Yamaha Stage Custom Birch 14x5.5 Snare Drum, Raven Black

Honey Amber finish on these shellsIs absolutely gorgeous. The thickness of the shells allows them to resonate and have pretty good punch but leave room for sensitivity.I have pieced together this kit because I could not find all of the particular shell sizes in one shot.I got a really killer deal on this bass drum and I have always wanted an 18 inch drum. I am still running the stock heads on all of these shells and they sound really great.It all started with the 10 lug snare drum. I was so impressed with the drum that when I discovered the rest of the kit was out there, I went for it.YAMAHA has always been top quality no matter what they make. It is definitely reflected in this drum set.You are getting the value of a much higher end drum set in the way that they produce the shells for the money.I’m going to order the 16 inch floor Tom when it comes back in stock.This would be a really great kit for someone that is on the budget, or a second kit, or something smaller for gigging.I have not recorded with it yet so I don’t know what that sound like maybe I will change my review once I do so

This review is for the 12” rack Tom, 14” floor and 20” kick, all in natural finish. While overall very happy with the construction and sound of the Birch shells, I made the following updates: lubed up the lugs (Latin Percussion makes a great lube), and changed out the flimsy stock heads (Emperor batters, clear Ambassador resonants on the toms, and Evans EMAD2 on the kick, my personal taste). Added nylon sleeved tension Rod washers for better tuning and less metal on metal, and upgraded the hoops to 2.3mm for more mass. The result is a great sounding, responsive and gig-worthy kit. Still a bargain even after the updates!

Got this from Amazon Warehouse at a great price. It is a great drum. Turns out is really too big to be practical. The physical size is ok for me because it will stay at home. But it is probably too big in sound too. It resonates loud and long, even with an Evans EC2 head on top. Had to use a couple of gels. Then the frequency is so low, it might be hard to hear in a live music environment without miking. But then the overtones might cause a miking problem. So consider the above for your application. It happens to be ok for mine. If interested, it can also be converted for use as a bass drum too with some added expense for parts.

I am a hobbyist--albeit a serious one who plays daily--so it makes no sense for me to spend thousands of dollars on equipment. The Yamaha tom sounds great and the slightly larger circumference makes such a difference in moving from snare to tom and from one ride tom to the other. And, it came fully assembled!

I got the 20” diameter, to beef up the kick on my bop set. The 18” pdp bass the kit came with is fine for all intensive purposes, but man, you just can’t beat Yamaha drums, especially at this price. Looks great, sounds great and does exactly what I need it to do.

This may well be the best in its class and even beyond. For example, they are far superior to the Pearl offerings, and cost less! How? You ask. Well, this is a stain, not a wrap (so, better sound). The Yamaha 8" tom has five lugs, not four (again, better sound!). This is all birch; others: poplar or some other ambiguous inferior wood. And the mounting bracket blows away every other kind!! Easy decision. I'm very glad these can be purchased individually.

The media could not be loaded. I normally play bass drums 14 inches deep or less. I took a chance on this since I had toms and a snare drum that matched and am still getting accustomed to the added depth. One would think that an extra inch would not pose problems, but I play heel down and depend on rebound. I also tend to feather my bass drum notes and the extra inch has thrown me off a bit. Bit, no problem because I go by the adage that "it's a poor crafts person who blames his or her tools."The only change I made is swapping the heads out for a Remo Coated Ambassador for the reso head and a Remo PS3 coated pinstripe for the batter. The beater used in the video is a Vater Vintage Bomber with fluffy beater.As you (should) hear, the bass drum has a lot of attack even with the fluffy beater and my normally quiet playing style. I've come to appreciate the sound and tone, but am still in the process of controlling the dynamics. That will some in time.The construction is impeccable. I am impressed because I also own some custom kits as well as a DW kit and this budget-priced model is every bit as good as those.It does NOT come with a tom mounting system, so add that to your additional expenses if you don't already have one. Other than that, and new heads (which I strongly recommend) this drum is ready to tune up and go, It's tone greatly exceeded my expectations, and it has a very wide tuning range from JAW (Just Above Wrinkle) to high, bop tuning a la Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Art Blakey, etc.

My favorite snare. Much better than the Mapex one that came with my kit.