Help ID Yamaha "9" / "900" ? Series Drum

A friend of mine won two Yamaha toms for my son off of ebay. The model number is TT-912 D.

When I tried to find some info on this model on the , it sometimes mentioned the Recording Custom series. It also listed a lot of non English sites. I could find no mention of a 900 or 9 series drum line from Yamaha.

Is this some sort of non-US market piece?

The thing that has me confused are the lugs as I am used to the RC series having the longer lugs.

In a nutshell, what is this?

TIA

23c9_1.JPG


In a
 
Well, the code is An part of an earlier (80's-90's) Recording Custom code, but that serie has High Tension lugs and the code RF (Power Recording Custom) and RC (Rcording Custom)

But the 9 serie in that time was from the Recording Custom.

The lugs however are from the Tour Custom (the first edition, not the Tour Customs, that are sold at this time)

So it still seems like a little mysterie.
 
I think those are Recording Customs from the 1980s. A percussion professor I'm friends with has an old 1980s Yamaha RC kit from his jazz gigging days, and the hardware is in this style: long, pointy lugs, but not the traditional RC full-length tension lug. I guess it was a kind of hybrid RC kit???

Jason Marsalis is playing this kind of RC kit in the following video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBHy5h9QlfM

You get a clear look at the kit Jason's playing at the 2:59 minute mark: it is a Yamaha RC kit for sure, from the old days. It has the tom mount attached fully to the shell, which is NOT how Yamaha does the YESS nowadays. The lugs on the toms and bass drum do not cover the shell from top to bottom, either. So, I think the kit Jason's using here is exactly like the tom you have pictured in this thread.

Does anyone know for how long Yamaha made these 9000 or RC kits with the smaller lugs?
 
I think those are Recording Customs from the 1980s. A percussion professor I'm friends with has an old 1980s Yamaha RC kit from his jazz gigging days, and the hardware is in this style: long, pointy lugs, but not the traditional RC full-length tension lug. I guess it was a kind of hybrid RC kit???

Jason Marsalis is playing this kind of RC kit in the following video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBHy5h9QlfM

You get a clear look at the kit Jason's playing at the 2:59 minute mark: it is a Yamaha RC kit for sure, from the old days. It has the tom mount attached fully to the shell, which is NOT how Yamaha does the YESS nowadays. The lugs on the toms and bass drum do not cover the shell from top to bottom, either. So, I think the kit Jason's using here is exactly like the tom you have pictured in this thread.

Does anyone know for how long Yamaha made these 9000 or RC kits with the smaller lugs?

its defintly NOT a RC. I have folders in the archive from the beginning of the 80s until This year, and the recording custom didn't has ever had small lugs. The badge doesn't mean its an recording custom.

Also the Tour, Turbo Tour, Power Tour, Stage 2 and Power Stage 2 did used that same badge.

To me it seems like the Tour Custon. Although the badge numer starts with a 9 and not with an 8.

Here's an Tour custom on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Yamaha-Vintage-...ryZ38096QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Same badge, same lugs. Only a different number.
 
Last edited:
That tom looks like ones that I played in the 80's... Mine were white though. I had bought the kit used from Keith Karnaky's Drum Shop in Houston and had no idea of what they were.. I just like them.

Later, when I went looking for a second bass drum, I ended up talking with a fella at Yamaha that had one that matched exactly.. they were all 900 series and he told me that they were the drums that the recording customs became.

I had no idea of what the recording customs were, but I liked the drums.. That was over 30 years ago and I'm still playing RC's :-D

It's probably the same.. an early RC or similar, but at the end of the day, if you like the way it sounds, who cares what model it is?

Peace!
 
Thanks for all the info guys!!!!

At least now I do not feel silly asking what these are.

Once I actually get my hands on the toms, I can figure out what wood they are (I was assuming birch, but now...who knows).


Thanks again for all the help!!
 
I did some more digging and found some catalog archives at

http://www.drumarchive.com/Yamaha/

The 1981 catalog mentions towards the beginning of the catalog (page right after the front cover) that the 9000 series and the 000 series sharing the same shells.

I am ASSuming that maybe the toms I have are the mentioned 000/900 series that were probably an earlier model and the these shells, along with the new lug system became the 9000 RC series (?).

Kind of off the immediate topic, but I noticed that later in the RC Variation section, that the tom 914E, for instance, is listed under both the wood and chrome section. I thought the letter at the end was a color code? It seems that the same letter is sometimes mentioned under both wood and chrome. Just curious...
 
Got the drums today. They appear to be 5 or 6 ply (I need better glasses). Looks like a birch ply on the inside.

I know I am a noob, but I never heard of the resonant heads....Clear Evans CAD/CAM Resonant Tom-Tom Bottom Head. How old are these puppies?

One thing I found interesting is that the 12 inch tom actually has two badges. One is next to the mount, has the vent hole and model/serial info. On the other side of the mount, there is a blank Yamaha badge. Not sure if that was intended as some marketing thing or a slip-up in what I would consider pretty precise Yamaha quality control.

They are sprayed a medium gray (small) sparkle. The seam on the inside of the shell is at about a 70 degree or so angle vs the usual 90 I am used to seeing.

Overall, very nice drums. One is missing the Yamaha wingnut, but hopefully I can find one or a substitute at local GC.

Thanks again for all the info, past and future posts
 
The double badge on Yamaha.. That is correct and they did that so depending on which side you have the tom mounted it was always showing...

So if you have a 10" - 12"on the bass drum or 12" - 13" on the bass drum it always faced out!

Excellent concept!

David
 
I have one of these 70's Yamaha kits. They are indeed pre-Recording Custom kits with birch, camellia shells. These kits were made in Taiwan for the US market until Steve Gadd was signed and the Recording Custom line was introduced in the late 70's. All the Recording Custom series was made in Japan. The lugs are similar to that of the ones on the Rock Tour Customs of the following decade. From what I can understand from the folks at Yamaha, these kits are pretty rare these days. Very warm, vintage tone. Check out the pics below! 1975 all original except tom holder.
 

Attachments

  • y9000.jpg
    y9000.jpg
    43.7 KB · Views: 28,189
  • badge.jpg
    badge.jpg
    26.5 KB · Views: 7,040
  • lugs,shell.jpg
    lugs,shell.jpg
    32.8 KB · Views: 6,228
Last edited:
I also have one of these 70's Yamaha kits. Also made in Taiwan. The lugs are similar to the ones on your picture. Its black and has small sizes like: 18 BD ,10,12. I didnt play it yet, so I dont know how it sounds. I will let you know. Little strange: Yamaha badge of the bassdrum says: FT918D, its 18 x 14 but does not look like a Floor-Tom. Is this a special size?

yamahac.jpg


I would be proud to have one of the is Pre-Kits of the Recording Series Shed.
 
Last edited:
I realize this thread is old, but if anyone is interested, I will offer what I know of these kits. I purchased one of these Yamaha YD9000 kits new in 1979/80 and played it professionally ever since. It is the pre-recording custom kit and has all birch shells. The only real differences between this kit and the early RC's are the lugs. While the Yamaha drum vault states that the 900 "D" shells are birch/camellia, they are actually, according to both the 1978 catalog and the Yamaha rep, 100% birch. I was told there were some mistakes with the drum vault information and the site needed updating.
In 1978, Yamaha marketed the YD9000 system drums and the YD7000 series, which were camellia/mahogany, if I remember correctly. I also believe in '79 or '80 they introduced the YD5000 series. Yamaha history on the YD9000's is a little spotty and it is difficult to find the correct information-even from the company.Yamaha actually introduce the YD9000 (Recording Series) line somewhere between 1975 and 1977. Originally, the kits had the single high-tension lugs and for some reason changed to the split lugs in 1978 and 1979, but went back to the single lug design in 1980 or 1981. As I understand it, the places of manufacture, i.e. Japan, Taiwan, England, were just different manufacturing facilities and really had no bearing on the quality of the drums, although labor costs were probably lower in Taiwan at the time.
Anyway, I hope this information is helpful to someone! The kits pictured on this page look great and I am sure sound even better. I love my Yamaha's and have definitely gotten my money's worth and then some out of them! I have a natural wood finish kit that not only still looks beautiful, it sounds incredible!
 
Last edited:
Thanks for your info on the Yamaha Birch RC 900 Series....this thread like you say is very old now...but I have had problems trying to date my kit....I thought it was a 9000 Series but have since been told it is a 900....I find the badge ID information hard to fathom out...at least with old Luddy's they have serial number system and very informative books....I will try and post a picture...Baz
 
Back
Top