Selling my late 90's to early 2000's Yamaha Stage Custom set

[theruckman]

I was going to take it to Music go round and or sell on craigslist....etc....but after doing a little research I was wondering if it was a "sought after" kinda set. Would like opinions. I was able to find a bit of info on the Yamaha archive website but had trouble inputting serial numbers...etc....I am attaching a few of the serial stanps....any opinions out there would be great. Its a complete 5 piece set BTW, floating floor tom too.

thx
Scott

 

[trickg]

I'm not sure what you're looking for - it's not going to be a holy grail kind of thing where dollar value is going to increase dramatically. It is what it is - Yamaha's mid-level drum kit. They were made well, they look good and they sound good, but at the end of the day you won't get much more than a a few hundred out of them at best IMO.

 

[theruckman]

Definitely the kind of info I was looking for....I will stay tuned for any other comments....I was reading stuff like if made in Indonesia, its a sought after wood they used...OR maybe it was Japan....not sure.....but thanks again for the input

 

[wildbill]

Nothing special, rare, or out of the ordinary. Just a run of the mill older Stage Custom.
You'll get a little more if you sell it yourself. If you take it to MGR, or GC or something,
they'll give you less for it, but you don't have to deal with all the hassles involved.

 

[harryconway]

You can go here http://www.drumarchive.com/ and learn about the "ancestry" of the Stage Customs. 5000 series. The first ones, I believe, were Phillipine Mahogany shells. But we're talking '79/'80 here. By the time you get to late '90's/2000's ..... I'm pretty sure they're all birch shells, just like the current ones.

 

[Winston_Wolf]

I've played quite a bit on a Stage Custom kit from that era. They're nice drums, but as far as the original question, there really isn't anything to make these collectable or somehow more desirable than the current generation.

 

[fl.tom]

These are considered 1st generation Stage Customs (6000 series) built between ~1995 - 2001. Harry is indeed correct in that the Stage series began circa 1979/1980, but for the current Stage Custom series (now in its 5th revision), this generation is usually referenced as the starting point.

From the serial number prefix (POI) on both badges, these two drums (tom & snare) were specifically built in 1998-02 (Feb 1998). Reportedly this generation was initially made in Japan before production was moved to Indonesia, but given the Indonesia badges and later production year here, there is little doubt to the factory where these were made.

The shells are a 8-ply layup of: 1 outer ply of Birch, 6 middle plies of Philippine Mahogany*, and 1 inner ply of Falkata. This layup continued through the 2nd gen (2001 - 2004 Standard & Advantage) and 3rd gen (2004 - 2008 Advantage Nouveau) with the exception Oak was used in place of Birch on 3rd gen matte finishes. For 4th gen (2008 - 2014 Birch v1) and 5th gen (2014 - now Birch v2), Yamaha changed to all Birch shells with 7-ply bass drums and 6-ply toms & snare.

A good resource to verify this (as well as obtaining details on specific model Yamaha drums in general) is Yamaha’s Drum Vault:

Yamaha Drum Vault

For model #, be sure to enter a hyphen (-) between the leading letters and trailing numbers stamped on the badge... e.g. the models for these two drums would be:

Tom: STT-610 (Stage Tom Tom, 6000 series, 10”)
Snare: SSD-065

As others have noted, there isn’t anything particularly unique about this generation that would command a higher price. To maximize their resale, ensure they’re clean and maybe emphasize 1st gen, single high tension lugs, and matching build year & month on all drums if applicable (i.e. factory matched set). Emphasizing great sound/tone and lack of composite/plastic Nouveau lugs (like used on 3rd gen) may also help. Definitely avoid discussing build location, wood species, lack of YESS mounts, etc. which can be more subjective and distract from positives.

Best of luck with the sale.

* Note: Although it’s common practice to call this wood Philippine Mahogany, it is more accurately Meranti/Lauan.

 

[PorkPieGuy]

IMO, you own the Toyota Corolla of drums:

Not worth a lot, and there's a ton of them out there, BUT they are solid, dependable, do the job, and are well-respected. They will serve someone out there for many years.

If they are going for $200-$250 online, Music-Go-Round will probably give you $100-$125. Don't be shocked at their low-ball offer, and just know it's coming.