Is Yamaha Stage Custom an upgrade over Sonor Safari?

Jml

Jml

Senior Member
Biggest differences I see - size of tom (12" vs 10") and bass drum (18' vs 16") and birch construction vs poplar. Both sound good. Yamaha 3 piece shell pack is going for $474, but I would get some $ by trading in my Sonor for the Yammy. So the question is - is it worth it? Kit will be used for practice and light gigging.
 
A vote for Stage Customs, mainly because a 16" bass drum doesn't make an actual bass drum tone IMO. If the kicks are the same size, I'd say it was a lateral move.
 
Jml said:
Biggest differences I see - size of tom (12" vs 10") and bass drum (18' vs 16") and birch construction vs poplar. Both sound good. Yamaha 3 piece shell pack is going for $474, but I would get some $ by trading in my Sonor for the Yammy. So the question is - is it worth it? Kit will be used for practice and light gigging.
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Which sizes do you like better?

I'd take the Stage Custom bop kit over the Safari any day.
 
wildbill said:
Which sizes do you like better?

I'd take the Stage Custom bop kit over the Safari any day.
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I think the larger sizes would be more versatile and better for rock/louder music. My question is - would I notice a worthwhile difference in the sound? Would the Yamahas be good for jazz?
 
No contest, 12-14-18 are way more versatile sizes for any music, including jazz, than 10-13?-16.
 
Jml said:
I think the larger sizes would be more versatile and better for rock/louder music. My question is - would I notice a worthwhile difference in the sound? Would the Yamahas be good for jazz?
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The Yamaha is slightly larger than what you have. I would take that over the Safari. I wouldn't say either of them is geared towards rock/louder music which is what you're asking.
 
ineedaclutch said:
The Yamaha is slightly larger than what you have. I would take that over the Safari. I wouldn't say either of them is geared towards rock/louder music which is what you're asking.
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I probably wouldn't use them so much for rock. Play mostly funk/jazz kind of stuff. Since I haven't gigged with it yet, just wondering if the bass drum on the Safari would be loud enough for small crowds. Has anyone had or used both to give an opinion on the differences sound-wise?
 
Remember - I'm a NOOB

I can't see how different kits can be specific to certain genres of music. I mean - basically, isn't a drum a drum? Would a "rock kit" be unable to do a jazz gig? And a "jazz kit" - would that fail to play along with rock music? I won't even get into "country kits" or "church kits."

Can't a nice set of drums play anything? Isn't the player the one who determines the style?
 
Jml said:
Biggest differences I see - size of tom (12" vs 10") and bass drum (18' vs 16") and birch construction vs poplar. Both sound good. Yamaha 3 piece shell pack is going for $474, but I would get some $ by trading in my Sonor for the Yammy. So the question is - is it worth it? Kit will be used for practice and light gigging.
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I think if you’re gonna get money for trading, and you want to do it, then it’s a win-win. It’s true slightly bigger would better, but too me, I think 18” bass drums are too small for anything. But if it works, and you get money, I’d trade.
 
Re: Remember - I'm a NOOB

MasterBlaster said:
I can't see how different kits can be specific to certain genres of music. I mean - basically, isn't a drum a drum? Would a "rock kit" be unable to do a jazz gig? And a "jazz kit" - would that fail to play along with rock music? I won't even get into "country kits" or "church kits."

Can't a nice set of drums play anything? Isn't the player the one who determines the style?
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You are correct. If you can’t play, having every drum size on the planet won’t help you.
 
MasterBlaster said:
So, it's just kinda a myth thing?

Cool.
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Generally:

Big gigs - big drums

Small gigs - small drums

Normally larger, thicker shelled drums project more.
A big exception is if you're mic'd up. Then pretty much anything goes.
I saw a guy using a mic'd up 16" bass drum at a fairly large outdoor concert.
If you didn't look at the drums, you'd never know it.
PA's and EQ's can work wonders.
You can really use any drum set for anything. Sometimes you'd have to find workarounds though.

About the Stage Custom bop kits. I've had a couple of them.
They tune up nicely in the middle and upper ranges, and the stock heads they come with sound pretty decent.

And Bo - I think he meant he'd save some money by trading in, not get some money, even though he phrased it differently.
I suppose it's possible, but hard for me to imagine trading a Safari kit for a SC bop kit and getting cash on top of it.
 
wildbill said:
Generally:

Big gigs - big drums

Small gigs - small drums

Normally larger, thicker shelled drums project more.
A big exception is if you're mic'd up. Then pretty much anything goes.
I saw a guy using a mic'd up 16" bass drum at a fairly large outdoor concert.
If you didn't look at the drums, you'd never know it.
PA's and EQ's can work wonders.
You can really use any drum set for anything. Sometimes you'd have to find workarounds though.

About the Stage Custom bop kits. I've had a couple of them.
They tune up nicely in the middle and upper ranges, and the stock heads they come with sound pretty decent.

And Bo - I think he meant he'd save some money by trading in, not get some money, even though he phrased it differently.
I suppose it's possible, but hard for me to imagine trading a Safari kit for a SC bop kit and getting cash on top of it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I meant trading in the Sonor for some $ towards the Yamaha. The Safari goes for $399 new. I’d hope I could get $200 or so for it. Still in great condition with original heads. Would only leave $270 or so to pay for the SC.

Definitely overthinking this. Wonder HOW MUCH of a difference the 18” bass drum would make instead of the 16. I’d imagine the rack toms (12” v 10”) wouldn’t be that much of a difference. And the birch, while better than poplar, probably won’t make a huge difference in sound either. So the question is, do I stick with the 16” bass drum, because if not loud enough, the 18” might not be enough either??? Miked up, they’d probably both sound the same. So maybe just keep the status quo for now and save up eventually for a maple kit with 20” inch bass drum in the future?
 
Maybe just a different head for the batter side of the bass drum to get some more sound out of it if necessary....
 
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