House of Drumming.com

I recorded a whole record on an Oak Yamaha set, and they were amazing. The only drawback on the Oak series is the limited sizes offered (as far as depth vs diameter).

I know many drummers who own the Oak Yamahas, and they all love them. They're definitely not "weak" selling, as far as I know.

I'm really digging my new Oak Customs.

"New" to me, got them used although they were in perfect shape.

Here they are in my band's lockout.



10, 12, 14, 16, 24

Great drums.

Hi Christopher,

What do you think about that Kick Port on your bass drum ?

Juan Expósito wrote:Hi Christopher,

What do you think about that Kick Port on your bass drum ?

Hi Juan,

I like it.

It seems to give the bass drum tone more depth and body. Contributes to the whole kit having a touch more depth and body as well, through the sympathetic vibration of the res head.

Nothing drastic, but you can tell.

I’ve noticed that the bigger the drum, the more pronounced the difference. Not sure why.

You can really hear the difference between it being in or not when you’re mic’d up through a good size PA.

moose wrote:

Josiah wrote:IMO the Oak Customs were one of the worst selling kits by yamaha...

Surely "worst selling" must be a matter of measurement, not opinion?

cant say ive seen the numbers (who has?) but of the "customs" series, i would bet heavy they are the worst selling in a given years time. its pretty rare you seen them around.

very slappy loud drums, but again, hardly seem them about.

Josiah wrote:very slappy loud drums, but again, hardly seem them about.

I wouldn’t characterize them as “slappy” at all.

I know that mine (with coated heads on top and clears on the bottoms) sound round, tonal and punchy.

They are right between maple and birch to my ear. Not as much ring as maple and not as focused as birch. And, a little more volume than both.

Sold the drums, they will be on their way to Florida this week. Changed my post, the rack is still available.

Glad you sold your shells! What's next? A downpayment on a Sucherman signature snare?!
Just wanted to chime in and say the way back in the day, I used to work for A.J.'s Pro Percussion. When the Oaks came out, we had Weckl come in to do a clinic and he used the Oaks for the show. Of course, they, and he, sounded amazing. No surprise there...
The day after the clinic, the drums were set up on the main stage in the shop and I stepped up (more to check out his tuning and compare it in my mind to my own "primary" gigging kit than actually say, "I played Dave's kit!".) I was pleasantly surprised at how warm and round the toms sounded with a coated Amb's on top with clear bottoms. Just a wonderful tone with lots of projection. Now, I will say, with the stock clear heads in a big "hard" room, they sounded a little thin and loud, but change the heads and those drums were just plain magical. (I think Weck was into them because combined with his signature Sabians, he could play "easy" and not hit so hard, making a combined VERY sensitive and responsive instrument.) And, they were priced much lower than Yamaha's Maple and Birch drums which made a Yamaha kit more available to drummers out there who wanted the Yamaha sound and quality at a price the working drummer could afford. We sold a LOT of them to drummers in Tampa and around the country and world. Good stuff! And, BTW, I was very intrigued by your drums, but that 24" bass drum.....Just couldn't go that big!
Cheers!

We're using them as the "house" kit at a friend's studio and they're anything but slappy, even with the factory heads. As soon as you spend a couple min with the tuning you get amazing results. Lots of body and low end.
I'd SO get that hexrack, as it was discontinued for a while and it's the best system I've come across. But it's a bit far from me

kinkymook wrote:Glad you sold your shells! What's next? A downpayment on a Sucherman signature snare?! !

Actually, what's next is a new Club Custom 24/12/14/16 in Swirl Black. I've been battling with myself over whether or not to get the 10" tom, but I'm leaning toward one up, two down. I've played that configurstion, but always owned more drums. I'm almost 54 and thinking that changing up my kit could really give me a new approach. I'll probably stick with a fairly large cymbal selection though.