Help ID Yamaha kit and Zildjian Cymbals

jh88mb30

Junior Member
Hi all!

Finally made an account here cause I need your help. After coming back from overseas, my friend tells me someone donated a used drumset with cymbals and hardware. i stopped by his house late last night and I was quite preplexed by what I saw.

(sorry I dont remember if there were any serial numbers, it was late and I wanted to get home quickly)

The kit is a 5piece (22, 10,12,14,16)
The badge on the kit says "Yamaha Custom Drums" and made in Japan
Not quite sure what that means...is it a custom ordered kit from yamaha?

The cymbals are Zildjian
16 medium crash
18 thin crash
22 medium ride
14 new beat
The strange thing was that I couldnt find any series on these cymbals. The print of "medium crash" "thin crash" etc are in capital block letters. I think these are A series but with older logo prints?
edit: Link of picture of the hihat http://www.geocities.jp/kenzymang/image/hh3.jpg

Help me out!
Thanks!
 
Many, but not all, Yamaha drum lines have the word "Custom" in their name.
Recording Custom, Rock Tour Custom, etc.

Those are certainly Zildjian A's. Same print they used in the 80's and 90s. I forget which year they switched to the new logo, but that's what the logos looked like prior to the current logo.
 
yup, i know many yamaha drums have the word custom in it, the but badge says "yahama custom drums". there's no, stage tour, recording, maple, oak, etc on the badge. i remember it saying it's maple shells somewhere on the drums. it doesnt look like the yamaha maple custom badge though. i think the yamaha badges have been upgraded over the years too. the writing is not in script-ish font.
 
yup, i know many yamaha drums have the word custom in it, the but badge says "yahama custom drums". there's no, stage tour, recording, maple, oak, etc on the badge. i remember it saying it's maple shells somewhere on the drums. it doesnt look like the yamaha maple custom badge though. i think the yamaha badges have been upgraded over the years too. the writing is not in script-ish font.



Just show a pic of, or describe the drum lugs to us.

Your hats are in great shape.
 
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The kit is a 5piece (22, 10,12,14,16)
The badge on the kit says "Yamaha Custom Drums" and made in Japan
!

I think the only model to have that badge were the Special Edition Recording Customs, and that early generation Custom Shop series where you could pick the shell and lug.
 
What color are the inside of the shells? How many lugs? Are they long or short lugs? Could be old RC's, could be Rock Tours, hard to say without more info and/or pics.
 
What color are the inside of the shells? How many lugs? Are they long or short lugs? Could be old RC's, could be Rock Tours, hard to say without more info and/or pics.

Old RC's don't say "Yamaha Custom Drums". Just the serial. Rock Tours say "Rock Tour Custom".
 
Old RC's don't say "Yamaha Custom Drums". Just the serial. Rock Tours say "Rock Tour Custom".

Yes I know, I have some :p The point is, the badges may not be original. I have never seen or heard of any Yamaha's that had a badge that said just "Yamaha Custom Drums". Of course, maybe these are super, super rare, one of a kind custom drums. Hard to say without more info.
 
Yep, saw it. As long as you're comfortable identifying them without seeing them, you obviously know more than me. Personally, I like to have a description or see what it is I'm identifying, but hey, that's just me.
 
Yep, saw it. As long as you're comfortable identifying them without seeing them, you obviously know more than me. Personally, I like to have a description or see what it is I'm identifying, but hey, that's just me.

Just going off what I remember Groovy. I could be wrong, absolutely. Yamaha did have a pretty cool program, don't remember what they called it, but you could choose MC or RC shell, and whatever lug you wanted. It was very short lived, but I THINK I remember the badge just saying "Yamaha Custom Drums".
 
so...this is a custom ordered drumset?

Yes, Since they have YESS mounts, these were produced after the Maple customs were introduced. They should be worth at least as much as a Maple custom kit. Can you add a few more photo's of the drums and the rims? I'll try to estimate the age. So far I would say that they are from the mid to late nineties.
 
You can find the year of Zildjians by looking at the stamp that ZIldjian put on the outside edge of the cymbal. The very bottom of the stamp are two letters and a bunch of numbers. The two letters show the year. They always go from A thru J. So A means 1 and J means 0.

EX:
JJ 03150399

Your cymbal is from the year 2000

if it said

Ji 03150399

then you cymbal is from 2009.

I'm pretty sure it's only on cymbals from the 00's but maybe the 90's too. In that case it would start with H for 9.
 
Those were Yamaha's attempt at the first custom tailored series, I am almost positive. That is the badge I remember, and you could choose the RC or MC shell, choice of lug, finish. I am almost totally sure this is what these are.
 
Those were Yamaha's attempt at the first custom tailored series, I am almost positive. That is the badge I remember, and you could choose the RC or MC shell, choice of lug, finish. I am almost totally sure this is what these are.



That's correct. They look like MC shells by the thickness, but inconclusive.

I talked to Jim Haler at YAMAHA about why they ditched the 'custom' effort, he said it just got too crazy when someone ordered Maple Customs with RC lugs.

I guess the builders couldn't stomach having that set out on a stage/photo, could be construed as a screw-up at the factory maybe(?). Who know how sensitive those builders are, seem pretty sensitive.

"Donated"? Your friend scored big.
 

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