Yamaha's first kits were made in 1967, and for around 10 years they competed with a lot of the cheaper and mid-ranged drums, mainly selling in the Eastern market
Around 1975 they upped their game and started to recruit top named drummers, who would help to propel Yamaha drums into a new and much more important status - to become world leaders in drum manufacturing
They introduced the flagship 9000 Series, which had a new extended lug design mounted on their clever air-sealed shell that incorporated true Japanese-style craftsmanship and attention to detail, matching Yamaha's general policy of trying to create top-quality instruments, just like their pianos, guitars, wind instruments and synthesisers
They figured that they would use birch wood to make their drum shells from, just like in their other acoustic instruments, but they weren't quite ready yet to call their drum kits market-leading. There is a mixture of information about the early 9000 series, and I can't determine if they were all actually 100% birch wood, or when they used the long-lug design or the double small lugs, similar to Gretsch kits. And some were made in Taiwan too, although still to Yamaha's high specification. The brochures of this period are a bit scant on detail and the online tracking of the 9000 range is quite unreliable. Here are examples from some period catalogues:
But everything changed in 1982 because Yamaha consolidated their flagship model, now made exclusively in Japan, into the world famous Recording Custom range (Referred to as "RA" for Recording Artist). They introduced 100% birch shells of 6 plys, a 30 degree bearing edge, dark wood laquer internal finishing (including the bearing edges), and a superb "piano" laquer to the outside of the shells (as opposed to a wrapped finish like all other kits of the time) in a large range of colours. They also increased the size range to include 8" and 10" and 15" toms, all of which were non-power depths. These kits were the zenith of Yamaha's work in developing their kits, and for a very short 2 year period they ruled the world in terms of making the best-sounding drum kit 'system'. The Recording Customs were used by nearly every top drummer of the era, and became the most recorded drum kit in history
Then in 1984 they introduced power toms, thicker shells and 45 degree bearing edges, and some say the drums lost a bit of their magical tone and purity. All those recordings made on the 9000RA drums during the early 80s set Yamaha up for having the very best reputation, and I am sure their later kits were very good and introduced lots of extra features, but to me the purest and most desirable kits possibly of all time were those first generation RA 9000s. Other contenders for the ultimate drum kits of all time are possibly 1950s Gretsch 3-ply mahoganys, Sonor Phonics from the 1970s and 80s, and some of the Ludwig kits of the 60s. But what determies a classic drum kit? Well it has to have 2 things going for it - perfection of sound and finish, and endorsement from famous drummers and recordings. The Gretsch has the Blue Note Jazz recordings, the Ludwig has the 60s and 70s rock artists, but for sure the Yamaha dominated the recordings and players of the 1980s - there is no doublt that the 9000 RAs were the best kits of their time
So here I proudly present my newly aquired Yamaha 9000RA 7-piece kit from 1982/83 in Hot Red laquer
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