Yamaha finish issues

[Clint Hopkins]

I'll cut to the chase. I took custody of a nice Birch Custom Absolute Nouveau kit yesterday. I waited about 45 minutes to let the boxes acclimate before opening them. Three rack toms; flawless. Snare; flawless. I thought the floor tom was flawless until I went to insert the legs into the brackets and noticed cracks in the finish around some of the lug 'studs'. I ran my fingernail across them and could feel them. The more I examined the drums, the more noticeable they were around 4 or 5 lugs. Each lug having anywhere from one to three scratches. Is this a common issue? Do I need to be worried? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
The individual I purchased them from, said he was very meticulous with the kit and I have absolutely no reason to doubt him. He seems to think weather is a factor.

[willyz]

That doesn't sound right to me... how old is the kit? What finish is it?

I'd reach out to Yamaha if I were you... I mean, you may not have gotten the kit brand new, but I don't think that is something that should happen.

[Clint Hopkins]

That doesn't sound right to me... how old is the kit? What finish is it?

I'd reach out to Yamaha if I were you... I mean, you may not have gotten the kit brand new, but I don't think that is something that should happen.

It's a 2009. Red Sparkle. People ship drums all over the world and stuff like this never happens. The kit was packed extremely well. There were a few other issues like a tension rod on the bass drum that had slipped at a funny angle, bent and scraping off some of the finish from the hoop. Weird stuff.

[Matus]

That shouldn't happen at all. I've had no issues with any of my finishes so far (blue sparkle and natural vintage) and they've had a good beating, including truck accidents.
I'd try to reach the Yamaha people and send them some detailed quality pics of the cracks, see if they've had similar cases in the past. It may be anything from weather (sounds a bit weird to me, but could be) to bad handling by the transport company but the people at the drum/cymbal business usually know their stuff very well due to all kinds of warranty claims, you know.
I, for one, would doubt about the initial condition of the kit. But I might be wrong.

[Clint Hopkins]

That shouldn't happen at all. I've had no issues with any of my finishes so far (blue sparkle and natural vintage) and they've had a good beating, including truck accidents.
I'd try to reach the Yamaha people and send them some detailed quality pics of the cracks, see if they've had similar cases in the past. It may be anything from weather (sounds a bit weird to me, but could be) to bad handling by the transport company but the people at the drum/cymbal business usually know their stuff very well due to all kinds of warranty claims, you know.
I, for one, would doubt about the initial condition of the kit. But I might be wrong.

Matus,
I'm glad you chimed in. Your experience with Yamaha drums is valuable to me.

I wouldn't drop this guy's name on the forum but he says he has worked in the industry for a popular drum company. He now works for a music store.

[Matus]

It actually sounds like a "pressure" kind of crack, the kind of crack you'd have by over-tightening the lugs on the shell or having them fall instead of directly hitting them. A similar thing usually happens to 1990's Ibanez guitars. The finish ALWAYS ended having a visible crack on the neck joint. It just doesn't go any further, but you can see it on any of those guitars.
It shouldn't be a further issue but I'd try to have the experts' opinion.

[YamahaPlayer]

It actually sounds like a "pressure" kind of crack, the kind of crack you'd have by over-tightening the lugs on the shell or having them fall instead of directly hitting them.

That's exactly what I thought when I read the OP. Yamaha is absolutely stellar with customer service. Give them a call and see what they say.

Might want to ask the guy you got them from too, since they were used and despite what anyone says, different people have different versions of "meticulous", given the additional damage on the bass drum you mention as well. I would still say those are still minor cosmetic flaws though and would still rate the overall condition as "excellent" as far as drum sets go. Though you may want to pull the heads off and inspect the bearing edges and shells just to be sure.

I don't see the weather as being a factor though, you're in the united states I assume and unless they were left outside in freezing weather it just doesn't seem like that's a likely cause. Out of curiosity do the lugs have the gaskets between them and the shell?

Those are awesome kits however. Always fun to get a new kit.

[Matus]

The weather shouldn't be an issue at all. A friend of mine who's also a touring man, used to play an Oak Custom kit. The whole band backline was storaged in the same place and there was a huge storm, the place was flooded and so were the hard cases. The bass drum was literally floating. After weeping for them, he let them dry by themselves and they still were like new on finish, sound, and overall shape. Even the hardware. True story.
Sparkles are lacquer finishes too, they should be able to withstand almost anything weather-related if they're not previously damaged. For a finish to crack due to cold we ought to be speaking about extreme below-zero temps. Heat isn't an option, either, I've had them set up on summer so the shells actually burned your fingers and nothing happened.

[YamahaPlayer]

Sparkles are lacquer finishes too, they should be able to withstand almost anything weather-related if they're not previously damaged. For a finish to crack due to cold we ought to be speaking about extreme below-zero temps. Heat isn't an option, either, I've had them set up on summer so the shells actually burned your fingers and nothing happened.

That's what I was thinking as well, those finishes are UV cured.

I bet someone took the lugs off at some point and over tightened them when they put them back on.

[Clint Hopkins]

Sparkles are lacquer finishes too, they should be able to withstand almost anything weather-related if they're not previously damaged. For a finish to crack due to cold we ought to be speaking about extreme below-zero temps. Heat isn't an option, either, I've had them set up on summer so the shells actually burned your fingers and nothing happened.

That's what I was thinking as well, those finishes are UV cured.

I bet someone took the lugs off at some point and over tightened them when they put them back on.

Everything I've heard about Yamaha quality has ALWAYS been of the highest order.
I don't understand why someone who says they are the original owner would remove the nouveau studs. I called Yamaha and sent some photos. Awaiting word from them. The scratches are sort of difficult to see in the pics but are glaring when viewed with the naked eye.