Waiting for my Yamahas...

Das_Ist_Drums

Junior Member
Hey everyone. In the last year, I became a big fan of Yamaha drums, and i've had my Tama kit for a while, so i decided to place an order for a custom Yamaha kit. By custom I mean a 6 piece maple custom absolute WITHOUT nouveau lugs, in black sparkle. Yamaha almost never has any maple custom absolute kits in stock without the nouveau lugs, so they had to build it from scratch in Japan. They told me that the set would take 2-4 months to build and ship before I receive it. The kit was ordered in late December so i only expect them to have started the process on January 2nd. It is now April 18, about 2 weeks away from what they said would be the longest it would take. If anyone has any experience in ordering a custom Yamaha kit, how long did it take for yours to come?
 
Good things coming to those who wait. Nothing wrong with Nouveaus other than a suspect reputation, but whats coming is easily one of the best kits made by man.

Takes a while I hear..Yamaha is slow
 
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Good things coming to those who wait. Nothing wrong with Nouveaus other than a suspect reputation, but what coming is easily one of the best kits made by man.

Takes a while I hear..Yamaha is slow


Thanks man, i figured that in the past years they may have cut back on factory workers, that is also why it might be takin the max, but i'm in no rush and the longer it takes, the more excited i will be when it comes!
 
how did u custom order your yamaha's, did u have to do it through a store or what?
 
And there are a few other things that play a role, like the fact that;

The total structure of the company worldwide (divisions, sub division etc) has changed the last period.

There are new lines like the PHX and Absolute models that require the same quillity check as you`re set.

And, The Osaka plant isnt a huge factory as you would expect. Its still a handmade product factory. There are only a few (though still men controlled) machinery like the Air Seal Shell machine and a
Lackering machine.
Everything else is hand put together, painted and checked with the help of small machinery like drills, paint brushes etc.

Often one part of the production is done by one employee who those this his and hers whole working life (and thats long and always with pleasure and commitmend)

Than you also have to deal with orders that are not standard like your`se, that will need to go trough the quallity check, and the paperwork that comes with it.

At the end I`m not suprized that it takes a few months waiting on a quality checked customized product.

Its a little strange to mension players like Weckl getting a royal treatment. They travel worldwide, work there asses off with recordings, playing live and other things. So for them drums are working tools. And even tey have to wait for building, checks and paperwork.

And lets not forget that they offer a huge input to the company to (wheter by advertising, clinics, signature lines or other) witch sometimes creates brand new or renewed products like the HipGigs, Groove Wedges, sub-Kicks, Hardware mods, snares and even complete kits.

But also in educational form like videos (Tony Vederosa's Dtx video, Weckl's video series and so on) clincs, appearances on tv shows, (drummer)festivals and summer camps like the Sonny Emory Drum Camp witch attracts drummers frim all over the world. And the "yeah Teddy C. plays that Birch Custom, im thinking of buying one after a closer look" thing (witch always happens)

So plenty reasons why a company offers something more/different to the ones that are a offering more than the players that don't or can't.
 
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FYI: The average wait time for a non-stock item--i.e., a custom kit of Absolutes, PHXs, or Recording Customs--for Yamaha is 4-6 months. I know a couple of people who have very good dealer relationships with Yamaha, and 4-6 months is the standard wait if the kit is not in stock somewhere.

Hang in there--the drums will come!
 
I agree the wait can seem painstakingly long. I just recently ordered a single drum from Yamaha (Birch Custom Absolute snare, also non-Nouveau) and I was told it would be a 5 month wait. That's just for one drum!!
 
I recently ordered a 5 piece maple nouveau (in australia) 10, 12, 13x14 FT, 15X14FT and 20x18 Virgin bass drum(which are rare with yamaha) and it took 15 weeks.
 
I recently ordered a 5 piece maple nouveau (in australia) 10, 12, 13x14 FT, 15X14FT and 20x18 Virgin bass drum(which are rare with yamaha) and it took 15 weeks.
Well, it's been about that time for me now. What finish did you get? because maybe it has something to do with that. I got black sparkle, which may take longer than the natural finish.. who knows.
 
He got some natural orange finish. It's in his avatar.

Here's my kit. It's like the one you ordered but with the nuevo huevo lugs.
 

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YES! They finally came. They look sweet and everything arrived in perfect condition, accept the stock heads are slightly wrinkled at the the edges and they sure do make the drums sound like crap! And yes, i do know how to tune drums, so the tuning is not the issue. I'm gonna throw some powerstroke 3's on them on some ambassadors on the bottoms and they should sound real' good.
 
YES! They finally came. They look sweet and everything arrived in perfect condition, accept the stock heads are slightly wrinkled at the the edges and they sure do make the drums sound like crap! And yes, i do know how to tune drums, so the tuning is not the issue. I'm gonna throw some powerstroke 3's on them on some ambassadors on the bottoms and they should sound real' good.

One of my stock heads were also wrinkled. It surprises me that they slipped through yamahas quality control...

Congratulations to your kit btw, I hope for some photos.
 
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YES! They finally came. They look sweet and everything arrived in perfect condition, accept the stock heads are slightly wrinkled at the the edges and they sure do make the drums sound like crap! And yes, i do know how to tune drums, so the tuning is not the issue. I'm gonna throw some powerstroke 3's on them on some ambassadors on the bottoms and they should sound real' good.

Congrats!!!!
Now We need pic's!!!
 
He got some natural orange finish. It's in his avatar.

Here's my kit. It's like the one you ordered but with the nuevo huevo lugs.

Sweet kit Monica but.........................What is that thing growing on your kick is that a Big Wart lol............ I like this pic better

kit2.jpg
 
Were they wrinkled because they were loose and not tuned??

Nah man, they were just, i would say, some what faulty heads. Sometimes heads are just naturally wrinkled on the edges, no matter how you tune them. I might just be unlucky, but i've gotten some naturally wrinkled heads before and the sound is unbearable.
 
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