

I have a snare that recently came into my possession for my studio kit. It's probably 80's or 90's in age and I can't find much of anything about it online.

Model: SD955RA -- made in japan

I like it's sound and am just curious to find out more about it. Help!
 

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FIrst of all, hello world.. great to find this forum and hopefully I can beg of some of your collective expertise ...

I have a snare that recently came into my possession for my studio kit. It's probably 80's or 90's in age and I can't find much of anything about it online.

Model: SD955RA -- made in japan

I like it's sound and am just curious to find out more about it. Help!

This is a Yamaha Recording series snare drum and the grey finish dates it to around 1989 or 1990. It should sound pretty nice, as most of what Yamaha does is first class.


Mike

http://www.mikemccraw.com
http://www.dominoretroplate.com

http://www.youtube.com/drummermikemccraw
http://www.myspace.com/drummermikemccraw
 
Thats a pretty solid sounding answer. I am happy to clarify it with Yamaha though if you want.

I do believe mike is right. The styling and (ugly) colour do look 80's/90's. Also the RA in the model number looks to refer to the recording series.

Tom
 
Thanks Mike and Tom

No need to clarify with Yamaha, that's all the info I was really looking for on it, I suspected as much but couldn't decipher the model number information :)

Mark
 
Hi folks ....

I was also trying to find out at internet some information about this snare and luckly found this web site.
I own this model too but mine is a "wine" finished and I added diecast rims . This is really an Yamaha Recording series and further to the already given information I will attach a very PRECIOUS information, the Yamaha catalogue for this model. Probably it was issued between 83 to 89 and I m pleasured in share this document with You ...
I really can say.. I m lucky guy for own this two good part of the history

Anyone can say what means the letters at the SERIAL number .... I m not sure .. may be the first 300 to be produced ?
 

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Hi folks ....

I was also trying to find out at internet some information about this snare and luckly found this web site.
I own this model too but mine is a "wine" finished and I added diecast rims . This is really an Yamaha Recording series and further to the already given information I will attach a very PRECIOUS information, the Yamaha catalogue for this model. Probably it was issued between 83 to 89 and I m pleasured in share this document with You ...
I really can say.. I m lucky guy for own this two good part of the history

Anyone can say what means the letters at the SERIAL number .... I m not sure .. may be the first 300 to be produced ?


Send an e-mail with all the info on the badge and they will tell you. I did this with my kit and they were awesome with the help and info they gave!
 
A Yamaha serial number works as follow:

The first 2 leters say what kind drum it is (BD, SN, TT, FT)

For Wod types on toms and kicks it gets also an extra letter (MBD for an Maple Custom kick, and ABD for an Maple Custom Absolute Nouveau etc etc)

The Numbers are a reference to the size (SD 1455 is a 14x5,5 snaredrum)

For kicks and toms its only the last 2 numbers. The first 2 reference to the type (13 for MCA, 9 for RC, 15 for BCA N, 15 for BCA N)

Litlle confusing, but if you know about it, its nice to know
 
hey buddy ... I think you typed a wrong letter. The correct description for snares is SD (Snare drum) and not SN ... I m not sure about you said for the number of the model, once my snare is a 14x 5.5 and my serial umber is MZ 0289 and the model is a SD 955RA ( for sure RA means RECORDING.). Probably the information You gave is for the new models, once the 9000 series has no different snare size than 14" (actually We know there are 13" too). Below follow some further informations.

Keep in mind this forum is about the 9000 series and old models between 80 and 90's

BD - bass drum
FT - Floor Toms
TT - Tom-toms
TH - Tom holder
SS - Snare Stand
HS - Hi-hat Stand
CS - Cymbal stand
FP - Foot pedals

The correct for all drums is:

Begin with one of the codes above + the serie number (9 for 9000 , 7 for 7000 and 5 for 5000 series) + the size of the drum (*)

(*) For snare menas only the dept. For other is the drum size

Example.

1) My snare model is => SD 955RA, which means SNARE DRUM, MODEL 9000 series, 5.5 inches of depth, Recording series (RA)

2) TT-908RA - Tom tom , model 9000 series , 8 inches of size , Recording series

PS: there are two types of 9000 series

1) RA - recording
2) GA - std recording ... the main difference is the internal finishing and rims finishing

I hope You enjoy
 
Ive never seen any of the GA numers in the archives I have (and I hve most of them)

Only The RC (Recording Custom) RF (Power Recording Custom) and YJ for the Recording customs with Yess (the first series that came with Yess) funny fact in that Folder the Snares are called BSD (I think as in Birch Snare Drum) there the code for an 14x5.5 snare is BSD095.
You was correct on the SD thingie. It is SD, but with the wood type before it, just like the signature snare line does still have the older prefixes like BSd (Birch Snare Drum) or WSD (Beech Snare Drum)
 
so I was surfing the web to find a new rock snare. I found a nice looking yamaha on ebay...

here 's the s nr: sd765ma

it's a 14X6.5 inch metal snare and I assume (because of the previous posts) one from the 7000 series.

and what does the ma at the back stand for?

here's a pic

and do you guys find it suitable for the harder rock / postrock?

thx
 

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Hello- I have a beautiful 18" Yamaha Floor tom Model: FT-918RA Serial # JK. It looks like my recording customs, but obviously isn't? Can anyone tell me what is different about this drum- it really looks the same as my other recording customs.
 
Dear world Yamaha experts.

I found a vintage Yamaha Snare drum on the web. Unfortunately I cannot try it before buying it. The model on the badge is SD-075 made in Japan. Serial number: OK 6039. It has die cast hoops. I was wondering if it belongs to the RC 9000 series or at least if the birch shell is the same of the rc 9000. I'm not a Yamaha expert.

best wishes.

M.
 
Hey Gerk. Are you still out there? Would you be willing to sell me this grey quatrz SD955RA snare. I just purchased a Yamaha grey quartz drum set and it would go perfectly with it. I know it's been a long time since your post but I thought I would give it a try. I believe your snare has the exact dimensions I need. Thanks for your time and your help.

Sincerely,

Steve
 
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