Yammy 5000s are not suppose to sound good?

braincramp

Gold Member
Well that's everything I read online about them, junk Asian mohog luan shells. Welll,I needed some toms to go with a CX maple bassdrum for a practice kit and come across 4 - Yammy5000 shells that color matched my bass and we're all but free price wise. I've owned cheap mahogany shells and they looked nothing like these 5000 shells and most of all these 5000 shells with new G2 heads sound as good or better as any mid-priced semi pro set I've owned or played. Are all Japan made 5000s Asian mohogany? These look like oak or birch or actually beech looking grain and are really well made. Nice plies and angled joint. Sure don't look or sound like any cheap luan drums I've seen. Did I get lucky here or does anyone else own a set of 5000s and really like them?
 
Don't fixate on what the shells are made of. If they are well made and sound good they are good.

Many people have the impression that because entry level starter kits tend to be made from luan/poplar/basswood etc, all drums made from these woods MUST sound bad. That's not the case. Trust your ears not the label.
 
Yamaha put the same time and effort into the 5000s as all the rest of their upper-end drums. I bet with the correct tuning and heads they sound like a million bucks. Don't hate on Philippine mahogany, it's a viable drum material so long as the workmanship is up to snuff.
 
Yamaha put the same time and effort into the 5000s as all the rest of their upper-end drums. I bet with the correct tuning and heads they sound like a million bucks...

^^^^^^^ This ^^^^^^^^^

I had 12 and 16 made-in-Japan 5000 toms from the 80's (I also got them for a song). From my research, the inner ply (that looks so nice) is beech with the remaining plies Luan (Phillipine mahogany). The precision manufacturing in these drums was obvious. And, yes, they sounded fantastic.

I'm glad yours match your BD. If you are ever thinking of recovering the 5000's, I have some advice: DON'T!!! I ruined my 12 tom trying to remove the wrap. Yamaha, in their manufacturing perfectionism, glued the wrap all the way around (very uncommon for Asian wrapped drums). Despite following all the tried and true methods for removing wrap, the Luan was just too soft and chipped and peeled off with the wrap. I suppose it could have been filled in, sanded, etc., etc., but since I had next-to-nothing into it I declared it a loss.
 
My early 70's old Garnett Red 5000, it blew many kits away.

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The Mahogany gave it the extra low that even a 9000 couldn't reach. My former RTC had Mahogany too and my 10'' Stage Custom has it too, all amazing sounding drums.

I love the addition of the Mahogany.

So there is absolutely nothing wrong with a maintained 5 series kit.
 
My 88 mod. Tour Customs are Philippine Mahogany with Birch as the inside ply and the outside ply. and they are great drums.
 
Let's look at what makes a drum work.
First, the wood sheets have to be reasonably hard with a good grain structure.
Second, the plies have to be stacked and glue molded correctly.
Third, the shells have to be cut, edged, and drilled accurately.
If the above was done to high standard then it is all just a matter of good heads and tuning.
Modern machine tools are so precise that uniform quality control is obtainable at a low cost with high volume production rates.

A drum does not have to cost a lot to sound good.
 
Feel a lot better about them now, though maybe age was playing tricks with my hearing cause to me they sound awesome. And happy to see it was mentioned there is beech inner ply with the mahogany. This means my eyes are still sharp too lol. These drums are keepers for sure.
 
Combine these "starter drums with a set of starter Paiste 505's and I'd be comfortable playing anywhere.
Musiqman- love your set. Classic!
 
Yamaha 5000 are not intermediate kit, but their low end beginer kit! The tunning lugs are fewer in number, and the metal bd hoops have a tendancy to effect the lows of the bass drum.
 
Yamaha 5000 are not intermediate kit, but their low end beginer kit! The tunning lugs are fewer in number, and the metal bd hoops have a tendancy to effect the lows of the bass drum.

My 5000 24BD hardwood hoops. It is a 1980 per Yamaha. And original as far as I know.
 
Yamaha 5000 are not intermediate kit, but their low end beginer kit! The tunning lugs are fewer in number, and the metal bd hoops have a tendancy to effect the lows of the bass drum.

Not quite sure what you mean about the lugs. Certainly not true of all the 5000 series drums. My 12" tom had 6 lugs and the 16" FT had 8 lugs...pretty standard, no? Now, on the BD, sure, 8 vs. 10 lugs is pretty standard on lower-series kits.

Even though I no longer own any 5000 series, I guess I am kind of a "defender" of them. Yes, they were the lowest series at Yamaha, a "beginner" kit, but the attention to detail Yamaha put into them would put most other manufacturers to shame. And they sounded pretty damn good! I guess I hate to see them lumped together with the other "usual suspects" low quality beginner kits... The 5000's I had were very gig-worthy drums.
 
5000's came with steel hoops original. You can see this in the folders. Also they had lesser lugs so less broader tuning, but if tuned right. Awesome sound.

Great kits for their value.

Maybe I have a Japanese model? There catalog shows wood hoops on page 7.

http://www.drumarchive.com/yamaha/Yamaha1980Japan.pdf

The English catalog does not say what they are but they look like the same black painted wood as mine.

http://www.drumarchive.com/yamaha/Yamaha1980.pdf

They do only have 8 lugs though as stated.
 
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