Re: THE YAMAHA DRUMS THREAD
Hello Yammie-Fans,
I'm a huge Yamaha fan since I started playing drums. Steve Gadd and Dave Weckl were really big influences in those days.
My first Yammie Kit was a 7000 in 22/10/12/13/16. When standard sizes became popular again in the early 90's I ordered a 9000 Recoring Custom in Cherry Wood and nearly identical to Weckl's set on his first CD Masterplan: 22x16, 8x8, 10x8, 12x8, 14x12. I still own this kit. No Y.E.S.S., no RIMS, but sounding better and better. Emperor batter / Diplomat Resonant. EQ4 batter on the BD. I hink that the 9000 series is one of the best sounding sets in the world. Although there are for sure bass drums that sound bigger, more resonant and of course louder, I NEVER had any problem with miking the 9000 BD. And even in an acoustic musical context you don't have to think about overplaying as with so many 22x18 Starclassic/Mapex Orion/Ayotte/DW or whatever Maple kicks. The 9000 is my current (and for sure my future) kit for amplified Pop/Rock/Funk/Latin applications.
Due to the fact that I wanted a second drum kit for Big Band/Straight Ahead Jazz situations, after a long search and after owning a DW and a 70's Gretsch Stop Sign Badge kit, I ordered a Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute Nouveau in Vintage Natural. 20x14(!), 10x7.5, 12x8, 14x14FT. This configuration is PERFECT for the mentioned musical applications. The BD is incredible, even with (or because of?) its 14" depth.
This kit is a great workhorse: huge tuning range, easy to tune, great flexibilty. You can play everything with it from BeBop to Funk. But I have to admit that I'm not sure if I'll keep it. I have played really great sets in the past. It's still fun playing my 9000. To be honest, I never had that fun playing my MCA. I miss character. It's a great sounding kit, but, well, still nothing that knocks me off. It looks fantastic, the hardware is probably the best in the world, but I never had the feel like with my 9000: that EVERY single hit makes me feel like "YEAH!". Hard to describe with my lack of English.
Neverless, I think that Yamaha builds the greatest drums in the industry. I'm talking about Tama, Sonor, DW, Mapex, Pearl, not those custom brands.
I'd probably prefer Gretsch or a Sonor SQ2......
ATB
Daniel